PhotoHorage
TextWenchien Wu
In 1998, the Taiwan-born entrepreneur Tzuyu Huang ventured to Switzerland, the home of watchmaking, to better provide ODM services. She worked with factories in Tainan and took orders from established brands, giving her a comprehensive understanding of the watchmaking industry.
As a courageous and visionary businesswoman, Huang always wanted to create a watch brand and be able to control everything from production and manufacturing to sales. In 2006, she began exploring the possibility of starting her brand with her husband. From Huang’s initial thought of creating a watch brand to this day, Horage is now an independent watch brand that can produce three in-house calibers and has successfully sold Tourbillon watches.
A Pioneering Move of Self-Manufacture Caliber
In the past 50 years, no new caliber has been designed in Switzerland due to the loss of technical talent after the quartz crisis and the monopoly of original caliber designs by consortiums.
Horage's founder, Tzuyu Huang, said that many major brands had invested more than a decade with hundreds of millions of dollars in an attempt to self-manufacture calibers and failed in the developmental stages. Therefore, for Horage, a new brand that doesn’t have more resources than large conglomerates, setting out to create a new caliber is an incredibly enormous undertaking.
It took Horage a decade of all-in effort to produce a stable, mass-producible caliber, the K1. The K1 received high praise from the Hayek family of the Swatch Group, pointing out that “The K1 is the only Swiss mechanical caliber currently in industrial mass production and on a par with Rolex and Omega.”
From Unknown to Renowned
Horage did not stop at the initial success of the K1. The new K2 caliber is equipped with a micro-rotor with a more mechanical and handcrafted aesthetic.
With 12 years of hard work under the belt, Horage decided to develop the first tourbillon caliber, the K-TOU, and sold the Tourbillon I through crowd-funding. This 260 limited edition Tourbillon Is will be remembered as the first batch of tourbillon watches Horage has ever made, handcrafted from the caliber.
Horage's Impression of its’ Customer Base
When asked about Horage’s customers, Tzuyu Huang smiled and said that they had actually imagined what Horage's target customers would look like since the beginning. They should be business travelers who travel internationally looking for practicality, comfort, precision, and beauty.
With this in mind, Horage's watches are designed with the customers’ needs in mind. Coincidentally, the first customer who bought Horage’s first watch fits the impression perfectly and shows that Horage’s brand identity is accurately projected to the watch market customer base.
Horage has all-around products for customers of different age groups. Customers aged 25 to 35 can consider the Array series as it is more suitable for daily wear, while female customers might favor the Omnium 32, one that complements good fashion.
Customers aged 35 to 50 can try the Autark series, made of titanium alloy and designed with lightweight in mind. For the design-conscious minds, the Solar Wind is an astrological dial with personalized features that stands out.
Helping Young Watchmakers
Horage is always willing to nurture new generations of watchmaking talents. Unlike the gap in Swiss watchmaking techniques created by past historical events, Horage believes that the future can only be seen by passing the craftsmanship onto the next generation.
Many young watchmakers have been able to hone their skills at Horage. Furthermore, Horage is always willing to sponsor young watchmakers if they wish to pursue new educational opportunities and bring new ideas to the watch industry.
The future of Independent Watchmaking Is Within Our Grasp
With all the miracles Horage had produced, its most recent progress comes. The pre-order launch of the Lensman 1, a tourbillon watch that combines the design of a camera and a watch with the theme of photography. Let’s see what Horage has in store for us in the future of watchmaking!
Horage's founder, Tzuyu Huang, said that many major brands had invested more than a decade with hundreds of millions of dollars in an attempt to self-manufacture calibers and failed in the developmental stages. Therefore, for Horage, a new brand that doesn’t have more resources than large conglomerates, setting out to create a new caliber is an incredibly enormous undertaking.
It took Horage a decade of all-in effort to produce a stable, mass-producible caliber, the K1. The K1 received high praise from the Hayek family of the Swatch Group, pointing out that “The K1 is the only Swiss mechanical caliber currently in industrial mass production and on a par with Rolex and Omega.”
From Unknown to Renowned
Horage did not stop at the initial success of the K1. The new K2 caliber is equipped with a micro-rotor with a more mechanical and handcrafted aesthetic.
With 12 years of hard work under the belt, Horage decided to develop the first tourbillon caliber, the K-TOU, and sold the Tourbillon I through crowd-funding. This 260 limited edition Tourbillon Is will be remembered as the first batch of tourbillon watches Horage has ever made, handcrafted from the caliber.
Horage's Impression of its’ Customer Base
When asked about Horage’s customers, Tzuyu Huang smiled and said that they had actually imagined what Horage's target customers would look like since the beginning. They should be business travelers who travel internationally looking for practicality, comfort, precision, and beauty.
With this in mind, Horage's watches are designed with the customers’ needs in mind. Coincidentally, the first customer who bought Horage’s first watch fits the impression perfectly and shows that Horage’s brand identity is accurately projected to the watch market customer base.
Horage has all-around products for customers of different age groups. Customers aged 25 to 35 can consider the Array series as it is more suitable for daily wear, while female customers might favor the Omnium 32, one that complements good fashion.
Customers aged 35 to 50 can try the Autark series, made of titanium alloy and designed with lightweight in mind. For the design-conscious minds, the Solar Wind is an astrological dial with personalized features that stands out.
Helping Young Watchmakers
Horage is always willing to nurture new generations of watchmaking talents. Unlike the gap in Swiss watchmaking techniques created by past historical events, Horage believes that the future can only be seen by passing the craftsmanship onto the next generation.
Many young watchmakers have been able to hone their skills at Horage. Furthermore, Horage is always willing to sponsor young watchmakers if they wish to pursue new educational opportunities and bring new ideas to the watch industry.
The future of Independent Watchmaking Is Within Our Grasp
With all the miracles Horage had produced, its most recent progress comes. The pre-order launch of the Lensman 1, a tourbillon watch that combines the design of a camera and a watch with the theme of photography. Let’s see what Horage has in store for us in the future of watchmaking!