The Value Proposition: The Habring² Erwin ‘Tuxedo’
I’ve always had a soft spot for Habring² watches. Each time I’ve come across one, I’ve always been so impressed with how much any of their complicated watches can put a smile on my face. The brand has real history, too – Richard Habring is the man most known for democratizing the split seconds complication by utilizing a Valjoux 7750 and a rattrapante module during his time at IWC, among many other contributions. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Austrian brand Habring² with his wife, Maria, and throughout these 20 years, the brand has grown to be a favorite within the watch-collecting community.
The IWC Doppelchronograph, a Richard Habring innovation on the humble Valjoux 7750.
After the patent expired in 2012, the Habrings were able to bring this module into their own line of watches.
The Erwin, their deadbeat seconds model, is by far my favorite one, and when I saw their new “Tuxedo” design, I knew that it was finally time to own one. For those unfamiliar with a deadbeat or “jumping seconds” complication, it is essentially an exercise in irony. Rather than embracing the mechanical nature of a movement by highlighting a sweeping seconds hand, even more effort goes into the movement so that the seconds hand can advance precisely one tick per second. Yes, just like most battery-powered quartz movements.
After working with Brandon Skinner, who runs U.S.-based retailer Horology By The Sea, I managed to make a few modifications to give the watch a personal twist, and all was then put in the hands of Richard and Maria Habring. Fast forward a few months, and the watch had arrived.
The watch has been on my wrist for a few weeks now, and it got me thinking. It’s been a while since we’ve really talked about one of the brand’s watches in-depth, and in the eight years that the Erwin has been around, I think it still manages to be one of the best values in independent watchmaking.
Before we jump in and take a look at the watch, let’s get the price out of the way. The standard Erwin currently clocks in at around $6,800 USD. Most of the watches we discuss as value propositions around here certainly don’t come anywhere near this price tag. But I still think “value proposition” as a relative term very much applies here, and I’m sure that anyone who’s spent any time around one of these pieces would be inclined to agree. It is a lot of watchmaking for the money.
Habring² has used the Erwin in many different designs as well as collaborations with other brands, my favorite of which is the Massena LAB 02. That said, some of the past Habring designs haven’t done it for me. I would have nitpicks with some of the typography or logo choices, and while all the designs have been interesting, not all of them have felt perfect. This Tuxedo dial felt different. It made me rediscover the Erwin in a different light, no longer as just a watch nerd’s watch, but one that also stood out in a more timeless elegance.
The THC School Piece, as shown on The Horology Club’s website. Note the extra touch of a concave bezel.
The standard production Erwin “Tuxedo” from Habring².
Now, here is a brief history of this specific dial. In 2022, Habring² and Hong Kong-based The Horology Club released a 10-piece run of what they named “THC School Piece.” It was a beautiful homage to Breguet numeral Calatravas, with a touch of olive green surrounding a vertically-brushed silver center. THC also modified the standard Erwin case with a concave bezel, which gave it that extra bit of refinement. After this collaboration, sometime in 2023, Habring² came out with what is now their standard “Tuxedo” variant, replacing the matte green with a stunning three-dimensionally snailed dark grey track, as well as applying that same finish to the outer minute track. To round out the dial, the Breguet numerals and leaf hands are fully polished, with a blued seconds hand to add a splash of color to the otherwise monochromatic dial.
The snailed texture behind the numerals and seconds track make the dial incredibly reactive in the light.
The case itself is 38.5mm in diameter with a thickness of 9mm. I have a smaller wrist at around six and a half inches, and I have to say that this case is an absolute winner. Sure, it’s a lot bigger than the dress watches of that past that it’s trying to evoke, but the sizing here feels like a good compromise in modern watchmaking. It is also a remarkably thin watch, all things considered. When brands with a higher price tag are struggling to make manually-wound three-handers at this thickness, even without a modular complication like in this one, this design stands out as very impressive. Water resistance is at a decent 30m, especially given the thickness.
The standard Erwin Tuxedo is fitted with a sloped and polished bezel, but one of the modifications I made to my piece was a brushed and polished stepped bezel, giving it even more of a vintage feel and an angularity that I felt contrasted the numerals quite nicely.
