Supersede is one thing, but it's the little things that help make this project special. Since first announcing the watch in the autumn of 2021 a lot has taken place and over a year later all the details of the watch have been carefully refined and the first pre-order watches for customers are now being completed.
The K2 micro-rotor calibre is incredibly beautiful.
During this time we have had you, the community, vote on various aspects of the watch. The 904L stainless steel bracelet finish of either brushed or polished centre links and another vote on rubber straps were both parts of the voting process. Both the two bracelet finish options and an array of colours in the strap options have now been made available, however, the question that many asked is about how to change from the bracelet to the strap.
Images above from the Supersede voting results in November 2021. You can view all the votes here.
Supersede Tool
For Supersede we opted for a hex screw system to fix both the bracelet and the straps to the watch case. The hex screw was utilized as it has six sides to it and this means there are more gripping points for a bit to anchor to and fewer chances of stripping a screw or slippage when changing the strap. The other reason for use of such a system was to have the utmost security on the wrist. With this system simply sending a screwdriver with the correct size bit on the end was not enough as the risk of you slipping and scratching a case was quite high considering the size of these screws and also how they are sunken into the lugs. To ensure you had the best experience possible we did a lot of research and in the end, we decided to go all in and make our very own tool for you.
Render of the tool to be created
Having engineers and machinists in-house that make their own tools for building movements meant that our team was more than equipped to engineer and make a prototype ready for a supplier to make. Our young Bavarian machinist Lorenz has been working hard learning and implementing everything along the way. The learning curve at Horage is a bit like drinking from the firehose and I suppose his experience with Oktoberfest is helping with the matter.
Lorenz transitions from machinist to watchmaker when needed.
Never one to back down, Lorenz jumped at the opportunity to bring the Supersede tool to light. When he asked me when the first prototype should be completed I jokingly replied "tomorrow". To my surprise, he did just that and had the first albeit, rough prototype complete. As a machinist, Lorenz is a metal guy and this means he was very much at home with this project. A lighter cheaper version of this tool could have been made if it was with plastic, but the timeline to completion mixed with our desire to deliver an incredibly high-quality product meant we needed to go full metal.
The first prototype finished in record time.
Making the drawings, and programming the machine to mill the parts and assembly Lorenz managed it all in stride.
Maria, a watchmaker who works in quality control and supplier relations was then able to take Lorenz's drawings and prototype to various suppliers which helped fast-track sourcing and the move to series production. Much of the issues in new product development are prototyping and tooling. Maria and Lorenz worked with existing hex bits manufactured in Germany and brought the prototype to a large-scale facility where production could be turned out quickly. The two of them saved a huge amount of back and forth and this project albeit little in the grand scheme of things once again justified our continued investment in minds and machines.
1st and 2nd prototypes side by side.
Final production version.
How does it work?
The strap change tool is designed to have two anchor points. The first point is a fixed hex bit in the base of the tool, held in place with a magnate and it does not turn. The second is more like a screwdriver that slides through a metal ring to ensure it is positioned perfectly for absolute accuracy when unscrewing or screwing in the hex screw. As you can imagine/see two hands are needed. One hand to position the Supersede's lug on the bottom hex bit and then the other to depress the screwdriver head to the hex screw on the top side. When everything is secure you can then start to unscrew the hex screw.
The hex screws are quite small so be sure to change straps over a dark flat surface in case the screw falls out once unscrewed. Once unscrewed you will need to remove the strap bar. Our watchmakers find it easiest to use the tool to push on the bar as this allows for enough of the bar material to be exposed. With your fingers, you can now pinch the bar and remove it from the strap. With the bar removed, you are now ready to reverse the procedure with another strap or bracelet. To do so slide the bar through the lugs and strap. You might find that a little pressure is needed to be applied when pressing the bar and the screwdriver portion of the tool can be utilized for this. When it is fully through you can then screw the hex screw back into place.
The hex screws are quite small therefore we recommend a tweezer for holding the screw in place rather than your fingers.
Looking in at a box of fresh Supersede tools.
The tool will be in this protective paper pouch in your Supersede box.
When first announcing the Supersede project we had not anticipated the engineering and production of a strap-changing tool and therefore it was not calculated in our overall production cost. Nothing was spared on its production and even though this tool has overshot our production costs we feel it's a nice little extra for all those that supported us in the pre-order rounds.
The tool ships with all Supersede pre-orders and later it will be available in our store for 175 CHF.
User Manual
You can check out how the tool will work with your Supersede in the user manual.
