As much as I know you are all still breathlessly awaiting the continuation of the story of the Cartier Cheich that I began a few weeks ago (if you missed Part 1, you can find it here!), I’m still currently awaiting permission to use a few important photos, so this article will just have to tide you over.

Before you go into mourning, let me hasten to add that we’re talking about an extremely exceptional watch here, which I personally believe is on the verge of kicking off a spectacular revolution in the world of watchmaking. Trust me, this will be an article to enjoy.

The watch in question is from the upstart independent Swiss brand Hooke & Huygens, and their new model has been named–with astonishing humility–Coup de Foudre, which can be translated either as lightning strike or love at first sight. Take your pick.

You might be surprised to hear, however, that this is a watch that actually merits its bombastic name. Indeed, this is without a doubt the first time I’ve seen easy, day-by-day customization offered within the watch world. That alone is a true coup de foudre, honestly.

Before we get any further, let’s take a look at the watch, and then I’ll break down what you’re looking at.

First things first. That prominent gemstone you see in the center of the dial? That’s the whole point of this timepiece. Forget about actually telling the time–although you can certainly do that with class, thanks to those lovely shaped and polished hands. The purpose of this timepiece is that great big hole in the center.

A hole? Cut into a watch? As crazy as it may sound, that’s exactly what’s going on here. Here’s another image of the watch, with the center removed:

Hooke & Huygens have designed this spectacular timepiece so that the movement takes the frame of a ring around the hollow center. In the center, you can easily insert a special gem, of which they sell many different options. It will click securely into place and is impossible to remove from the front, so with the watch on your wrist the gem won’t ever come loose. It’s easy to pop out through the back though with just a little pressure, so you can effortlessly change out the featured gem in your timepiece on the daily–or even more often than that, if the fancy strikes you. Just to clarify, this hole goes the entire way through the watch, and is not even covered by anything clear like the sapphire crystal. Inserted gems are held in place by the tolerance constraints of the hollow core.

This is, to be clear, a revolutionary concept. As far as I can recall, nothing has ever been done like this before. Your watch can effectively now be changed as often as you want. As a matter of fact, each different gem that you put in there is a way to give a different identity to the watch.

Enjoying the article so far? Consider subscribing (for free!) to stay up-to-date with everything Remontoir has to offer.

Let’s discuss the watch itself. In the world of customization, there’s one main problem that all brands face: ensuring that anything they produce both meets the desires of the customer and still preserves their design language. While this is particularly true of opportunities like Cartier’s Privée collection that allow watch lovers to create their own iconic Cartier timepiece, it also applies here. The Coup de Foudre needs to be more than just a vehicle to display the prominent gems at its heart. It needs to be, at a glance, immediately identifiable as a Hooke & Huygens, despite being customizable at the whims of its wearer.

Thankfully, the nature of the watch’s own construction lends a significant helping hand to that end. The ring-shaped dial, for one, doesn’t entirely cover the movement, leaving some of it to be seen while it also presents the readable time. The hands, likewise, are distinctive and extraordinarily well-polished: I find them to be one of the most appealing features about this piece.

The watch itself is a bit chunky, to be fair: at 44mm in diameter by 15mm thick, it’s definitely not one you’re going to be discreetly slipping under a shirt cuff. That might raise a few concerns for a guy like me with small wrists, but it’s not so large as to be unwearable for most.

The mirror polishing that adorns almost the entire case and lugs, as well as the hands, greatly contributes to the whole watch feeling like an article of jewelry. With its scintillating shine, each different jewel will manage to feel beautifully integrated into the whole without seeming too much out of place.

I also want to add that if you’re worried about how a watch with a great honking hole cut out of it will hold up in the real world that the Coup de Foudre is cited to be water resistant to 100m, which means you could go swimming with it if you really wanted to, but mostly just that it’ll hold up very well under a rain shower or quite a bit of dust.

Flipping the watch over reveals H&H’s immediately recognizable ring-shaped movement, which is driven by no fewer than eight barrels. That adds up to a power reserve of a whopping 150 hours, just shy of a full week on one full wind. Clearly, the mechanical watchmaking chops are just as good as the design here.

However, I do want to talk about my only major gripe with this watch while we’re on the subject of the movement, and that’s the finishing. Hooke & Huygens have opted for a simple bead-blasted frosted finish over everything, which I can’t help but see as rather starkly industrial. They’ve also chamfered all the edges with diamond cutters, which would certainly elevate the finishing not a little, except that it’s very finely done and is difficult to see from most angles, so the effect is underwhelming.