Inside the watch is the in-house manually-winding A11S movement. It beats away at 4 Hz and offers 48 hours of power reserve. Historically speaking, Richard Habring was known to build modules off of the Valjoux 7750, supplied by ETA. While the architecture of the A11S is based on the 7750, the A11S is very much in-house – a necessary move years ago when Swatch Group-owned ETA cut off external supply to many brands that relied on their ebauches.
At this price point, it’s quite remarkably in-house – the only main aspect of this movement that isn’t designed by the Austrian manufacturer is the balance spring from Carl Haas (but is still assembled and shaped in-house). The Habrings are also very open about component production of this new movement design being done “under direction and following production drawings issued by [the duo]” through local specialists, many of which were looking for work after losing contracts when ETA became much more insular.
A view of the caseback.
On the caseback, the sapphire crystal offers a glimpse into that Austrian watchmaking. It’s not going to be the dramatic hand finishing that you can expect to see on watches ten times the price, but at the same time, it’s very well considered and worthy of the display caseback. There is beveling, there is perlage, and the center plate is radially brushed on the caliber. Sitting front and center on the movement is that jumping seconds module. It’s well integrated into that center plate, with a tri-spoked bridge holding that center seconds gear in place. It is quite charming, and every aspect of the module design appears with intention.
To further add to the vintage charm of the watch, I opted to replace the standard, more industrial balance cock with one that was hand-engraved. It’s very well done, and the surface area of the balance cock provides a good area to showcase that bit of handcraft.
The hand-engraved balance cock was a custom addition.
Allow me to be self-indulgent for a minute here, as you may have noticed that the center movement plate on mine is slightly different and has a bit of a unique story. This request stemmed from my colleague Rich and I stumbling across another Erwin online with this “Côtes de Soleil” decorated plate. I reached out to Brandon when ordering this watch, and he explained that this decorated part was something he discovered “laying in one of their many drawers unused” when Brandon was poking around during his visit to Austria. Apparently, there were around three or four made for the time-only A11B movement and the same number for the A11S. According to Brandon, this was the very last one left at the manufacture, and the Habrings say that these won’t ever be produced again. It’s beautiful, and I think it manages to elevate the finishing on their movement just a tad bit more to make it punch above its weight class. While selfishly, I should rejoice at the scarcity; I’m actually a little bit bummed because I genuinely think this decoration should continue to be produced and would look great across all their watches going forward.
The very last “Côtes de Soleil” decorated movement plate from the manufacturer.
Now, back to the value of it all. There are so many factors that I feel add to an all-around package that other brands could get away with charging a lot more for. The Habrings only produce around two hundred pieces a year, so you know that you’re automatically getting something special. The opportunity for customization is also rare at this price point – there are, of course, upcharges, but outside of anything truly bonkers, any subtle changes shouldn’t bump the price point up into a different tier.
Most importantly, you are getting a rarely-seen complication at a price that is well under anything similar. The only real competitor in this space would have been the now-discontinued Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic True Second, which, at launch in 2015, retailed at $9,050. Sure, you were getting much more brand recognition with JLC and an innovative balance wheel called the Gyrolab, but in my opinion, which piece offers more horological significance is debatable. I would argue that Richard Habring’s historical contributions to watchmaking shine in the Erwin. Plus, the Geophysic was slightly larger (39.6mm) and thicker (11.7mm), though it did offer automatic winding.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic True Second, as Ben Clymer photographed on release in 2015.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 770. It sported a gold winding rotor and an H-shaped Gyrolab balance wheel.
It would be amiss to write about a deadbeat seconds watch and its value proposition without also bringing up quartz watches, given that both have a seconds hand that jumps once a second. Why go for a deadbeat seconds watch at $6,800 when you could get a stunning Grand Seiko with 9F quartz movement for less? Well, I think that would miss the point of the deadbeat seconds complication entirely.
The value of the Erwin is in the fact that it is a fun take on mechanical watchmaking and an opportunity to own a piece of true independent watchmaking from one of the coolest couples out there doing this kind of thing at a price point that many other brands would have a hard time competing with. During a time when larger brands are sometimes raising prices by double-digit percentages, the fact that the Erwin is only a few hundred dollars more expensive than when it first launched eight years ago says a lot about Richard and Maria Habring and the kind of value they offer in their watchmaking.
Hodinkee
