Hands-On With The HTD Hesagraph Cannoli And Variante B
HTD is one of those watch companies that, once in a while, will pop up on people’s radars. The Italian brand has shown a great eye for design over the five years it has been around. However, with the two new Hesagraph 2025 models, HTD shows how far the watches have come. These two variations of the brand’s popular chronograph were redesigned to celebrate the brand’s fifth anniversary. It’s time to find out more about the HTD Hesagraph Cannoli and Hesagraph Variante B and discover what makes them so good. I can already reveal that I fell in love with one of them.
My first experience with HTD was four years ago when we had the brand’s Safarigraph in the office for review. The watch immediately stood out thanks to its dial’s incredible charm. Lex explained that the Safarigraph’s dial used shades of brown and beige with a hint of orange in bright light, which he characterized as a great display of Italian sprezzatura. As he said, “Casually swinging a brown-dialed watch on the wrist fits right into that concept, especially since it looks vintage. And let’s face it: it’s based on looks that you decide to buy the Safarigraph.” The watch had a charm and nonchalance that Lex and I adored, and that’s why it still comes up in conversation sometimes.
The story of the new HTD Hesagraph models
It’s a fond memory that has led me to follow the brand’s progress ever since. In all honesty, to say the Safarigraph was impressively well made would be an overstatement. The watch’s retro charm was not limited to its looks. It also had a vintage-like build that you wouldn’t expect from modern watches.
Let’s say that you would have to appreciate the build quality of vintage Rolex watches to enjoy the charm of the Safarigraph. While I love that, I predominantly see it as a trait of vintage rather than modern watches. So you will understand that I was curious to learn more about the new HTD Hesagraph models that celebrate five years of the brand’s existence.
The first model is the redesigned Hesagraph Cannoli. The original version of this model was part of the brand’s first drop in 2020. The second model is the Hesagraph Variante B and was designed from scratch. It makes for an interesting duo of slightly different HTD chronographs.
The Cannoli is a two-register chronograph with an off-white dial, black counters, and red details. The Variante B has a dark brown dial with three white subdials and small red details. Both have a distinct retro charm that visually links them to the great Rolex chronographs of the 1960s. Because of its dial configuration, the Hesagraph Cannoli brings to mind the Paul Newman Daytona. The Hesagraph Variante B reminds me more of the ref. 6238, one of my all-time favorite Rolex watches.
The details of the HTD Hesagraph models
Despite the retro-inspired dials, the redesigned case has a contemporary feel, ensuring that the watches do not completely feel like retro reissues. A big part of that is due to the flat bezel, which gives it more modern-day relevance.
Let’s go over some basic specs first. Both watches feature the same case, which is 39mm in diameter, 12.4mm thick, and 48mm from lug to lug. Thankfully, I found that relatively long lugs curved nicely enough to follow the contours of my 18.5cm (7.3″) wrist.
The case features a fully polished finish, so the watches jump out at you once the light hits them correctly. On the right side of the case, you will find the two pump-style pushers and a fluted crown. They are in perfect proportion to the case, making the overall composition nice and almost familiar.
Both watches come on a three-row Oyster-style bracelet with a fold-over clasp and a push-button release. That’s also where we get a first taste of the huge steps that HTD made in terms of quality. The fully brushed bracelet feels very well made. It still has a bit of retro charm in some of the sounds it makes, but overall, it feels solid. It promised good things when wearing the watch.
The HTD Hesagraph Cannoli
Before we get into that, let’s quickly zoom in on the differences between the two models. The first is the Cannoli, which has an off-white dial and two black counters. The registers feature white numerals and markings (plus three red ones) that make them easy to read. The dial is graced by applied hour markers that almost seem to be floating.
That is a bit of visual trickery, though. The reason is that the black outer ring holding the red minute track is somewhat removed from the markers. However, a small round dot sits next to every marker, ensuring there is also a visual hour reference where the sub-dials are located at 3 and 9 o’clock.
The elegant hour and minute hands are filled with lume, just like the applied markers, and the central chronograph seconds hand is also executed in silver. The text on the lower half of the dial consists of three lines.
