Harbing is a noteworthy brand among independent watchmakers. Firstly, it is one of the few flying the “Made in Austria” flag; secondly, this truly independent company, which produces less than 200 watches each year, has won the La Petite Aiguille prize in the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève three times; and lastly, its five-minute repeater is such a rare gem in the industry.
The history of the Austrian watchmaking industry can be traced back to the 19th century. Similar to Germany, Austria was well-known for manufacturing mechanical clocks, but the industry started to decline because of the appearance of mass production. When establishing their watchmaking studio in 1997, Maria and Richard Harbing faced a lot of difficulties and were somewhat lonely in the process as there were not many watchmaking talents and peers in Austria. After years of hard work they were finally recognised by the industry with the Jumping Second Pilot. These days they have even started using in-house movements instead of movements manufactured by other watchmakers.
The latest five-minute repeater is much more complex than the basic Harbing watches, but with one hammer striking 12 times maximum against the gong for the hours and another one 11 times maximum for the five-minute intervals, it is fairly simple compared with the advanced Swiss-made minute repeater watches. The difference in technical complexity has been reflected in the Repetition’s competitive price. At 17,750 euro it costs only 1/4 of the cheapest Swiss made minute repeater in the market. The A11D90 manual movement inside the new watch uses the in-house Felix movement as the basis and features the DD90 repeater module collaborated with Dubois Depraz. The titanium case is not just waterproof, it also makes the chimes sound brighter.
