Indie Watchmaker Havid Nagan Stages its Debut With The HN00

After two and a half years of solitary development, the brand Havid Nagan and its debut watch finally make their official debut. With no formal training as a watchmaker, Aren Bazerkanian founded his Havid Nagan microbrand in Los Angeles and relies on Swiss manufactures based in La Chaux-de-Fonds to bring his designs to life. Judging from the press images, the inaugural HN00 models deserve a second look. A simple time-only watch, the HN00 comes with colourful, eye-catching guilloché dials. The bold architectural cases are also noteworthy and house the customised Schwarz Etienne automatic movement. 

Unusual Case

The inspiration for the geometry of the case comes, as Aren Bazerkanian admits, from his former career in real estate in Los Angeles. The bold architecture of the HN00 is, in part, motivated by the works of architect Paul McClean whose homes are characterised by rectangular and square shapes with panoramic windows framing the cityscape.

With a diameter of 40.7mm and a thickness of 11.6mm, the tri-partite construction is made of grade 5 titanium with integrated hooded lugs and a water-resistance of 100m. Similar to a cushion-shaped case but with a pronounced stepped profile, the titanium case reveals a pronounced curvature to adapt to the wrist. The rounded bezel surmounting the vertically brushed stepped structure is polished for contrast and frames the eye-catching dials.

Textured & colourful dials

Obsessed with the works and world of Abraham-Louis Breguet, Bazerkanian wanted the dial to honour the decorative technique of guilloché that Breguet famously employed on his dials. Available in three appealing colours – Arka Blue, Jade and Plum – the dials are decorated with a grain d’orge or barleycorn guilloché pattern that radiates from the dial’s centre. They are not actually made using guilloché but stamped to keep costs down and then lacquered and polished to play with the light.

Applied, polished steel indices with a streak of lume down their spines and simple baton-style hour and minute hands – also with Super-LumiNova – indicate the time. The applied logo at noon is a reference to Bazerkanian’s culture and is a representation of the Armenian ‘Arevakhach’ or Sun cross, a spiralling motif that is a symbol of eternity. For many, the lack of a central seconds hand and a date window is irrelevant and contributes to the elegant, clean dial.

Schwarz Etienne automatic

The watch is powered by an automatic Schwarz Etienne movement – calibre ASE 200 – with its off-centred micro-rotor delivering a power reserve of 86 hours. A curved sapphire crystal provides a view of the movement that has been customised for the brand with a dark NAC treatment on the bridges and mainplate for a more contemporary feel. Although there are more traditional finishings like vertical Côtes de Genève and perlage on the mainplate, there is no anglage to keep the price in check. The micro-rotor is inscribed with the word ‘Paradox’, and the barrel cap is decorated with the Armenian Sun cross.

The proprietary leather straps were entrusted to Jean Rousseau and are held in place by two screws on the caseback for a fluid, integrated look.

availability & price

The HN00 Arka Blue is limited to 100 pieces, while the Jade and Plum should become regular members of the fledgling collection. The retail price of the HN00 is USD 8,000, and the watch launches in the second quarter of 2022. As a newcomer to the watch scene, the price is steep. However, we will determine whether this is entirely justified once we get our hands on the watch and look at it in closer detail.

More information at Havid Nagan.