The first line mentions the model name in black. Then, the second line says “carica manuale” in red, which is Italian for “manual winding.” Finally, the third line says “anti urto” in black, which means “anti-shock” in Italian. As mentioned, the combination of colors immediately puts the watch into the realm of the Paul Newman Daytona, despite the case design not resembling a Rolex Daytona at all.
The HTD Hesagraph Variante B
The second model is the Hesagraph Variante B with a dark brown dial and a light sunburst pattern. It’s a beautiful dial that only fully reveals the brown color in bright light. In most light conditions, it plays with your perception, sometimes looking black and other times appearing deep, dark brown. As you might know, I have a thing for brown dials, so I love this new dial variant. The way it plays with the eyes makes it even better.
The three slightly recessed white sub-dials contrast with the brown color and black printing. The 30-minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock has little red markers for 5, 15, and 25 minutes that spice up the dial perfectly. Located on the dial’s periphery is the white minute track with small luminous dots accompanied by the larger applied hour markers.
I prefer the Variante B over the Cannoli for multiple reasons. First, I visually prefer a three-register chronograph over one with two sub-dials. Second, the dial of the Variante B looks more balanced because the hour markers do not seem to float. Lastly, you know I love brown dials by now, which made choosing this variant even easier.
The manual-winding Sellita SW510 M chronograph caliber
Both watches are powered by variants of the Sellita SW510 M but with different layouts. The manual-winding chronograph caliber operates at 28,800vph, has 23 jewels, and offers 63 hours of power reserve. HTD chose the Elaboré grade of the movement, which was tested in three positions and regulated to an average accuracy of ±5 seconds per day.
The SW510 is a commonly used chronograph caliber by microbrands and has proven reliable. I love that HTD chose the Elaboré grade as it offers great daily accuracy. Additionally, the chronograph starts, stops, and resets with firm, defined clicks. I have said this before, but I don’t like it when the reset button doesn’t have a defined click. Thankfully, the caliber powering the HTD Hesagraphs feels super solid and sturdy.
Wearing the new Hesagraphs
This brings me to wearing the watches. These two new Hesagraph models thoroughly impressed me on the wrist. I know it’s easy to fall in love with a watch’s looks, but that love needs to continue once on the wrist, especially knowing that the Safarigraph had to sway me based on vintage charm.
But as soon as I put the Variante B on my wrist, I was impressed by how solid it felt. The case sits comfortably on my 18.5cm wrist and, as mentioned, curves nicely around it. While the 48mm lug-to-lug might not necessarily fit a small wrist, most people in the Fratello office loved the dimensions of the new case.
With that solid-feeling case, you immediately know that HTD has improved the quality of its timepieces over these last five years. You can also feel that with the bracelet and the clasp. While it isn’t the best affordable Oyster-style bracelet — that honor goes to Christopher Ward’s Bader bracelet — it does feel solid and well made. What made me smile is that the bracelets still have a little rattle sometimes as proof of not completely losing their vintage charm. In all honesty, though, these bracelets are better than many similar bracelets that small brands use nowadays.
Final thoughts on the two new HTD Hesagraph models
As you will understand, I was impressed by these redesigned HTD Hesagraph models. They are perfect proof of the huge steps that HTD has made to improve the quality of its watches. In doing so, the brand has not only impressed me compared to its previous efforts but has also surpassed many of its competitors. I would go as far as saying that it is hard to find better-made chronographs than the Hesagraph Cannoli and Hesagraph Variante B at their price of €1,875.
The biggest competitors are the Baltic Scalegraph (formerly known as the Tricompax), the Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster, and Farer’s Chrono-Sport models, such as the brilliant Moritz Green. But I can say that the new HTD Hesagraphs can certainly hold their own against watches like those. The new Hesagraph models have this special charm that makes them a winner for me. Let’s call it the magic of Italian sprezzatura, as Lex labeled it. In particular, the brown-dialed Variante B completely swept me off my feet with its brilliant style.
Just when I decided I didn’t need any more watches to add to my collection before selling some, the HTD Hesagraph Variante B crossed my path. I had seen it in the images on the brand’s website and knew it was dangerously up my alley. As it turns out, it is even better than I expected. My hands-on time with it turned a lingering desire into a strong affection for the new HTD Hesagraph Variante B.
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