The process of creating products is a funny business. Of course, deeply rewarding but at the same time also somehow disconnected. As our first MicroReg equipped timepiece gets closer to becoming a physical reality, shipped to, enjoyed and intensely used by our customers so we already find ourselves mentally several years further along the product development cycle.

 Micro Reg, or to use its full and we’ll allow ourselves to say this thoroughly humble title: “Revolution 3.0 MicroReg”, has been the most ambitious and quite frankly scary project that HORAGE has embarked on yet. Kind of like when we view the tech with which humans were blasted into space decades ago from today’s perspective and ask ourselves: how did they even survive!! OK, our staff were never exposed to danger-of-life risks from exiting and re-entering earth’s atmosphere, but we’re quite sure that in 30 years’ time, we’ll look back and say: Did we really do all of that? With such a small team!

Micro Reg is not just another new watch. It’s a quantum jump in horological concepts and ambition, enabling mechanical watch fans and their makers to finally achieve the dream of zero timekeeping deviation. Its scope goes way beyond what any watch brands, small or large have hitherto imagined. It allows the mechanical timepiece we know and love to seamlessly integrate into the modern world of software, smartphones and 21st century owner useability all without compromising the pure clockwork nature of a traditional timepiece.

The quest for mechanical timepieces to achieve perfect accuracy goes back for centuries. We are very close to closing the chapter which was arguably opened in 1714 when the British government offered a prize of £20,000 ( equivalent to US$ 5.4 million today) for the first person to create a method of reliably determining longitude at sea. This required a watch which was highly accurate and not affected by gravity or the rolling motion of a ship. A horological arms race ensued which culminated with John Harrison’s H5 marine chronometer pocket watch finally awarded full payment in 1773 (only following the personal intervention of King George, unreliable governments it seems, is not a new thing).

Speaking of dates: we announced our “Quest to Zero” in July 2024 but at this time our team had already been deep in development for multiple years. The arrival of the Swiss national TV broadcaster at our atelier some weeks later was proof both that our idea was as significant as we’d thought but also that others outside our watch bubble understood its potential. Let’s not forget: watchmaking is the third largest export industry for Switzerland and represents 4% of its GDP.

HORAGE was in a unique position: we had developed and already manufactured a series of modern, high-performance calibres in-house (without this foundation MicroReg could never have happened). As a company owned and led by watch industry ‘outsiders’ we were dedicated to thinking outside of the box and disrupting (in a creative not destructive way) the often stuffy and conservative world of Swiss watchmaking. Lastly and significantly we also had a skillset and background in software development: which gave us both the skills and guts to take on a project which was a 50:50 split in making metal and re-arranging 1’s and 0’s.

What has happened in the two years between announcing the project and penning this piece? Multiple teams across different countries have dedicated thousands of human-hours. It’s safe to say the whole company is working hard to get this project over the line (a line, which is of course just the beginning….).

Firstly, the calibre itself: although based on our regular K2 micro rotor movement the K2 MicroReg calibre is a completely new engine requiring 127 new parts. Many extremely challenging engineering hurdles have been overcome by the team. For example, how to make the conduction plate for the MicroReg actuator, a part with a material thickness of 0.05mm (half a human hair) but a highly complex 3-dimensional form or what materials could deliver the required performance for the earthing terminal on the case to allow 100 metres water resistance (a value we were not prepared to compromise on).

Theoretical construction using computer modelling software is of course only part of this puzzle. Components need to be physically made and as much as we consider ourselves modern in mindset HORAGE has a refreshingly old-school mindset in aspiring to a high degree of vertical integration and making parts makeable. Our engineers are regularly dispatched to the machine rooms and watchmaking stations so that they fully appreciate this art! 

In parallel to making physical things two teams have been furiously writing, testing and breaking the backend code and consumer UI required to bring MicroReg to a reality. Our project development partner MiniSwys have dedicated an entire team to this task, who physically relocated to our atelier to turbocharge this process. Collaborating with our engineers and watchmakers they have created an entire ecosystem of firmware, electronics, hardware, testing and assembly tools. A huge and in our opinion unparalleled achievement: Chapeau to the MiniSwys team for making this happen.

Curiously, the only physical evidence of this groundbreaking work that our customers will likely experience is the so-called ‘Device’ (got any more imaginative name suggestions?…..Drop us a line). This unassuming looking gadget allows the digital world to monitor, calibrate and correct the mechanical watch and has over 100 individual electronic components on the PCB).

Using the device and their smartphone, MicroReg owners can monitor their watch and over a period (we recommend minimum of 10 days initially) develop a unique user profile 100% specific to their lifestyle. How you travel, move, the humidity, temperature, altitude: the number of variables that can affect the accuracy of your mechanical watch is considerable.

We’ll finish off with perhaps the most essential information for those of you who have supported the project by pre-ordering a watch: when are we shipping!?

Three-hundred Horagology fans have made the leap: we will commence shipping late October 2026. At this time, the special-pre-order price will close. Four batches of 75 pieces will be made and shipped on a first ordered first shipped basis.

Batch 1 – Late October (watch ordered up to 19th Sept 2024 )

Batch 2 – Mid November (watch ordered 22nd Sept to 24 Feb 2025)

Batch 3 – Late November/early Dec (watch ordered 25th Feb 2025 to 5th Aug 2025)

Batch 4 – Late mid Dec (watch ordered 11th Aug 2025 to today)

So, every MicroReg pre-order customer will be getting an incredibly special Christmas gift for 2026…..albeit from themselves!

If you missed our recent YouTube live broadcast we recommend you allocate an hour of special “me” time to listen & watch (see how many time related puns we can squeeze into one sentence!).

Follow the link

Revolution 3 MicroReg: The MEGA Update!