2 days ago
Hanhart Introduces the Square by Square, a Limited Edition of Six Prototypes
What do you think of when you think of Hanhart? I think it’s fair to say that for most of us, the watches that come to mind immediately are very distinctly tool oriented watches. Aviation inspired chronographs with that iconic red pusher, simple but tough field watches, and maybe a diver for good measure. And while certainly the brand dabbles in more elegant fare from time to time, a shaped design forward watch like the Square by Square feels very unexpected. But maybe it shouldn’t? We are, after all, in a moment where everyone is trying their hand at stone dials, shaped cases, and generally challenging the sensibilities of a market previously laser focused on sports watches. Hanhart, of course, has been around for a very long time, and the Square by Square’s DNA can be traced back to shaped watches in the brand’s extensive archive. This is, however, a completely new design. The brand worked with Marcus Wiedemann, a Munich based designer they have collaborated with previously, on the Square by Square, which was originally an entry in the Dubai Watch Week x Grail Watch Design Competition. The design wound up being named as a finalist in the (very specific) “Most out-of-the-box, innovative yet viable shaped watch design” category. What we have here is a case that at first presents as a square, but tilted so that it sits on the wrist in a diamond shape. The chief design inspiration here, beyond the Hanhart archives, is the idea of “curved spacetime” and th...