Cholack shares the exciting journey of acquiring his first independent timepiece, a Habring2 Doppel 2.0, to commemorate his 30th birthday. This post highlights the personalized experience and exceptional customer service from Maria and Richard Habring, detailing the customization process and initial impressions of his unique watch.
As the title of this thread suggests, I am now only "like" a virgin. Folks, I have just received my very first Independent!
My journey starts sometime in Fall 2012. I was looking for a very special watch to commemorate my 30th Birthday. Ideally, I wanted something that I could customize to be my own and, naturally, I was drawn to the Independents. After many sleepless nights, I decided on a very well-regarded and praised Austrian company - Habring2. I shot them an email and things took off.
I was instantly struck by Maria & Richard's good communication and willingness to hear out my (crazy and nit-picky) ideas. I had initially decided on a Jumping Seconds with a specific colour combination. To ease the process, the Habrings sent me sample indexes, dial and hands as I was curious about the proposed colour combination. Customer service does not get any better than that!
I was very happy with the Jumping Seconds and gave the green light. However, part way through the process, my wife gave me her "blessing" to increase the watch fund. As such, I decided to seize the opportunity and go for a Doppel 2.0. I was very fortunate that there were 2 allocations left in this limited series! Several emails later the process was done; I must really say that Maria and Richard were extremely flexible with all these changes.
My final wish list included several customizations and Maria and Richard were happy to help me out. In particular, I requested: blued screws; middle part of the case to have horizontal satination on the sides and vertical satination between the lugs; and mustard coloured seconds hand. I opted for the less common grey dial.
Here is the unboxing:
A familiar box after seeing some other unboxings on this forum.
The famous membrane holding the prized package.
Carefully wrapped.
A lovely pine box
Spare parts for basic maintenance
Voila. A Grey Doppel 2.0
If I must say, the mustard hand goes well with the grey dial.
Side view showing horizontal satination
Lovely blueing of the screws. It really brings the movement to life.
A wrist shot showing how the dial can play nicely with the light.
Or it can look really dark, almost black.
The Doppel's first duty - to cut up a celebratory roast!
Some final comments about the watch and process. First, I cannot say how highly I think of Maria and Richard. For those who are considering a Habring2, do not hesitate as they will treat you well! The process was smooth and, importantly, FUN. Moreover, as so many others have experienced, the opportunity to talk and interact directly with the watchmakers is something that makes the process so memorable and personal. Second, the quality of this watch is fantastic. Pictures that I had seen prior to ownership did not do the watch any justice - you have to experience it in real life to really appreciate it. Frankly, I was surprised when I finally put it on my wrist - It is THAT good. As for the movement, there were some grumblings of it not being up to par with the rest of the watch...that is simply is NOT true. In my humble opinion, the movement finishing is at least equivalent to that of Zenith and other well respected watch manufactures. Finally, I must say that there is a rush to know that almost no one else has a watch quite like yours. While limited editions are abound in this hobby, I really do feel that this is watch was made just for me.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading about my journey.
Cheers
Cholack
