To live up to its name of being a true all-terrain sports watch we felt Supersede needed to have a pressure rating to match. Personally I wanted to be able to take it underwater and although I understand 100 meters is enough, I also understand there is a misconception as to what is deemed dive worthy. 200 metres is a nice big round number and is marketed as the benchmark in water resistance throughout the industry, but getting to this in a thin low profile watch isn't easy.
Given that Supersede is fitted with a timing bezel the community has only amplified the desire for a higher pressure rating. Increasing this is no easy feat as history shows. To our knowledge there has not been a 200 metre rated, micro-rotor GMT watch under 10mm in thickness, not to mention the addition day/night indicator, power reserve indicator and calendar. If you find one please let me know in the comments.
From the start of the K2 micro-rotor project Jonas Nydegger our head of engineering has had his eyes set on delivering the high performance K2 at just 2.9mm and the full function GMT version at 3.6mm. It's taken 5 years of engineering to achieve this and with a sound case and seal construction the next goal for Supersede would be to reach 200 metres of water resistance.
Recently Jonas, Andi, Tzuyu and myself sat down to work through the Supersede production milestones. At the top of the list was pressure rating for Supersede as Jonas and the team have been relentless in development. The internal elements of the case and seal kit have been determined and are in the current working prototypes. The next step was to test the watch and make revisions where needed. The case construction has been carefully engineered to ensure it stands the test of pressure, but our major concern has been the amount of exposed crystal which could have the biggest impact on pressure testing. During our meeting we decided the next day we would start with testing.
Did Supersede achieve 200 metres of water resistance?
Our case constructions and seal kits have always served us well up to 100 metres, but now we were headed into uncharted waters with our first ever 200m watch. Needless to say our team has been prototyping every aspect of the watch from the new K2 micro-rotor movement, to the micro-adjustment bracelet and the case.
At the start of June it was time to put Supersede to the pressure test. Our founder and the one we call the "boss" Tzuyu headed into town with three Supersede prototypes to get them tested at a partner watchmaking facility. That afternoon she called to inform me of the result.
"They passed! All of them!" She excitedly told me on the phone. Both of us were hugely relieved. Knowing her I knew she must have made a video with her phone, but in the excitement of the moment she had forgot. However the following week her and Celine went back and tested another and made a video for everyone to see.
The device used to measure the test is made by a Swiss company called Sigma Electronics SA and is the go-to standard in the Swiss watch industry. The watch is placed in the centre and then closed. The chamber is then pressurized to the desired depth rating. As pressure is applied the device measures the strain applied to the watch which is typically placed on the the Sapphire crystal. Once the maximum pressure is reached the chamber holds that pressure for a matter of time to gauge changes in the strain applied to the watch as well as to see if any air pressure changes occur such as air entering the watch. Once the time has passed air is released and pressure returns to normal. The device then provides a pass or fail indication for the watch.
For Supersede the maximum pressure was set to 200 metres and as already stated it passed the test. What we did notice is that there was a minimal amount of strain or deflection on the sapphire as this is normal and occurs under pressure. Having sapphire crystal on both the front and back of the watch made it obvious that there would be some changes in the structure, but we were pleasantly surprised just how well it performed. Typically watches going to 200 metres do not make use of sapphire on the case back because it's easier and cheaper to work with steel and achieve a high depth rating.
With the watches now tested we know 200 metres has been achieved, however as engineers we could not simply stop there. Pressure works both in a downwards and outwards direction therefore the minds at work looked to do the following.
First, it was decided to double the thickness of the o-rings on both sides of the sapphire crystal. These o-rings create a seal between the sapphire and the 904L stainless steel case and case back. As pressure is applied the crystal gets pressed down and this causes it to push outwards to the side of the case. Doubling the o-ring increases material which helps mitigate compression outwards against steel. In addition there is a seal between the case back ring and the case.
The second part we looked at optimizing is the crystal itself. We have decided to increase the inner curvature of the crystal. This change allows for more space between the hands on the dial side and movement on the case back size. As you can see in the above image there is increased space between the hands and crystal. Combined with the increase in o-ring size the Supersede looks to be ready for some time underwater.
It's a great relief that we can keep the 200 metre designation and will be able to deliver as we had hoped to the community.
Whats Next?
The final piece of the puzzle is rotor material and we look to deliver an update to you in the coming two weeks. At some point next week we will receive the rotors from our supplier just down the road.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Till next time...
Landon Stirling
Congratulations to the whole team. I am impressed about how you not only took in the positive result, but also the learnings toward an improved design.
Congrats to the HORAGE team! Great achievment.
Will the Supersede get the ISO 6425 rating?
Why not have the lower power reserve indicator in the same orange as the second and 24h hands instead of read? This would give the design more harmony.
