Horage Lensman 2 Exposure Combines Horology with Photography

It’s safe to say that there are a lot of watchmaking niches out there. Even the most popular categories of watches like diving watches and pilots are by their very nature niche. However, one of my personal kicks is finding watches that explore obscure concepts in new and innovative ways, making for incredibly unique timepieces. Watches like the Brew Watch Co. Metric Retro Dial with its coffee brewing scale or the new Horage Lensman 2 Exposure.

The Horage Lensman 2 Exposure is the ultimate photography companion watch and features a bespoke bezel complication, called an Exposure Calculator, designed to make taking photos easier. As that’s the main focus of the watch, let’s start there. The bezel comprises two separate parts, a bi-directional rotating outer portion and a static inner bezel. The rotating part features two scales, one for ISO (film speed) 25 to 12,800 and one for aperture (f-stop) f/1.4 to f/22. The inner bezel is also split into two scales, one for lighting conditions and the other for shutter speed.

In order to use the Exposure Calculator, you simply set the ISO that you plan to use with the current lighting conditions and then the other two scales will tell you the pairings of f-stop and shutter speed that should be used together. For example, if you’re using ISO 100 in bright sunshine you could use f/4 with shutter speed 2000 or f/11 with shutter speed 250. The lighting conditions part of the scale uses symbols to represent sunshine, cloudy weather, sunrise/sunset, indoors with lights on, indoors with lights off and moon light.

While the best photography I can personally accomplish is a selfie that isn’t blurry, the professional photographers on the staff here at Oracle Time assure me that the readings it gives are useful. However, just because I’m not a photographer doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the complication. I’d love the opportunity to learn photography with this watch on my wrist as a handy cheat sheet for settings I should be using.

Looking beyond the Exposure Calculator bezel, the Horage Lensman 2 Exposure is pretty nice watch too. It has a bi-metallic case with a titanium exo-case and an anodised aluminium inner case in matte black. It measures 39mm in diameter and has a broad square shape with gently curving sides that technically means it’s a tonneau case. The shape, colours and materials used are designed to combine with the circular dial to give the watch the appearance of a slightly disproportioned camera with the body and lens represented. The case is made completely in-house via Horage’s partner facility Paoluzzo Ag.

It’s only now we at last get to the actual timekeeping elements of the watch. The piece features a central hand stack consisting of hours, minutes, seconds and a GMT hand. The regular time hands relate to a 12-hour scale located just inside the inner bezel and the GMT hand relates to a 24-hour scale located just within that, allowing you to keep track of multiple time zones.

There are three colourways available, two standard editions and a special edition produced in partnership with noted photographer and filmmaker Brian Griffin. First, we have the standard version with a black dial, yellow GMT hand, silver hour and minute hands, a silver 12-hour scale and a black inner bezel. Next is the other standard one with a yellow dial, silver GMT hand, black hour and minute hands, black 12-hour scale and yellow inner bezel.

Lastly, there’s the special edition with silver dial, yellow GMT hand, black hour and minute hands, black 12-hour scale and silver inner bezel. Griffin specifically chose the silver colour dial and as one of the foremost photographers and filmmakers of his day (he’s won multiple awards, worked with the likes of Depeche Mode, R.E.M, Ringo Starr and Peter Gabriel and worked on Star Wars projects) he knows a thing or two about looking good.

Beneath the surface, the Horage Lensman 2 Exposure houses the Horage K2 Micro-rotor movement, adapted to include the GMT complication. It’s COSC-chronometer certified with an accuracy of -4/+6 seconds per day and an impressive power reserve of 72-hours.

The movement is visible through the exhibition caseback and shows that the standard editions feature a tungsten rotor while the Brian Griffin edition has a platinum one. The special edition also has an additional engraving on the caseback that reads “Believe in your light – Brian Griffin”. Given the watch, I feel that should be ‘light source.’

As for pricing, it’s a little bit complicated because there are two pre-order periods before the collection hits retail and the standard and special editions each have different prices in each period:

• VIP Pre-Order, May 9-May 12: Standard CHF 4,900, Special CHF 5,900 (approx. £4,380/£5,280)
• Early Bird Pre-Order, June 6-June 9: Standard CHF 5,450, Special CHF 6,450 (approx. £4,880/£5,780)
• November onwards: Standard CHF 5,900, Special CHF 6,900 (approx. £5,280/ £6,180)

It’s worth noting that the special edition also comes with a pack of Brian Griffin’s archive photos, all signed by the man himself.