Hautlence Launches The Vortex Primary Timepiece in Geneva with Eric Cantona

By Pooja Agarwal | January 19, 2016

Renowned ex-footballer Eric Cantona, an ambassador of Hautlence, launched the new multi-coloured and three-dimensional Vortex Primary watch in Geneva at an event on the eve of the opening of Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie 2016 (SIHH).

VIP collectors and select media were in for a treat when they gathered during a snowy evening at Brasserie Da Matteo, to find warmth in the red, blue and yellow colours of the watch.

Why design a watch? “I like to create things, and I love watches” says Cantona. “For the Vortex Primary design, I started with the concept of a cage, as we are, in a way, prisoners of time. With art, one can find the freedom. Also, the idea of making the watch with primary colours is interesting, because by combining primary colours, you can make all colour hues.”

The Vortex Primary displayed at the Carré des Horlogers at SIHH combines Cantona’s strong passion for art with Hautlence’s unique reinterpretation of time, and what is born is a most unique timepiece, that is sculptured like a mechanical piece of art.

This is the second watch, after the Invictus Morphos in 2014, where Cantona and the Swiss watchmaker have collaborated as part of Hautlence’s Concept d’Exception collection.

“When I work on something, I try to find a philosophy. I ask myself ‘what is time?’. I don’t know what it time. And, this is what I wanted to develop in this watch – to use art, to be have freedom from being a prisoner of time,” explains Cantona. “This is a piece of art, where design is important and the mechanism is even more important.”