Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Indie Brand Havid Nagan Releases its New and Elegant Classic One
A new, compact and elegant watch that openly relies on the concept of "etablissage" for its creation.
Havid Nagan (from the Armenian word havidenagan, meaning eternal) is a relatively new name in the independent watchmaking scene and the brainchild of California-based entrepreneur Aren Bazerkanian. The brand started with the inaugural HN00 series, a cushion-shaped titanium watch with guilloché-like dials powered by Schwartz-Etienne micro-rotor movements. Then came the HN01 Lucine Moon Phase. Things didn’t go as planned, and in Bazerkanian’s words, production was problematic. Having learned from this experience, Havid Nagan has now moved to a new phase. Bolstered by new manufacturing partners – with an openly stated établissage concept – the brand releases a new elegant dress watch that packs a lot of arguments: the Havid Nagan Classic One.
Before we take a closer look at the new Havid Nagan Classic One, let’s talk quickly about the brand and its evolution. “After the manufacturing issue I had with the HN01 Lucine project,” says Aren Bazerkanian, the whole dynamic of production had to change. For this, Bazerkanian turned to industry veteran Guillaume Tetu, formerly at TAG Heuer, co-founder of Hautlence, head of watches at Ralph Lauren and now specialized in consulting young brands with his company GLS2F SA. Tetu helped Bazerkanian to make the new Classic One become a reality by using a classic concept: établissage – an old system where an établisseur would contract local craftsmen specialized in specific component production and assembling the finished product in-house. As such, Havid Nagan never claims to be an integrated manufacture but instead relies on well-chosen third parties, each with its own speciality, to bring its watches to life. The list of partners includes Cadranor (dials), Jean-Rousseau (straps), AMT Manufacture (movements), and GLS2F SA (coordination and final assembly).
The new Havid Nagan Classic One
Now, besides these industrial aspects, there is far more exciting news to share: a brand-new watch with an entirely new case design, a new movement, and some great features to be explored. The Classic One is, as you can guess from the name, a classic watch. But with a twist. The overall design is inspired by all the things Aren Bazerkanian appreciates as a watch collector: classic Calatrava-styled case and proportions, multilayered dial with FP Journe mentioned as a model, neo-vintage elements of design he loves in famous models such as the Toric or the Roth-era of Breguet, a movement cleverly decorated to recall (in a far more accessible way) the shape of a movement by Derek Pratt. Many elements… And a surprisingly coherent result.
The Havid Nagan Classic One has to be categorised as a classic dress watch with the design twists you’d expect from an independent watchmaking brand. There are some design curiosities to elevate the watch from its otherwise traditional references. Proportions are on-point, with a 38mm diameter, a thin profile of 9mm and a length of 47mm. Moving away from the cushion-shaped case of the HN00 series, the Classic One is a round watch with a complex case made of 29 parts. The most striking element is the lugs, which are fairly sculptural in shape, specifically with their concave polished bevel on the side and pointy tip. Adding another layer of dynamism, the bezel is stepped with both brushed and polished surfaces. Undeniably, there’s a great level of detail in this case.
Moving to the face of the watch, Bazerkanian worked with the Swiss company Cadranor on a dynamic, multilayered dial while keeping it as thin as possible. The central area of the dial is a finely grained piece of brass with a galvanized coating, a subtle gradient effect and applied diamond-cut hour markers. The underlying section is another piece of brass on which the clous de Paris tronqué guilloché pattern has been applied. Finally, extending from the solid central piece into the case interior is a transparent sapphire disc on top of which the minutes track is mounted. Time is indicated by a pair of large, faceted Alpha hands, with a small seconds counter at 6 o’clock.
The Havid Nagan Classic One is available in two versions: ebony with a black central area, an ivory guilloché-like section and a silver logo and small seconds hand or ivory with an off-white, slightly vintage central sector, a varnished ruthenium underlying textured area and orange accents on the logo and sub-seconds hand.
Under the hood is a movement sourced from AMT manufacture, the high-end, niche division of Sellita dedicated to special projects – no off-the-shelf ETA alternatives here. The movement is a modified version of the AMT6600 (an identical base movement can be found in the Magraph by Massena LAB and Raúl Pagès). This quite large and thin hand-wound movement starts from the gear train calculation, assortment and kinetic chain of a Valjoux 7750, but then receives deep modifications, such as a modified ratchet wheel and crown wheel, a stronger barrel (63h power reserve), a click spring on the ratchet… It beats at 4Hz, and the movement is a COSC-certified chronometer.
In addition to that, Havid Nagan wanted to have a rather original decoration, once again inspired by the past but not in a nostalgic way. Using a remontoir tourbillon pocket watch built by the late Derek Pratt and Urban Jurgensen as a source of inspiration, the bridges have been partially skeletonized, then finished with minor anglage and a brushed decoration before being ruthenium-coated. The ratchet wheel and crown wheel feature solarization, the screw heads have been polished, and the main bridge features a recessed, grained section with a gold-toned treatment. In the same vein, the mainplate has been galvanized in 5N gold for contrast and warmth. A very charming movement with a clever construction.
Availability and Price
The Havid Nagan Classic One is offered on straps made by Jean-Rousseau Paris (multiple options on request) and is now available from the brand’s website. It is priced at USD 9,000, which seems like a fair price considering the level of detail on the case, dial and movement. It’s quite a lot of watch for the money. For more details, please visit www.havidnagan.com.
