The Horology Club Teams Up with Toledano & Chan, to Release the Breutalist

Another collaborative project has just launched, and one that is certainly not meant to be conservative. On one side is young indie brand Toledano & Chan, founded by Phil Toledano and Alfred Chan, and focused on bridging conceptual art, brutalist architecture and watchmaking, creating sculptural watches with a design like no other. On the other side is The Horology Club, a global community of passionate watch enthusiasts. The result of both parties’ encounter: the new Toledano & Chan “The Breutalist”, a tribute to both brutalist architecture and Marcel Breuer, the man who had inspired the brand for most of its creations. 

The collaboration watch, aptly named The Breutalist, that’s just been released by The Horology Club and Toledano & Chan, goes back to the very roots of the brand, by being the most focused and sleek version of the brand’s platform, paying tribute to the work of Marcel Breuer and his brutalist masterpiece, the former Whitney Museum building in New York City – specifically the window of the Breuer building. This angular and facetted window, emerging from the minimalistic surfaces of the walls, has been remodelled by Toledano & Chan to become the case of this new model, The Breutalist.

Compared to previous versions of the brand’s signature design, the version created by The Horology Club strips away ornamentation to the max, whether on the case or the dial. For the first time, the case and bracelet are entirely blasted, a matte surface finishing that’s applied to grade 5 titanium, resulting in a darker, concrete-like texture that is perfectly in tone with Breuer’s brutalist work. The case measures 32mm in width, 30.6mm in length and 12.30mm in thickness, including the distinctive facetted sapphire crystal on top. The case is complex, asymmetrical, sharp… Unconventional, to say the least, with a crown on the left side, and, despite the small measurements on paper, it has great presence on the wrist. As said with the rippled solid gold dial here, it is a deliberately impactful watch.

In stark contrast with the matte, raw surfaces of the case, the dial is showing a pristine, unadorned mirror effect, with no other element than the two facetted hands, featuring polished and brushed surfaces for more contrast in all angles. The choice of this mirror-like surface is a tribute to the building’s distinct, angular windows, a reflective element that animates the watch and plays with the reflections created by the angled sapphire crystal.

Inside the case of The Breutalist is a classic automatic movement, the Sellita SW100. Beating at 4Hz and boasting a 41-hour power reserve, it is not the most important element of a watch that’s clearly focused on design rather than high horology. The watch is fitted in an integrated bracelet, also made of matte blasted grade 5 titanium, tapering from 30.60mm at the lugs to 20mm at the clasp. Like the rest of the watch, this single-link bracelet, full of angles and facets, is equally striking and complex, with no two links having the same dimensions.

The Horology Club x Toledano & Chan The Breutalist is a limited edition of 15 pieces, priced at USD 7,500 or HKD 59,000. Allocation details and official release dates will be shared exclusively with members of The Horology Club and select collectors in the coming weeks. For more details, you can contact The Horology Club via its website or [email protected].