The Hanhart Preventor HD12, the Brand’s Vision of a Robust Everyday Watch

The everyday watch… The go-anywhere-do-anything watch… The allrounder… The one-watch collection… A key player for brands that want to widen their audience, and yet a highly complex topic. A company specialising in pilot chronographs, Hanhart has shown consistency in recent years with superbly designed models inspired by the past and fair prices to remain competitive in a crowded market. Today, Hanhart introduces the Preventor HD12, a collection that aims at becoming the brand’s vision of an everyday watch, and it has strong arguments to succeed. 

What defines a perfect everyday watch? Well, it depends, of course, on how you use your watch and in what kind of environment you’ll be wearing it, but some rules remain intangible. An everyday allrounder should be timeless, classically executed, robust enough to survive a summer trip, discreet and compact enough to be worn at the office (as long as you’re not a suit-only guy), precise and resistant. Say hello to the Hanhart Preventor HD12, a watch that does all of that! And without breaking the bank.

Positioned as an extension of the Pioneer collection – which consists mostly of vintage-inspired Flieger chronographs, modelled after military German watches – the new Preventor HD12 fulfils the needs for a classic 3-hand model with a compact case, and yet no compromises on resistance – and not only to pressure but also to daily aggressions. And if it  has a bit of an Explorer vibe (something that has to be seen as a compliment), it also retains most of the brand’s signature design cues.

This new everyday watch is first made for most wrists, with a case that’s 39mm in diameter, barely over 10mm in height and only 46mm in length. The crown and the caseback are screw-down types, ensuring a solid 150m water-resistance. But what matters most beyond this classic, timeless, toolish shape is the material used for the case. As indicated by its name, the Hanhart Preventor HD12 relies on a specific steel alloy, HD12™ steel. Without compromising the corrosion resistance of classic 316L steel and the capacity to finish it with brushed or polished surfaces, HD12 steel has a much harder surface without brittleness. This alloy is then coated with a transparent hard coating (PVD) for additional protection. The result is a surface hardness of up to 1200 HV (Vickers hardness), compared to 220 HV for conventional 316L steel.

For the dial, the Preventor HD12 is all about a no-nonsense design with classic Hanhart cues. Designed as a time-only, no-date watch, it’s sharp, legible and timeless. The cathedral hands and the large Arabic numerals align with the brand’s historical collections, highlighted with the vintage logo. It’s available in two different matte colours, either black or blue. The Preventor HD12 can be worn on either a leather strap with a Bund-like plaque (which can be removed) or a stainless steel bracelet with a transparent hard coating (PVD) and a surface hardness of up to 1000 HV.

Inside the case is a solid automatic movement sourced from Sellita. This SW200 calibre (a clone of the ETA 2824) is here presented in a version without date and no ghost position on the crown. It is regulated by Hanhart to 0/+8 seconds per day.

Available now from the brand as part of the permanent collection, the Hanhart Preventor HD12 is competitively priced at EUR 995 on a leather strap and EUR 1,195 on a steel bracelet (incl. taxes). For more details, please consult www.hanhart.com.