The Low-Down

Best known for their solid and sound approach to movement engineering, Habring² has developed a variety of clever complications over the years that are built into its proprietary base caliber A11R, but the Doppel Chronograph remains its most outstanding, being the most striking attempt at making one of the most notoriously complex complications simultaneously more robust and less costly. With the Doppel 38, the brand now offers its signature rattrapante chronograph in a far more compact case, measuring 38.5mm wide (versus 42mm before) and just 11.5mm high, excluding crystal. Notably, the bezel extends slightly from the case band with a diameter of 41mm, giving the watch an authoritative presence despite its modest base diameter.

Priced at €9,250, the Doppel 38 is available in four iterations in steel, including a handsome salmon dial and an unusually frisky panda dial with beige luminous hands and numerals along with a pair of red and blue rattrapante hands. The flanks of the case are brushed while the top surfaces of the bezel and lugs are polished. It retains the bullhead pusher layout, with the split button at 10 o’clock used to split the chronograph hands and the button at two o’clock used to start, stop and reset the chronograph, making it a monopusher split seconds.

With the hand-wound caliber A11R-H1 inside, the watch retains all the same technical properties as its larger sibling, relying on a cam-and-lever system for both the chronograph and split seconds functions as well as an oscillating pinion that engages the chronograph gear train when the stopwatch is actuated.

Developed entirely in-house, the movement is extremely attractive and emanates an unassuming excellence and an overall sense of reassuring solidity and meticulousness in design and construction. The blued steel screws as well as the two cam systems along with the ruby pins on the rattrapante cam contrast beautifully against the brushed and polished steel parts and perlage-finished base plate and bridges. It is equipped with an anti-magnetic escapement as well as a Carl Haas hairspring.

IMHO

Particularly in an age when fine watchmaking has a tendency to exalt complexity for its own sake, Habring²’s ingeniously practical approach to engineering – which is, lest we forget, harder to achieve than it often sounds – maintains a dignified standing. This is best exemplified by the Doppel chronograph which, quite frankly, is a watch of an unshakeable intrinsic appeal whatever the size, but a compact wearing experience does make it that much more perfect for many wrists.

Tech Specs

Movement: Hand-wound A11R-H1; 48 hours of power reserve; 4 Hz or 28,800 vph
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 9 o’clock; monopusher chronograph with a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock; split hand
Case: 38.5mm by 11.5mm ((13mm including domed crystal); stainless steel
Strap: Leather with pin buckle
Price and availability: €9,250; available direct from Habring² and retailers