Precision Timing Chronograph Watches | HILTS

In an era where conformity and generic designs dominate, something has been lost. Charisma and sophistication have become rare, leaving a longing for those iconic styles of the past.

Suit up and step into the cockpit of a timeless world of vintage cool.

With superb craftsmanship, the Hilts chronograph is engineered for exceptional reliability. Diashock spring loaded shock protection and a durable movement ensure minimal wear and tear, even with regular use.

We cut out the middleman to reduce cost and maximize your value. But more than that, we cut out those layers so we can connect directly to you.

316L marine grade stainless steel casing, anti-reflective scratch-resistant sapphire crystal that can only be scratched with a diamond, Swiss super-luminova for ultimate low-light visibility, quick release bio-leather strap, and water resistant to 100m.

We love mechanical watches, but mechanical chronographs are very expensive and often unreliable. If we’d have made this a mechanical chronograph, we’d have to sell it for around 3x the price, which would be a difficult spot for a new micro-brand. In addition, the common mechanical chronographs have about a 12-15% defect rate, whilst a quartz chronograph has a defect rate of less than 1%.

The Hilts chronograph boasts design features not seen on other watches. Matte sunburst dial framed with a raised fine-brushed tachymeter scale. Polished case finish. Neatly integrated buttons located within a diamond pattern engraving on each of the flanks.

Each Hilts chronograph is made to order in the USA, ensuring quality and supporting local jobs. The buttons offer a notable tactile click, while the central second hand sweeps smoothly. The date window is displayed at 6.

Limited to just 1,000 pieces, each made to order Hilts chronograph is designed to be highly exclusive, and sought after by collectors who value unique and rare timepieces.

I inherited a small collection of watches from my Breitling-loving dad, including a beautiful old Navitimer.

My dad has an auto repair business, but his real passion is restoring classics like Mustangs, Jaguars and Cobras. So my love of chronographs with their motorsport heritage meant that the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree!

As I got a bit older, I was drawn to the era’s elegance, and the iconic personalities of the time.

I started looking for watches that captured their spirit, but found high prices, low durability, and a lack of quality design. So what did I do? I spoke to a couple of like-minded friends. Together, we set out to craft the kind of watches we’d like to wear, because we knew there were other people out there just like us.

High Visibility – Swiss super-luminova for day or night use. Matte sunburst dial framed with a raised fine-brushed tachymeter scale.

Invincible – Scratch-resistant sapphire, 316L marine-grade steel, 100m water resistance and diashock spring loaded shock protection.

Precision Timing – Sweeping second hand beating 4x/second along with two sub-dials displaying elapsed time down to ¼ second.

The color’s motorsports origins are from the early part of the 20th century, when the speed limit in the UK was just 12mph! Consequently, the Brits held their road races in Ireland, and in tribute adopted the color of the Emerald Isle for their cars in international competition.

Legend has it that the inaugural Monaco GP of 1929 was the first appearance of the color we now know as British Racing Green. We can thank William Grover-Williams for that. He resprayed a traditionally light blue Bugatti green, and the rest as they say is history.

A tribute to Richard James David “Dickie” Attwood. Starting out as an apprentice at Jaguar, he first raced in 1960. Working his way up the classes to Formula One and Sports Cars he was the winner of the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans. Attwood was driving a Porsche 917, the first of Porsche’s record 19 victories at the famous race.

Attwood would later go on to be recruited by Steve McQueen to appear in the movie Le Mans. McQueen’s car in the film, also a Porsche 917, was painted in the Gulf blue, orange and white livery.

Our reverse-panda gets its name in homage to The Indianapolis Motor Speedway or ‘The Brickyard’. The home of the Indy 500, the Brickyard 400, the Verizon 200 and formerly the home of the United States Grand Prix.

It’s the third-oldest permanent automobile race track in the world, behind Brooklands and the Milwaukee Mile. With a permanent seating capacity of 257,325, it’s the highest-capacity sports venue anywhere.

Celebrating Dan Gurney, the first driver to win races in Sports Cars, Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar. Gurney’s spraying of champagne in 1967 at Le Mans set a ritual for all motorsports podium ceremonies. 

He was an innovator. As owner of All American Racers, he invented the Gurney flap to increase downforce for minimal aerodynamic drag. At the 1968 German Grand Prix, he became the first driver ever to use a full face helmet in Grand Prix racing.

Our initial concept was simple. We just wanted to make the kind of watches that we’d like to wear. And we knew there were other people out there like us. People like you.

Stephen, our co-founder and designer started out with six really solid designs. Each of which had a common identity, so that one day, people will be able to look at them and say, ‘That’s a HILTS watch’.

Due to minimum order quantities it was only practical to make one design for now, so we chose the chronograph. But with all those designs, it does mean we have some pretty exciting stuff in the pipeline for you, so stay tuned!

Stephen started meticulously drafting out dial layouts, refining the typography and curating the finest aesthetics. All to get these designs just right.

Once Stephen was satisfied with his initial drafts it was time to integrate them into CAD. He used it to create incredibly precise technical drawings of the watch dial and case. This ensured that all of his draft elements could be communicated perfectly through documentation for the engineering and manufacturing process.

We chose the finest components we could, so that the watches not only look beautiful, but are incredibly durable too. 316L Marine grade steel, sapphire glass and bio-leather straps to name but a few.

We settled on the diamond pattern flank engraving that we’d never seen on any other watch, and a sunburst pattern to really bring the dials to life. The thought process and attention to detail that we put into getting the aesthetic balance and overall design of these watches is hard to overstate.

Stephen was absolutely meticulous in his color selection. We wanted the dials to really stand out, which meant using a unique color palette, unlike anything we’d seen on other watch designs.

There was an enormous amount of back and forth to achieve the perfect balance of colors for the dial, hands and indices. We think that we’ve ended up with some really striking combinations.

We use a ‘Screw Down’ case back, for our chronographs, recognizable by the notches along the outer edge.

This type of caseback is commonly found in diver’s watches and other timepieces intended for significant water resistance. The threaded design of the caseback ensures that it is firmly locked into place, providing additional protection against water and extreme environments.

The surface is engraved with the HILTS logo, specifications and a unique serial number.

A stunning hardwood box with a deep embossed logo on the lid. The inside of the watch box is coated with soft materials and a cushion insert to hold and protect the watch. Presented in a stylish charcoal and turquoise master carton.

This relationship is absolutely crucial to us and finally after some false starts we found our perfect manufacturing partnership. A team of engineers who were immediately onboard with our ideas and ethos. We really couldn’t be more confident with them. A perfect blend of aesthetic and industrial design.

The manufacturing process took five months and we received our prototypes in May 2023. Jivan (our other co-founder!) went to collect them. We were confident that we’d be delighted with them, but to see Stephen’s designs brought to life really was a great moment.

As well as looking great, they feel rock solid as well. We’re delighted with the product and we trust you will be too.

The next step is production, so we hope you’d like to join us on that journey by backing this project and receiving your own watch soon.

We have four designs already in the pipeline for our next release in mid-2024. Each of them has a common identity and design ethic, so you’ll be able to see their Hilts lineage.

We’re really excited to get into this and show you those when they become available.