At HD3, Jorg Hysek’s designs have evolved with his tools.

Jorg Hysek, 54, of HD3, began his working life as a painter. These days his canvas is more likely to be a computer, and his artwork – watch design – has evolved into free-form three- dimensional sculpture. One of the most experienced and well-known watch designers still active in the field, Hysek built a solid reputation as a free-lance designer, applying a distinctive mix of aggressive curves to models at several of the major brands, Breguet and Tiffany among them. Hysek launched his own eponymous brand with a business partner in 2000, but after six years he became disillusioned with the company’s direction and resigned.

Throughout that period, Hysek had operated a separate design company, Team Styling, with two gifted young designers, Valérie Ursenbacher and Fabrice Gonet. Together, the three formed HD3 Complication in 2005. Though the trio may occasionally work in concert, each designer has his or her own creative process, and operates independently on HD3’s various projects. “Fabrice and Valérie see what they are going to draw before starting” explains Hysek. “They copy what they see in their heads onto canvas or computer. In contrast, I generally do not know what I am going to do until it is finished – my designs take shape and evolve as they progress”.

When Hysek first entered the watch industry, the act of design was mainly superficial, involving the selection of whatever interesting shapes, colors, and possibilities were available from component suppliers. Movements at that time were off-limits to designers, sealed out of sight behind solid case backs. At HD3, Hysek has grown from never giving the movement a second thought to revelling in its complexity. “I used to think design was just about cases and dials,” he says, “but as we started to demand ever more complex cases, dials, and functionality, the movements had to evolve to follow suit. I now love designing movements because there is so much design detail required – every tiny screw and wheel, all of those plates and bridges needing shapes and finishes”.

The movements that HD3 develops are dictated by the aesthetics of the case and dial, as well as the timepiece’s required functionality. The first collaborative model between the three designers, appropriately named Three Minds, began with an idea to use three disks as indications: the shape of the case and dial and the architecture of the movement all followed from there.

For the actual mechanics, HD3 Complication often works with BNB Concept, perhaps the preeminent specialist in avant-garde movement construction. In the case of Three Minds, BNB had to overcome the inherent friction that often plagues multidisc displays. By making small adjustments to the display and beefing up the power of the base movement, the two companies collectively were able to make the prototype work in just a few months.

The collaboration has brought the designers much deeper into the manufacturing process, a change that has affected the design process itself. When asked if he thinks designing with a sophisticated computer program is easier than the old days of paint and paper, Hysek replies, “It is certainly much faster to change a color or a shape with the computer, but you have to go into much more detail. Even the most intricate painting leaves many things to the imagination. When using a computer you basically have to design everything, absolutely everything”.


Ian Skellern