Hot off the heels of the Tourbillon 1 (and Tourbillon $1), the most accessible in-house Swiss tourbillon (less than 8K Swiss Francs), Horage is introducing the Supersede GMT sports watch and its K2 micro-rotor movement. The company believes in community feedback and allows watch enthusiasts to vote on final design elements (colours, finishing, etc.), and Supersede is no exception. Such close involvement with the community is rare in the industry, especially with high-end pieces, and Horage is certainly a rare breed. Let’s have a look at the new Horage Supersede GMT Sports Watch and its in-house K2 Micro-Rotor Calibre.
Starting with the K2 engine, the brand has designed a micro-rotor calibre with a silicon escapement, which includes the hairspring (and escape wheel and anchor). Seen through the sapphire case back, the movement has a stealthy, futuristic aesthetic. Everything is blacked out with contrasting gold coming from the micro-rotor and select gears, and there’s a well-placed jewel on the top plate (HAL 9000 vibe). Decorations include Côtes de Genève and Horage’s signature grid design. It all culminates into one of the slickest looking movements I’ve seen recently.
The movement has 23 jewels, beats at 25,200vph (3.5Hz) with a 72-hour power reserve. Functions include an independently set GMT hand, day/night indicator, power reserve indicator and date. This is a modular movement with 38 possible variations and the base movement is only 3.6mm in height. The K2 is the brand’s third in-house calibre, following the K1 automatic and K-TOU Tourbillon, and all are accurate to COSC specifications: -4/+6 seconds per day. The community can vote on whether the K2 gets an official COSC certification, although it will meet the standard regardless.
The Horage Supersede GMT is an “all-terrain” sports watch, designed to go from the board room to hiking trails to a weekend of diving. It starts with a more unusual 904L stainless steel case (a Rolex favourite) that’s more corrosion-resistant than 316L with a better sheen when polished. It will certainly be very wearable at 39.5mm in diameter and 9.85mm in height, and water resistance is currently rated at 100 metres. Horage is working on doubling that for production models. There’s a rotating diver’s bezel with a detailed 15-minute scale that sports a unique knurled pattern with two rows of bevelled rectangles. The crown is protected by full guards and has the brand’s logo embossed. There’s an integrated three-link stainless steel bracelet that completes the refined, sporty aesthetic, while sapphire crystals cover the front and back. The final bracelet design will be based on the community’s votes – either brushed or polished links.
The dial has multiple complications but remains clean and uncluttered. The GMT hand is about the length of the hour hand and open-worked in lieu of the more common “red triangle” design. Applied indices and the hour and minute hands have Super-LumiNova, along with the triangular marker on the bezel. The seconds hand has an orange tip, matching the day/night indicator’s hand at 9 o’clock. The power reserve indicator sits at 12 o’clock and the date at 3 o’clock. Dial colours will also be voted on with three out of six being chosen for final production – 12:00 (white), 24:00 (black), Jet Stream (grey), Boreal (green), Atoll (light blue), and Transatlantic (dark blue).
Preorders for the Horage Supersede GMT Sports Watch start in November 2021. Early bird preorders will start at CHF 4,500 with a retail price of CHF 6,500. For more information, visit Horage’s website.