After all, for a watch that’s so focused on a jewel-like appearance, as well as its literal jewel in the center, I can’t help but wish for a little more shine. In my opinion, some radial Côtes de Genève in place of the frosted finish would be perfect, alongside slightly more pronounced bombé-style chamfers.

With the framing out of the way, let’s chat about the pièce de résistance: none other than the fabulous jewels that you can set into this highly customizable timepiece.

Hooke & Huygens has a lot to offer here. Each watch you order comes with 6 gems by default: a labradorite sphere, a blue quartz sphere, a white brilliant-cut CZ, a steel ball, an H&H logo sphere, and a “personal gem,” which I can only assume is one engraved with your own initials.

Each one of these lovely interchangeable gems has a home in the special walnut collection box that comes with each watch, so you can keep them safely together in one place. While we’re on that note, I’ll also add that each watch comes with three different-colored alligator leather straps. These feature quick-release to boot, so you can just as easily swap out the strap as the gem.

But it’s with the many more gems beyond that “starter park” that H&H has to offer that the customizability of this watch really shines, because there are a lot. There are four different categories for offer: semi-precious gemstones, like lapis lazuli and moonstone; sculptures; brilliant-cut precious gems; and a few “ball gems,” which is their term for spherical-cut metals and pearls.

I want to touch a little more on the middle two options before we move on, because these are really quite incredible. The sculptures are all stunning: small metal forms of anything from a Moai head to an octopus to even, fascinatingly, a hand-painted reproduction of part of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam rendered by Philippe Jacquin-Ravot.

On the note of the brilliant-cut gems, another one of my favorite options is a stunning oversized emerald, which was cut quite a bit larger than most of the other gems and thus creates a beautiful effect of bursting out from the confines of the watch.

These gems, Hooke & Huygens insist, must be bought in sets of 6. For an idea of the price you’re looking at to add some of these accessories to any watch purchase, a set of 6 sculptures will run you CHF 600, 6 natural semi-precious gems will be CHF 300, and the metal spheres can be anywhere from CHF 300 for more industrial metals to a whopping CHF 22,800(!!) if you want various gold and platinum spheres.

Taken as a whole, I’m utterly captivated by this watch. Sure, it may struggle at one or two weak points, like the movement finishing and the prominent case size. But what H&H have accomplished here is actually nothing short of a revolution, should it begin to catch on.

Name any other watches that you can customize, not just once when you order them, but every single day. (Serious respect if you name the Maghnam Mohareb, but that’s the only other one that I can think of. And even then, it’s different–but more on that in a future article. Wink!) This is fundamentally groundbreaking. There are no limits to what this watch can feature and how it can look.

As a matter of fact, Hooke & Huygens actually offer blank frames to fit their Coup de Foudre, which you can take to your local jeweler and have even more options made to be set into it. Heck, even make some yourself, if you’ve got the know-how. The only limit with this timepiece is your imagination.

This is a watch that takes design and puts it in your hands. The skeleton of a Hooke & Huygens is there, but the integral element, the fil conducteur that ties it all together is in your hands. Feeling classy and want a little dressy charm? Pop a lapis lazuli sphere in the middle. Want something just a little goofy? Try their charming Moai head. Feeling dangerous? Lock in their exceptional sculpture of a dragon with emerald eyes.

This is a revolution, but given the name of the brand, we should’ve expected nothing less. It’s named for two of the greatest watchmakers to ever live: Robert Hooke and Christiaan Huygens, both of them stunningly brilliant polymaths who lived in the 17th century. Huygens was the first to invent the pendulum clock, Hooke created the anchor escapement, and both independently invented the balance spring, an invention that completely redefined watchmaking.

H&H have done the same thing here with their Coup de Foudre. Though they’re still an exceptionally small company–just 8 watches were made in 2022–I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to see what they do next.

None of this comes cheap, to be fair. A steel Coup de Foudre will set you back CHF 26,400 (roughly $33,000) while one in gold (white, yellow, or rose) will be a whopping CHF 42,800 (or about $53,400). That’s about the price of an average brand-new car, to put it in perspective. Your wallet is wincing.

But this is a watch that wears many faces. A watch that can be renewed every day, with a different gem or a different strap. A watch that, with enough options, never has to be the same twice. And you get to decide how it looks. Not just once, at its creation, but every day.

That is nothing short of revolutionary.