Habring² Chrono-Felix Top Second

The Chrono-Felix Top-Second is the latest addition to the Felix collection from the Austrian manufacture Habring². The model follows the brand's long-standing philosophy, which focuses on reviving less common watchmaking complications in a modern, technically clean design.

The main distinguishing feature of this chronograph is the Top-Second complication, which displays the running seconds via an optical signal in a small window at 9 o'clock. This signal appears every 2.5 seconds and serves as a clear indication of the watch's operation without the need for a classic small seconds hand. Although the visual effect may appear as a "blink," the entire solution is purely mechanical.

Inside the watch operates the in-house Habring² A11FC caliber. The Top-Second mechanism is based on a rotating element with two blades that completes one full rotation in five seconds. This causes the optical signal on the dial to appear twice during one cycle, i.e., at intervals of 2.5 seconds. The chronograph function is complemented by a thirty-minute counter located at 3 o'clock.

The use of the Top-Second complication has allowed for a simplified dial layout, as the need for a classic running seconds hand is eliminated. The result is a more balanced and cleaner composition, while maintaining immediate visual control over the movement's operation.

The Chrono-Felix Top-Second can be seen in the context of the collection as a technically more understated alternative to the Foudroyante Felix model. While the Foudroyante combines jumping seconds and a high-beat seconds hand, the Top-Second works with a simpler but conceptually very unusual time indication solution.

The model thus represents an example of Habring²'s traditional mechanical creativity, which does not strive for flashy complications, but for meaningful, technically legible, and long-term sustainable solutions with clear watchmaking content.

Mechanical watches made with love by "ecological farmers of independent watchmaking," as the brand's founders, Maria and Richard Habring, call themselves. The brand's main specialization is offering fascinating complications at very attractive prices. With an annual production of 200 watches per year, manufactured by a small team of watchmakers in Austria, Habring² can without exaggeration be considered the smallest true "manufacture."

Richard and Maria founded Habring² in 2004 and shortly thereafter developed their own in-house movements. They have won the prestigious Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève four times!