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Registered: November 2003
N E W M o d e l - Massena LAB X Habring² ERWIN LAB01
Thu, 15 November 2018 18:49
The Massena LAB X Habring² Erwin LAB01 jumping seconds represents a subtle blend of tradition and contemporary techniques. Its quality and finish are solidly founded on the very finest aspects of traditional haute horlogerie.
On its dial, the ERWIN LAB01 is a simple, three hand timepiece with a deep black sector dial. The 38.5 mm bronze case is hand brushed with a stepped bezel that frames a sector dial the recalls the legendary sector dials from the 1930s. The sector dial is divided into four concentric segments. The markings and numerals of each segment are raised and finished in bronze for depth. Another particularity of the dial is that the outer railway five minute divisions are perfectly aligned with the jumping seconds hand. The steel feuille hands are finished in bronze. Altogether, the high contrast of the bronze elements against the deep black dial results in optimal legibility. Turning the timepiece over is a further delight with a display back that reveals the workings of the fully in-house Calibre A11MS movement. Thanks to its patented architecture, the locking mechanism is mounted under a three-spoke bridge that puts the jumping seconds mechanism at center stage. Every jumping second captivates the eye and can be enjoyed on both sides of the timepiece.
Completing the sophisticated design, the ref. E-LAB01 is fitted with a honey leather strap.
Manufacture in-house Caliber A11MS
Over two decades ago, Richard Habring famously developed the world's first affordable split-seconds chronograph. Ever since, Habring² has delighted independent watchmaker fans with technically brilliant, functional and affordable complications with that certain je ne sais quoi, like a dead beat seconds, foudroyante and chronograph COS.
The jumping/deadbeat seconds are the historical forerunner to the chronograph. The complication is known by many other names, such as seconde morte (French), dead seconds, jump seconds, true beat or ruhende sekunde (German). By the early 18th century, each jump of the seconds hand corresponded to an oscillation of the balance and became the distinguishing mark of a mechanical watch displaying seconds. In 1776, at the age of 23, Swiss horloger Jean Moïse Pouzait invented the independent dead seconds mechanism by adding a separate gear-train so that the seconds hand could be stopped and started independent of the hours and minutes hands. The mechanism was useful in measuring brief intervals of time without any of the drawbacks of stopping the whole movement. However, since the mechanism lacked a reset function, the user had to note the starting time and calculate the measured interval. Improvements to Pouzait's mechanism in the 19th century, together with the invention of the reset function, eventually led to the chronograph as we know it today.
In the 1950s, the deadbeat/jumping seconds reemerged briefly in Swiss watches like the Omega cal. 372 Synchrobeat and Rolex ref. 6556 Tru-Beat. However, the complication did not emerge again until 2004, when F.P. Journe added a natural deadbeat seconds mechanism to the Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d'Egalité avec Seconde Morte. In 2005, Habring² helped revive the jumping seconds mechanism using Chezard ebauches from the 1950s. Fast-forward a decade and the Caliber A11MS is a thin, fully in-house mechanical movement with a cleverly displayed dead-beat seconds mechanism that captivates the eye.
Since Habring² manufactures the Caliber A11MS mainplate and bridges in its workshop, the result is a flat and thin caliber that measures just 30 mm x 5.7 mm in size.
About MASSENA LAB
William Massena has been a passionate collector of watches from an early age, when his mother gave him his first wristwatch when he was only six years old. Not only did he learn to tell time on that watch, but the gift also piqued his lifelong interest in timekeeping. From there, he began collecting watches after earning his first paycheck. He's an active participant in the world of horology as a collector, executive, consultant and former auctioneer. He discovered the watch collectors forum TimeZone in its earliest days in 1995, and has been affiliated with the website ever since, first as a moderator, and now as its Managing Director. He spent over two decades helping TimeZone grow from a handful of watch enthusiasts to a digital audience of over 14 million unique visitors per year.
In 2014, he began the collaboration with Richard and Maria Habring to develop the TimeZone 20th Anniversary Habring² Chrono COS, ref. TZ20. The classic chronograph dial took over a year to realize, and sold out within a week of its launch in November 2015. Thereafter, in 2016, he began the second collaboration with Richard and Maria Habring to develop the Habring² x TimeZone Jumping Seconds, ref. TZ21. The beautifully designed sector dial jumping seconds sold out in a matter of days. In 2018, he founded Massena LAB as a creative outlet to indulge in his passion to work with some of the world's most creative independent watchmakers to make unique timepieces of sophisticated character.
The ERWIN LAB01 is the first collaboration under Massena LAB. The sophisticated design was conceived by William Massena and carefully handcrafted by HABRING².
About HABRING²
Since Maria & Richard Habring founded their atelier in 2004, every HABRING² is made-to-measure and produced by hand in Austria, using components of the highest quality.
Master watchmaker Richard Habring is renowned for developing innovative chronographs and he famously developed IWC's rattrapante mechanism. The Habring² Doppel 2.0 rattrapante won the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) prize for Sports Watch of the Year (2012) and the Habring² Jumping Second Pilot won the GPHG Petite Aiguille prize (2013). In 2015, the Habring² Felix won the GPHG Petite Aiguille prize for the first fully in-house caliber designed and developed in Austria.
Movement
Manufacture in-house Caliber A11MS hand-wound movement
· Diameter: 30 mm
· Height: 5.7 mm
· Centre-mounted hour hand, minute hand and jumping second hand
· Patented central deadbeat seconds mechanism
· 28,800 half oscillations per hour (4Hz)
· 48 hours of power reserve
· Fine adjustment via tangential screw
· Amagnetic escapement with a Carl Haas balance spring in chronometer quality
· KIF shockproof pursuant to DIN and NIHS
· 21 rubies
· Elaborately refined by hand with polished edges, decorative grinding, perlage, etc.
· 65 service-relevant individual parts (126 parts in total)
Dial
· Black sector dial
· Dial markings and numerals printed in bronze
· Black five minute divisions
· Polished steel feuille (leaf-shaped) hands finished in bronze
Case
· Diameter: 38.5 mm
· Height: 9 mm
· Bronze in three parts with brushed and polished finish
· Stepped bezel with brushed and polished finish
· Flat sapphire glass coated with anti-glare on both sides
· Double crown seal, sapphire base
· Water-resistant to 5 bar (50 metres)
· Sapphire crystal display black
· Honey leather strap with tang buckle
Case Back
· Individually numbered
Strictly Limited
· Manufactured by the Habring² atelier in Austria
· Limited edition of 50, each individually numbered
· Presented in a handmade Oregon-pine box with papers and spare parts ·
- Jorge Merino