The details of the MONOCHROME Montre de Souscription Seconde Morte

The MONOCHROME "Montre de Souscription" by Habring²

"From our earliest days, we have always had a strong focus on independent watchmaking. Since the launch of our first Montre de Souscription in 2021, also with Habring² as you know, we've taken great pride in creating watches in collaboration with some of our favourite independent watchmakers.

Our fourth Montre de Souscription goes back to the origins of the concept and once again relies on the expertise of Habring² to share our vision in watchmaking, with a surprise outsider weighing in on the final design.", explains Frank Geelen, founder of MONOCHROME.

A discreet yet highly detailed dial

What makes the MONOCHROME Montre de Souscription 4 truly special is the dial. Given our love for vintage chronometers, we tried to emulate that unique flair and balance in design. For this new model, we've sourced the help of a young designer named Pietro Pilla, who also serves as a contributor to our colleagues and friends at Time+Tide. While classic editions of the Erwin tend to play on a minimalist, deliberately austere look, the MdS4 is packed with discreet yet characterful details, all of them a result of a long and demanding design process.

Art Deco is the name of the game here, an influence particularly visible on the highly detailed seconds track, as well as the unique shape of the Roman numerals and applied diamond-shaped hour markers. Deliberately slim and elongated, the polished elements are paired with a glossy black dial and thin, white printed tracks, numerals and logos. Thin leaf-shaped hour and minute hands, and the French "seconde morte" script to remain consistent with the Montre de Souscription series, finish it off beautifully. All this serves as the perfect backdrop for that rhythmic jump of the polished central seconds hand.

Why is the seconds hand on this watch jumping once per second, and not sweeping as it should normally do on a mechanical watch? Rest assured, the MdS4 is not a quartz-powered watch. This wouldn’t be possible knowing MONOCHROME. Most mechanical watches, running at 3 or 4Hz, have a so-called sweeping seconds hand performing between 6 and 8 pulses per second - which gives the impression that the hand glides over the dial. A seconde morte or deadbeat seconds movement still runs at a traditional frequency (4Hz in the case of the MdS4) but displays its seconds in a jumping way, at one pulse per second.

The development of the jumping seconds mechanism for the Erwin couldn’t be more Habring. It is elegantly simple and pragmatic, as the system comprises no more than 7 additional components compared to the classic time-only movement of the Felix model. Functional reliability and service friendliness are important to Habring². This deadbeat or Seconde Morte mechanism is neatly integrated within the A11 base movement, adding only 2mm to the whole thickness of the watch, compared to a classic Felix model. The hand-wound A11S calibre is manufactured in-house by Habring² in Austria, with most parts either produced in-house by Habring² or custom-made by independent suppliers according to Habring² specifications. 

The sapphire back of the MONOCHROME Montre de Souscription 4 Seconde Morte reveals an elegant decoration made by hand, including polished edges, decorative engravings, brushed surfaces, perlage, and heat-blued screws.

L'abbonamento e cosa c'è nel pacchetto

We will offer the watch for subscription for a maximum duration of two weeks, or until all 33 pieces are sold. A EUR 2,000 down payment (excl. VAT) will be requested upon order. This amount is non-refundable and does not include VAT. Working with an independent artisan watchmaker means we can scale production while maintaining exclusivity.

When pre-orders are closed, Maria and Richard Habring will start working on our Montre de Souscription 4, which will come on a handmade taupe-coloured nubuck leather strap with a signed stainless steel pin buckle. Habring² will assemble the entire watch in Austria, sourcing most parts from small, high-quality manufacturers.

First deliveries are scheduled for January 2026, with the final watches expected to be delivered by March 2026.

Caso

• 38.5mm diameter x 9mm height x 45.6mm lug-to-lug
• Stainless steel 3-part case, fully brushed by hand
• Double-step bezel, drilled lugs
• Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
• Double-sealed crown
• Caseback with "MONOCHROME" and "MONTRE de SOUSCRIPTION" engravings
• Watertight to the depth equivalent of 30 metres

Comporre

• Black glossy lacquered dial with Art Deco inspiration
• Polished applied Roman numerals and diamond-shaped hour markers
• White printed tracks and logos
• "Seconde Morte" indication at 6 o'clock
• Polished steel leaf-shaped hands

Movimento

• Calibre Habring² A11S
• Hand-wound with a jumping seconds mechanism
• 30mm x 5.7mm
• 21 jewels and 126 components (of which 65 are marked as service-relevant)
• Single barrel and 48h power reserve
• 28.800 vibrazioni/ora o 4Hz di frequenza
• Tangential screw fine adjustment, anti-magnetic escapement with a Carl Haas balance spring in chronometer quality, KIF shock protection in compliance with DIN and NIHS standards
• Most parts are produced in-house at Habring² manufacture or custom-made by independent suppliers according to Habring² specifications
• Elaborately decorated by hand with polished edges, decorative engravings, brushed surfaces, perlage, and heat-blued screws
• Central hours and minutes, central deadbeat jumping seconds (seconde morte)

Cinturino

• Handmade taupe nubuck leather strap with contrasting cream-coloured stitching, MONOCHROME light-blue leather lining, stainless steel pin buckle & quick-release spring bars