Monochrome Watches
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Habring Jumping Seconds

| By Frank Geelen | 2 min read |
habring2 jumping seconds

Jumping Seconds also called ‘Dead Beat Seconds’ or ‘Seconde Morte’ is a quite rare complication. It makes a mechanical watch tick like a quartz watch. The Austrian independent watchmaker Richard Habring created his own dead beat complication.

The second hand of a mechanical watch with dead beat seconds complication, progresses like a quartz watch. The seconds hand sits on a seconds mark for one second and then jumps instantaneously to the next seconds mark, exactly like a quartz watch. Other mechanical watches have a smoothly sweeping second hand.

Habring Jumping Seconds
Habring² Jumping Seconds

There are only a few watches with this complication. A few decades ago Chézard produced several calibers with a dead beat seconds complication. These movements are almost impossible to find these days. Habring² was able to source a number of Chézard caliber 116 originally produced for Doxa. This caliber is based on the basic A. Schild caliber 1604B.

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Chézard Doxa caliber 116
Chézard Doxa caliber 116

Besides the rare jumping seconds complication it features a hacking seconds facility and the extremely unusual “stop seconds” feature. This means that if you press the winding crown towards the case the sweep seconds hand stops; when you release the crown the seconds hand then continues. Both this feature and the “hack” seconds are operated via the additional mechanism that Chezard have constructed on top of the basic watch mechanism. Unlike most “hack” seconds systems the balance does not stop and the watch continues to keep time. These features make it easy to set the time very accurately.

Habring jumping seconds mechanism
Habring² jumping seconds mechanism

Since the Chézard movements are not available anymore it actually meant the end of an affordable mechanical watch with a jumping seconds complication (yes, there are a few more available however for completely different prices). I can only imagine many watch collectors regret this. Lucky for us Richard Habring developped his own jumping seconds mechanism!

Habring Jumping Seconds
Habring² Jumping Seconds

The Habring² jumping seconds mechanism is fit on an ETA “Valgranges” movement. The escapement parts are of chronometer quality and it’s equipped with a Triovis regulation system.

The Jumping Seconds has a 42mm stainless steel case and is available as manually wound version or with an automatic movement.

Habring Jumpings Seconds Calendar
Habring Jumpings Seconds Calendar Classic

The Jumping Seconds with manually wound movement is a time only version. When equipped with an automatic movement it’s available is 4 different versions: date, date and power reserve, date and UTC or a version with day, date, month and moon phase indicator. And the good new… the manually wound version starts at € 3.150 or $ 4.650  (at the current exchange rate).

https://monochrome-watches.com/habring-jumping-seconds/

7 responses

  1. A great read, Frank, thanks.

    In a couple of months I hope to be able and show you a Chezard C.116 movement based Habring^2 watch in the metal, one of the last two C.116 movements available to Maria and Richard.

    Again, thanks for a great read.

    Your,

    Edwin

  2. @Speedmaster… so do i, i’d love to see it tick… and also admire the movement while running!

    @Edwin… don’t keep me waiting too long buddy… hope to see it on your wrist soon 🙂

    @Ann… the design is indeed very classical, almost sober.

  3. Interesting read. Thank you. I have a friend who ‘tuts’ at me each time he sees I’m wearing a quartz. I could get one of these and completely confuse him. €3150 is quite an expensive joke though !

  4. Hahaha, it’s an expensive joke indeed… however, it’s an beautiful mechanical watch and the most affordable jumping seconds watch on the market!

  5. That is certainly a very elegant looking watch, but I have to say I have always found something slightly sacrilegious about this kind of movement. For me one of the nicest features of wound / automatic watch is the sweep and I cannot imagine ever wanting to own a watch with this kind of movement, clever as it is.

  6. @Jez… that used to be the same for me, however i’m fascinated more and more by watches with a dead beat seconds complication… And i don’t care almost everyone will think it’s a quartz, maybe that’s even better 😉

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