The Kneijnsberg Hugenius, Honouring the Legacy of Christiaan Huygens

Dutchman Brendan Horneman, an independent watchmaker and teacher at the Dutch national school for watchmakers, goldsmiths and jewellers in Schoonhoven, is set to relaunch his own brand with a brand new, and highly original watch. The Tree of Life was his first work made for the public, back in 2018, under the name Kneijnsberg & Van Eijk. Now moving forward, as Kneijnsberg, Brendan Horneman introduces a watch named after and inspired by one of the most famous Dutch scientists, and a pivotal character in the history of mechanical watchmaking: Christiaan Huygens. Now, 350 years after Huygens’ all-important invention of the balance spring, this legacy is honoured with the Hugenius.

We wouldn’t be where we are today, in regards to watchmaking, that is, if it weren’t for Christiaan Huygens and his invention of the balance spring. Introduced in 1675, his invention would significantly improve the accuracy of clocks and pocket watches, and eventually find its way into the lever escapement, which evolved into the Swiss Lever escapement widely used today. It must be said that at the time of Huygens’ work on the balance spring, British watchmaker Robert Hooke was independently working on a similar concept, and the dispute over who was first continues to this day. Nevertheless, Huygens’ work played a crucial role in the development of mechanical timekeeping. Huygens is also known for his contributions to engineering, physics, mathematics, astronomy and optics, with the latter two coming into play in the Hugenius watch.

The unique feature of the Hugenius is found on the dial side. The black base dial is decorated with a series of rings and scales in white and gold, inspired by Huygens’ work in optics and astronomy. In the centre, there is a depiction of Earth, long believed to be the centre of our solar system. Even though Copernicus already formulated a model of the universe in which the Sun is at the centre, it wasn’t widely regarded as factual until well into the 1700s. But I digress…

Time is indicated by traditional, centrally mounted hour and minute hands with lollipop tips. Or perhaps, a ‘planetary’ tip is a better way to put it, given the topic of inspiration. Then there’s the central seconds hand, which means that so far there’s nothing out of the ordinary. But it’s when we turn to the largest of the four hands that things get interesting. The very tip holds a 4mm-wide magnifying lens, again in reference to Huygens’ optical discoveries and innovations, which passes along seven mythological and astronomical symbols evenly spaced on the outer perimeter of the dial. From noon clockwise, you will see the symbols for Saturday through Friday, represented by Saturn (Saturday), the Sun (Sunday), the Moon (Monday), Tyr (or spear, for Tuesday), Odin (Wednesday), Thor (Thursday) and Freya (Friday).

Adjusting this hand is easily done through the crown. By pulling it out to the first position, and turning it one way, the date indication at 6′ is adjusted; while turning it in the opposite direction moves the hand for the day of the week from one symbol to the next. Pretty clever, simple in construction (on paper) but quite interestingly executed! All this is set in a lightweight grade 5 titanium case of 40mm in width. Along with the bare titanium, there’s a two-tone alternative with a gold-anodised titanium bezel. If you really want to spice things up, there’s also a fully gold-anodised variation, where the contrast comes in the texture of the case versus the bezel. In terms of height, the Hugenius tops out at 11mm, and the lug-to-lug size is 48.5mm from end to end. There’s a domed sapphire crystal on top with an anti-reflective coating, and a see-through caseback to reveal the movement.

And speaking of which, Kneijnsberg uses the tried-and-tested ETA 2834-2 as a base movement, but modifies the day of the week function to be indicated by a hand over the dial rather than a disc underneath it. When running, this hand jumps at midnight, making it easy to set and read. The base movement itself is an adaptation of the fabled 2824-2 automatic by ETA, with the primary differences being the inclusion of a day-of-the-week function. It runs at a rate of 28,800vph and delivers a 42-hour power reserve. The movement has been given a gold-coloured finish to match the decorations and hands on the dial, and potentially the two-tone or full gold coloured exterior.

The rather original Kneijnsberg Hugenius is presented on either a black canvas or black leather strap with a titanium pin buckle. The collection is limited to 350 pieces in total, one for each year since Huygens developed the balance spring. It will be available directly from the Kneijnsberg website for a price of EUR 1,150 excluding VAT. The watch comes in a special presentation box inspired by the Camera Obscura and fitted with a magnifying lens to commemorate Huygens’ optical work once more.

For more information, please visit Kneijnsberg-Watches.com.