For your convenience, we have created both a pdf and video version of the Supersede user manual. To view the pdf simply go to https://www.horage.com/service-center and click on the "User Manual" option on the right side of the menu. Supersede should be the first option to populate.
Yesterday I just finished the user manual video and you can view it on our YouTube channel. There is a lot to digest in there and I hope you find it helpful when setting up your watch. Lenny is fluent in German and French with English as his third language. He pronounces things a little differently thanks to his cool accent, but don't fret I will work to ensure we get accurate subtitles in English as well as a few other languages for you.
We tried to cover all the details for you, but in case we missed something we will do a live stream in the future times to go through the setup of the watch and answer any questions you might have.
At the 08:30 minute mark of the user guide video below, Lenny shows you how the Supersede strap change tool works.
First Watches
It's quite exciting as we recently received the first movements back from COSC. We have had a few customers already pick up their watches from us and
more are to be shipped over the holidays. Our assumption was that COSC would continue to run over the holidays, but they informed us on our last delivery of movements that they will be closed from December 23rd to January 9th. They will resume certifying movements in the New Year and that means by late January we will plan to have up to 200 Supersede watches delivered of course continuing on until all watches are finished.
The timing is working quite well considering the many challenges that we needed to overcome for this project. Completing the first movements for the date of November 28th was imperative as we could then deliver them to COSC for certification.
For those that are not familiar with the COSC process, it takes approximately 15 days for the movements to be certified. Then we must apply the micro-rotor, assemble the watch and do a final control on the watch. You can read up on the COSC process here.
If you are wondering when your watch with ship Celine and Tamara will be reaching out to confirm the details of your shipment. There are a few hundred to prepare and we must complete each watch, one at a time therefore as they complete they will be going out the door.
We thank you for your support and patience.
With 2023 just around the corner we wish you all much happiness and health in the New Year and for those of you that celebrate Christmas, we wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas.
Till next time...
Landon Stirling
Thanks for this and all the other updates. You’ve really kept us in the loop and made us feel like part of this amazing process.
Following along since well before my Early Bird order I can’t wait. Here’s hoping it can make it by my Jan 27 birthday so I can post pics.
Happy new year!! And here’s to a successful 2023!
It sure would be nice to have mine by the time that I head to Australia from the US on the sixth of January. It is, after all, what my second Horage watch was built for. ⌚️😉
Hi Landon and Team!
Been a while since I've posted, but I've been following along every step of the way. The strap changing tool design was something I had asked about on several occasions, and I am delighted to see how far down the rabbit hole you guys went into designing a custom tool that is uniquely engineered to address the challenges of switching out a bracelet that has retaining screws on both sides. The fact that the bits can be replaced, also makes it a universally versatile tool that can be used with other watches or in other applications. Although let's be realistic... why would you need another watch once you have a Supersede... unless it's another Horage, of course! 😉
It's even more rewarding and appreciable that you decided to include the tool at no additional charge for those that have already pre-ordered the watch. As always, you guys have spared no expense or effort to please your supporters, from dial and hand colour configurations, to strap colours and bracelet finishes, to offering a choice of rotor in either tungsten or platinum (and at a significant discount over retail, no less), and now a dedicated, proprietary strap changing tool (in addition to whatever other revisions and improvements have been made that I may have forgotten or missed, for which I apologize if I did).
As for certification, the fact that some of the movements will not get certified over the holidays is probably a blessing in disguise. Take the time off if you can, and enjoy it with your loved ones. I'll be raising a toast to you guys and to the continued success of Horage!
Best Regards,
Michael Greto
Congratulations! Supersede hitting retail production is a massive milestone! Can’t wait for mine :)
Out of curiosity how did the first batch fare for COSC?
happy holidays!
I may not be in the market to purchase a timepiece @ this point but I would certainly purchase the watch strap tool should they become available as a stand alone product in the future.
This is very exciting. Thanks for the additional goodie/strap changing tool. Tamara, Celine, my birthday is Jan 6th 😉 Happy holiday season to all at Horage and on the forum
Impressive job, along with the now expected excellent customer support from your team. Really looking forward to getting mine. Hope the whole team has a Merry Christmas and looking forward to all the Horage updates/news in 2023.
Hilarious, Drinking from the firehose... 🤣 indeed this is what we do here at Horage... as we have a high degree of Bavarian subculture here in our company we are perfectly trained to drink beer in larger volumes namely the "Mass". Looking forward into 2023 to report from the machine room of Horage.