The Gorgeous Habring2 for THC Erwin ‘THC School Piece’

It will come as no surprise that Habring² is one of our favourite independent watchmakers, as this was the brand of choice for our first-ever MONOCHROME Montre de Souscription presented last year. And given the fact, there have been quite a few collaborations with Habring and others we’ve seen in the past few years, we’re not alone in our fondness for Richard and Maria’s work. The latest in this long line-up of special editions is the Habring² for THC Erwin ‘THC School Piece’, created for the open and inclusive Hong Kong-based watch collector’s community The Horology Club. 

As usual with Habring², the case looks deceptively simple. A statement of restraint style, it comes in at a very pleasant 38.5mm in diameter and 9mm in height. We can vouch for the Erwin’s wearing comfort as it features the same dimensions (bar the height) as our Montre de Souscription from last year. The changes made to the regular Erwin case are limited to the concave bezel, and the engraving in the caseback to signify it as a watch created with The Horology Club. A simple yet effective knurled crown sits at 3 o’clock and is used to wind and set the watch.

The dial is heavily inspired by vintage Patek Philippe Calatrava watches, in particular references like the 525 and 570. It features a two-tone design, with a vertically brushed centre section and an olive green route section, embraced by the printed minute track. The olive section has applied and polished Breguet-style numerals for that beloved vintage Calatrava look. The leaf-shaped hands are polished as well and paired with a blued seconds hand that makes 60 very visible steps thanks to the movement hiding around the back. The final touch on the dial is the Habring² Austria signature at 12 o’clock.

Diligently ticking away under the sapphire crystal, almost literally in this case, is the in-house developed manually wound A11MS movement. As an ode to the metronomic step-by-step movement of seconds hands in historical watches and clocks, this features a seconde-morte, or deadbeat seconds complications. This moves the seconds hand forward in fixed one-second increments, driven by a gilded wheel and click spring. Running at a rate of 28,800vph, it can store up to 48 hours of power reserve when fully wound. The finishing includes polished bevels, blued screws, circular brushing on the bridges and perlage on the mainplate.

The Habring² for THC Erwin ‘THC School Piece’ comes with a grey suede calfskin leather strap with a pin buckle. Limited to just 10 pieces, each one is individually numbered and exclusively available through The Horology Club. The price is set at HKD 69,750, which equates to roughly EUR 9,034 or USD 8,885 (depending on exchange rates).

For more information, please visit Habring2.com or TheHorologyClub.com.