Question: Why do ultra high-end timepieces always have to be polished and shiny? Answer: They don’t. The proof? Romain Gauthier’s Enraged limited editions: Logical One Enraged and Prestige HMS Enraged.

Logical One is Romain Gauthier’s Grand Prix de Genève-winning creation that contains a snail cam and friction-minimising ruby-link chain to offer nearly two days of constant force. Its in-house movement, visible dial side and through the display back, is ingeniously wound using a caseband pusher. It features hours and minutes on an off-centre subdial and small seconds, plus a 46-hour power reserve indicator on the back.

Prestige HMS – hours, minutes and seconds – boasts a partly open dial and display back offering mouthwatering views of Romain Gauthier’s in-house Calibre 2206 HMS, notable for its large-diameter crown configured ‘flat’ on the caseback for increased winding efficiency. The absence of a protruding caseband crown lends the timepiece a distinctive, streamlined profile.    

For his Enraged limited editions, Romain Gauthier has taken Logical One and Prestige HMS and given them a bold, sporty makeover, with the watchmaker drawing on the automotive industry for inspiration.

“I’m an avid car fan and admire many of the limited-edition supercars created by automobile companies,” says Gauthier. “These projects give carmakers licence to express the edgier side of their creativity, allowing them to break with convention and build something outside of the box. I felt there was nothing stopping me from doing the same, so I developed the concept for these Enraged limited editions.”

Let’s start with the high-performance engines of these revved up timepieces. The movement plates and bridges feature hand-created, rounded bevels and hand-created jewel countersinks in keeping with tradition. But Gauthier has treated them with a decidedly less-than-traditional, light-absorbing matte-black finish.

The displays are also darkened and matte-finished: Prestige HMS’s louvred brass dial has been hand-frosted then blackened, while for Logical One the same hand-frosting technique has been used to playfully turn the enamel subdials from a glossy black into a rough-textured grey. The hour, minute and second hands are, naturally, matte black, and even the R.Gauthier logo has taken on a spiky form, in appearance and attitude.

As for the bodywork, Gauthier has chosen to machine the cases from robust yet lightweight Grade 5 titanium, which has been matte black PVD-treated. The treatment here doesn’t see light being totally soaked up. In fact, the grainy texture created by sand-blasting provides a subtle, intriguing sheen. Even the crowns and, in the case of Logical One Enraged, the winding pusher, bear this rugged, eye-catching finish.

The most outrageous supercars are destined for only a special few. Likewise, Gauthier has ensured the exclusivity of these timepieces by creating both Logical One Enraged and Prestige HMS Enraged in three editions – with dark accents, red accents or orange accents – with each edition limited to just five pieces.

Gauthier recognises that these Enraged limited editions are not for the faint-hearted. “They have character,” he says. “To wear one is almost like wearing a tattoo. They are quite a brutal expression of self-affirmation.”

Enraged: Watchmaking at full throttle!