That colored timing bezel on the white model looks dope. Is that going to be standard across the other colors?
This article is really getting me excited. It appears that the Horage team is doing something truly remarkable in the watchmaking industry! Like others here, I’d like to see final accurate shots of the dial colors before I lock in my selection. But that white dial is very tempting!
Hi Landon,
I ordered in the initial VIP Bird round & have really enjoyed the evolution of this very impressive watch & greatly appreciate your regular communications. A few videos back you said that it would be possible to make a final choice of dial colour up to July; like Dan I’m also drawn to the white version (& the green & my original choice of atoll blue 😂) so will it be possible to see photos of the latest dials this week so I can make a final choice?
Cheers
David
This is fantastic news @landonstirling and @tzuyuhuang6! Definitely pushes the Supersede towards being an even more super versatile all purpose tool watch (though with that little bit of elegance for when one is not fooling around 😀).
I presume that the intention is to have 20 bar plus a margin of safety in the final production watches.
Looking at the schematics with the modified crystal curvatures on front and back of the watch, is this change only on the inner surfaces or on the outer too? If on the outer as well, will it make the overall watch thickness slightly larger?
Looking forward to the updates on the rotor. Of course, winding efficiency is paramount but let’s face it, almost nobody buys a watch purely for its mechanical efficiencies. Thus, if gold plated tungsten is by far and away the best material from a mechanistic perspective, then of course it’s the way to go. But if it’s marginal and a precious metal adds that certain aesthetic or intangible extra something, then it would be fantastic to see that in the watch (cost not being prohibitive, obviously).
Either way, it’s exciting to see how this is progressing and look forward to hearing that rotor update.
The white dial is looking good but, personally, I do wish it had black coated hands and markers for legibility. It’s always a bugbear for me on white dials, that few manufacturers get right in my view. I think the normal silver hands and indices are fine on all the other dial colours….
Great achivement Horage team. Will each individual K2 Horage watch be pressure tested or is it done by sample testing? Thanks for the updates 👌
Fantastic news. I never had a doubt. Ordered mine the 1st day and getting more excited with each passing article and day.
I've wondered a few times if I was crazy to spend so much $ on a watch still being developed but every article makes me more comfortable with my decision.
Keep the updates coming and can't wait for December to arrive to get my Christmas gift to myself.
The Supersede is getting better and better each time. I‘m looking quite some time for a watch with gmt and dive functions. Usually you just find big, heavy divers that happen to have a gmt-scale instead of a proper diving bezel. The Supersede effortless combines both functions in a slim and wearable case. Love it!!!
Great to see Florian’s quote. I think you should inscribe that somewhere on the box or materials you package with the Supersede ;) Honestly, pressure rating is a nice-to-know rather than must-have and I wouldn’t want to compromise how the sapphire sits snugly in the case without creating visible edge aberrations with larger seals etc. Lastly an unrelated question about the GMT: is there a reason why the top of the day-night dial is black or is this just custom? Also, have you considered a function to allow changing GMT +/- without pausing or resetting? Maybe I need to locate the forum post that already explains this!
Enjoy reading the updates and how enthusiastic y'all are about the Supersede! I purchased one because it was a GMT and I liked the look all the while knowing it would never be in the water. My only regret may be I didn't order the white dial, that looks gorgeous in the pic; I hope the grey looks as wonderful. Keep up the great work!
Congratulations to the team. I can't wait to see it in real life.
Dear Liam, I don‘t think it will pass 30ATM 😅 and I would like to follow the motto of Florian Serex (our consulter of Strategic Dev. & Industrialization): “IF WE CANNOT CHANGE THE RULES OF PHYSICS, WE CAN HAVE SOME FUN PLAYING WITH THEM.” I believe we have lot of fun together for reaching goals of supersede😉
Good news!
everything is going as it should be with horage, I did not expect anything less from them, they are very capable and they are proving it!! I am surprised to know that the material of the rotor is still being decided, I thought that in the end it was tungsten because it was the most efficient winding the main spring and since the main thing in K2 is EFFICIENCY. whatever material is used, it is going to be gold in color to be consistent with the rest of the caliber, which is why the main idea of gold tungsten was always the best option, even above gold, as it was chosen in his moment... my way of thinking is to prioritize EFFICIENCY in all decisions.
Amazing! Getting me excited and I haven't even pre-ordered....yet
Colors above on the white version are awesome! Is this representative if final choice?
Would it be possible to make the rotor material an option to choose from like the dial color? Say: Gold, Bronze, Platinum..
Great news
This is great news Landon but it was never in doubt that the watch could reach 200m 😉
Did you guys ever think to go further to say 300m given how well it performed to 200m? I think with the changes it is worth a try, don't you think?