Habring2 is perhaps the most affordable brand among the independent watchmakers who have won GPHG awards, developed in-house movements and maintained a low production volume. While browsing the Habring2 web site, I was intrigued by the combination of Foudroyante and dead-beat seconds, two very unusual complications, in one watch, plus the pointer date. The watch is capable of measuring sub-seconds, seconds, minutes, hours and date in a month.
Foudroyante is a French word meaning “lightning seconds”, which also is referred to as “flashing seconds”. This hand measures subseconds and makes one circle in one second. A typical foudroyante mechanism releases each time the balance passes its central position. As the in-house movement A11F is designed to beat at 28,000 vph, or 8 vibrations per second, the foudroyante is beating at the same rate of 8 stops per second. In other words, Habring2’s foudroyante Felix can measure ⅛ second. It is ticking so fast, it is hard to have real use except having fun looking at it.
The dead-beat seconds (or jumping seconds) is a compilation that ensures second hand to tick once a second, rather than a smooth sweep. It is useful for more precise measurement such as when taking the pulse. It is not an easy complication to implement and normally the watches with dead-beat function would cost a lot. A number of Habring2 models offer jumping seconds with very affordable prices.
This watch also comes with a pointer date which is very easy to read. One nice thing is that there is an option to choose automatic or manual wind for the movement. I opted for the manual wind model as the case is a bit less thick. Power reserve is 48 hours in the spec and I measured it to be 49 hours. The accuracy is +1.6 seconds per day measured over 11 days.
I’m looking at the Erwin jumping seconds at the moment...it’s on the list for one of the next independent purchases...