“Make it simple”

On Tuesday 26th November 2024, Horage will be proudly introducing the all-new Omnium K2 37mm to the world. It will be powered by a new version of the the industry leading Horage K2 Micro-Rotor calibre, the K2 2.9mm, the thinnest version of the K2 calibre to date.

Before we unveil this all-new model, we asked for the thoughts of the Founder and Co-CEO of Horage Tzuyu Huang.

Without further ado, over to Tzuyu.

“You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple” Steve Jobs

The Omnium was the very first Horage watch, which we started to develop in 2006, and with 18 years of experience I have learnt an important lesson - “make it simple”

How it all began....back in 2006 when the designer showed me their initial sketches, I thought, “I’m being taken for a ride”.

Above: The initial Omnium sketch from 2006

It was so simple, but we were looking for a signature design for Horage, one that people would remember in 10, 20 or even in 100 years. I was asked, “Are you sure you want to start working on this design? It will be very difficult to produce!”

We spent a long 2 years building that very first prototype, I worked with a prototyping specialist based in Le Locle who had 40 years of experience. The Omnium case was designed in a very classical watchmaking manner, with the addition of sharp, clean edges to give it an elegant, modern look.

Above: Hand Drawn technical drawing of the prototype Omnium case

A simple case requires perfect proportions, which are very much related to the size of the movement....

We trialled the thin Vaucher Manufacture movements in 2007, but when Hèrmes bought a 25% stake, that ended the ability to work together.

Above: The completed prototype of the Omnium with handmade case

Above: Early sketches of the automatic winding rotor design from 2007

 Above: Case back of the original Omnium prototype from 2007 featuring the Vaucher Manufacture movement.

 In 2009, we decided to use the Soprod ETA 2892 base movement as our own in-house K1 was still in the design and development process. In 2015 after many years of work and investment, of both time and money, K1 was ready to be launched, we re-designed Omnium into both a 40mm and 32mm case. But still there were compromises we had to make. The journey to search for the perfect proportions continued.

Above: The original Horage K1, our first in-house calibre

The idea for the K2 Calibre was originally conceived back in 2015 as we finished the K1, but at that stage we didn't have the time or resources to develop it, as the K1 was in the industrialisation phase which took us another 3 years of hard work.

The development of the K2 calibre was finally finished in 2021, and we immediately took action to use it for an Omnium which I believed it could turn out to be a perfect proportion. Even then it did not come easily, we started with a 38mm case, the initial prototypes were terribly boring, with no attractiveness, the finer details were not resulting in the desired perfect proportions I so wanted. I seemed that everything was going wrong ...

The design team were struggling with where the problem lay. 38mm should be a perfect size, the K2 being very thin at 2.9mm, railway minutes track gives a classic look, the handwritten numerals should give a handcrafted touch... but still the prototype was just boring, flat, emotionless. What was wrong?

Above: The Horage K2 Micro-Rotor in-house Calibre

A year later in 2022, I called the design lead and said, “I think we need to go for a 37mm case, that's the key thing we need to change”. There were thousands of operations involved in this simple change. How do we get the case thickness under 8mm? How do we find the best angle for the lugs? How do you get the largest visible opening out of such a small case? We needed a very steep dial rehaut ring, not to mention we would have the problem of printing a "square" frame on the steep side of it… thousands of operations and technical solutions had to be developed and worked on.

It took us another 2 years.

On Tuesday 26th November you will see the results of 18 years hard work and a dedication to the task. A classic and elegant yet very simple watch, which is far from boring, it is relaxed, attractive, timeless and most importantly it is easy to wear.

To celebrate this accomplishment, and in a first for Horage, the all-new Omnium K2 will be offered with a PT950 Platinum case, a material that is extremely difficult to work with, and seldom used due to this. It complements the 18kt 3N Yellow Gold case and of course the 904L Stainless Steel.

I sincerely hope that you will love and enjoy the all-new Omnium K2 in 37mm, it’s the product of many peoples hard work and dedication over the last 18 years, and we are immensely proud of it. Please do visit the forum at 14:00 on Tuesday 26th November 2024, where we’ll finally fully reveal the all-new Omnium K2 37mm watches.

Before we end, and just for fun, here's a little teaser of whats to come...

Above: Coming on Tuesday 26th November 2024

Please do leave your thoughts and any predictions on the Omnium K2 37mm in the comments below, we look forward to hearing what you think will be launched in a few days’ time.

Until Tuesday, All the best,

David, Tzuyu and all the team at Horage.