The Horage Lensman 2 Exposure Brings The Photography-Themed Watch To A Whole New Level

We reviewed Horage’s Lensman 1 a few months ago and were impressed with both the design and price of an in-house, Swiss-made tourbillon. It had a bit of a camera theme with laser-etched numbers on the caseband mimicking an aperture ring, a fixed bezel resembling a focusing ring, an onyx stone inset in the crown that looked like a shutter button and so on. The new Horage Lensman 2 Exposure doesn’t mince words as it wears the camera theme on its sleeve. It’s quite literally a tool for photographers to determine optimal exposure settings, combining form and function in a well-executed package. And not only it is truly new, and makes far more sense than anything else camera-themed we’ve seen so far. 

A Photographer’s Tool

For most people, smartphones are the primary camera as they’re always pocketed and available, but dedicated photographers still rely on actual cameras. A small subset of shooters uses manual settings, so determining the proper exposure becomes an art form left solely to the photographer. There are tools available like electronic exposure meters and the like, but for a truly analogue experience, the Horage Lensman 2 has a bidirectional rotating bezel that’s a functional exposure calculator. 

You can’t have such an innovative design without an innovative photographer involved, so Horage has partnered with legendary photographer Brian Griffin for a special edition of the Lensman 2 Exposure. Griffin is an award-winning shooter that has worked with music icons like Ringo Starr, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., Depeche Mode and more. He also shot a documentary for Paul McCartney in 2004. The special edition of Lensman 2 is dedicated to Griffin with some design tweaks and upgrades and includes special prints by the man himself. 

A Hybrid Bi-Metallic Exoskeleton Case

The design and production of the case went in-house at Paoluzzo Ag, the new partner facility in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. The construction is unique with an outer case of Grade 5 titanium and an inner case of black anodized aluminium, and the contrasting finishes recall the design of old-school medium format cameras. It walks the line between a cushion and a square case, and is truly unlike anything else. The left and right edges curve slightly and the lugs are short and integrated, providing a nice fit on the wrist with a sensible diameter of 39mm (lug-to-lug is also reasonable at 45.8mm).

The rotating bezel has ISO figures from 25 to 12,800 and f-stop figures from 1.4 to 22, covering the most common ranges in photography. A fixed inner ring has icons representing lighting conditions and shutter speeds, so the optimal shutter speeds and f-stops are given when the ISO (film speed) on the bezel is aligned with the lighting conditions – a sun for daylight, for example. A large titanium push/pull crown is easy to manipulate and water resistance is rated at 50 metres. A domed AR sapphire crystal covers the dial, while a sapphire exhibition case back is surrounded by black aluminium. 

Multifunctional Dials

Camera functions aside, this is also a high-end, mechanical 24-hour GMT piece. The dial comes in black or yellow with both 12 and 24-hour tracks, and a lollipop central GMT hand is filled with X1 Super-LumiNova. The hour and minute hands also have Super-LumiNova inserts on the top halves for visibility after dark. The yellow dial features a gradient of black and white markings save for a classic red dot under the ISO designation on the bezel, while the black dial has splashes of yellow on the 12-hour track and GMT hand. There’s a matching black or yellow rubber strap with a deployant buckle. The dials are busy and look like they belong on the top of an analogue camera, but are also very cool, unique and easy to decipher. 

Brian Griffin Special Edition

The Brian Griffin Special Edition is similar to the standard black and yellow dial variants, but has a silver main dial and white markers on the 12-hour track. The GMT hand remains yellow for a bit of contrast and the inner ring showing lighting icons and shutter speeds is a light shade of grey. It comes standard with the black rubber strap, but yellow can be gotten separately. The case back has an engraving of a Griffin quote, “Believe in your light – Brian Griffin.” Extras include a collectible photo box of four signed and numbered Griffin photographs and buyers can choose from one of four curated photo packages. 

A Premium Micro-Rotor

Powering the Lensman 2 is Horage’s in-house K2 micro-rotor, COSC certified (-4/+6 seconds per day) and nicely finished. For starters, it comes with both a silicon escapement and hairspring, 72-hour power reserve and rhodium-plated tungsten micro-rotor, although the Brian Griffin special edition has an upgraded PT950 Platinum rotor. It has 25 jewels, beats at 25,200vph (3.5Hz) and is 3.6mm in height, although the K2 calibre can be configured with 3.3mm and 2.9mm profiles (without GMT functionality). It’s blacked out and stealthy with Côtes de Genève, anglage and Horage’s familiar grid pattern. Lensman 2 is the second watch to feature the K2 micro-rotor after the Supersede integrated GMT sports watch. 

Thoughts

This is certainly an unusual package and blends form and function unlike anything I’ve seen recently. It literally allows photographers to easily calculate exposure settings, while doubling as a luxury micro-rotor 24-hour GMT piece. It’s well-sized at 39mm and still allows all functions to remain legible and very usable. Something like this could’ve easily gotten out of hand with a 45mm or larger case, but Horage brought it under its own roof and made a hybrid luxury watch/camera exposure tool work well on the wrist. The blend of titanium and aluminium keeps it light, and even non-photographers will enjoy the attention that such an unusual piece will attract. 

Availability & Price

The first VIP Preorders for the Horage Lensman 2 Exposure start on May 9^th at 14:00 CET and last for just a few days until May 12^th at 14:00 CET. Prices during this window are CHF 4,900 for the standard piece and CHF 5,900 for the Special Edition. Prices during a second Early Bird Preorder from June 6^th to June 9^th are CHF 5,450 for the standard piece and CHF 6,450 for Special Edition. Retail prices will be CHF 5,900 for the standard piece and CHF 6,900 for the Special Edition. These are truly excellent prices for in-house, Swiss-made micro-rotor watches, not to mention the novel and functional design. 

For more information, please visit www.horage.com.