A LIFELONG
LOVE OF
WATCHES

Beautifully designed sports watches. High-quality materials.
Incredible value for money.

FOLLOW THE STORY
Roberto examining a watch through a loupe.
ROBERTO CAMPOLUCCI-BORDI | FOUNDER
Classic Panda, revealed from its dial to its complete case and bracelet.

BEFORE HILLI

I’m Roberto. I studied design at Nottingham Trent University and spent more than 20 years building businesses across hospitality and real estate. But watches have always been my passion.

The first watch I remember obsessing over was the Tudor Big Block, with its silver dial and black sub-dials. My grail was always the Rolex Daytona 6263 reverse panda.

I loved the proportions, matte finishes and restrained design of classic sports chronographs from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. I knew what I liked, and I’d always wanted to explore that in a watch of my own.

A chronograph sketch mockup from the HILLI design archive.

WHY HILLI

Around 15 years ago, I came close to launching a watch brand. I had designs and the beginnings of an idea, but the stars didn’t align. The passion never went away.

Years later, a move to London brought a fresh perspective, alongside a growing frustration with overpriced luxury brands. I loved the watches, but the relationship between price, quality and design didn’t always make sense to me.

I wanted to create a sports chronograph with the character of the classics, high-quality materials and careful finishing, without having to pay a premium for the name on the dial.

A watch I wanted to wear, with incredible value for money. That was the idea behind HILLI.

GETTING THE
DETAILS RIGHT

The challenge was delivering that watch for under £500.

The brushed bracelet meeting the Green Panda’s case, with its turquoise dial visible above the bezel.
The Reverse Panda, with its steel bracelet and black dial, against white.

PROPORTION.
RESTRAINT.
PRECISION.

18 months of design and development.

Over 18 months of design and development, every decision came back to proportion, restraint and engineering precision. A balanced 39mm case, a matte ceramic bezel with colour-matched markings, and domed sapphire crystal.

The VK63 mecha-quartz movement offered the accuracy, slim profile and symmetrical sub-dial layout I wanted, while keeping our target price possible.

39 mmCASE DIAMETER18 monthsDESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

EVERY LINE.
EVERY LINK.

A classic three-link design.

The bracelet went through more iterations than anything else. I wanted flat brushed surfaces and polished edges that gave definition to a classic three-link design.

A FRAME.
WITH PURPOSE.

A matte ceramic bezel with colour-matched markings.

Proportion, restraint and engineering precision.

THE WATCH
I’D IMAGINED.

More than the individual materials.

The materials mattered, but so did how everything came together. It had to look and feel like the watch I’d imagined.

Pink Panda

Pink Panda

Try it on

THE COLOURS

The classic panda and reverse panda were the starting point. They’ll always remain at the core of this collection, but I wanted to see how colour could give the same watch a completely different personality.

We chose three colours for the first edition. A radiant teal for the Green Panda, so vibrant it almost looks like full lume. A blue I loved and only later learned was called cornflower blue. And a soft but bright bubblegum pink that brought a real sense of fun to the collection.

Restricting it to those three was challenging. There were so many more I wanted to make.

Colour is going to be a huge part of HILLI, giving people more ways to express themselves. These first three are just the beginning.

Pink Panda

A soft but bright bubblegum pink that brought a real sense of fun to the collection.

AN IDEA.
NOW REAL.

The five HILLI Pandas: Classic, Blue, Pink, Green and Reverse.

BRINGING HILLI TO LIFE

After all that time designing and obsessing over the details, opening the prototypes was a huge moment.

I needed them to be right. The proportions, the finishing, the colours, the weight. I worried they might feel too light or lack the quality and presence I’d imagined.

They exceeded my expectations.

After around two years building HILLI, we were ready to introduce our debut collection at World Time UK in 2025.

Until then, I’d spent so much time looking at the watches on my own. Now people could pick them up, try them on and tell me what they thought.

The response was incredibly encouraging. Those conversations were the beginning of something I hadn’t fully anticipated.

Roberto, founder of HILLI.

THE COMMUNITY

I started HILLI to create beautifully designed watches at incredible value for money. What I hadn’t expected was how much the people would become part of it.

From those first conversations at World Time UK to the people who’ve since joined the journey, the support and enthusiasm for what we’re building have changed what HILLI means to me.

Building a community around HILLI has become just as important as the watches themselves.

There are many more colours and ideas I want to explore. Being able to share that with people who are invested in what comes next makes it all the more exciting.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

Roberto

FROM MY IDEA.
TO YOUR WRIST.

Five Pandas. Find the one that feels like you.

Try on your Panda