In 2015, TimeZone celebrates its 20th anniversary. Founded in 1995 as an online watch discussion forum, TimeZone grew from a handful of watch enthusiasts to the leading source of watch discussion, knowledge, industry news and outstanding editorials republished in newspapers and magazines worldwide. As an Internet pioneer, TimeZone is internationally recognized as the world's oldest and largest watch community.
Over its 20 years of maturity, TimeZone today brings together 38 moderators from 8 countries, and millions of watch enthusiasts and collectors who visit from over 180 countries.
To commemorate these important achievements, TimeZone collaborated with the independent watchmaking team of Maria and Richard Habring of Habring² to create a limited edition watch. The collaboration took over a year and a half to arrive at a refined and innovative chronograph that is certain to delight watch connoisseurs.
The TimeZone 20th Anniversary Habring² Chrono COS, reference TZ20, is characterized by its elegant and uncluttered form, as well as its patented technology.
With exceptional attention to detail, the ref. TZ20 recalls a lost era of timeless design and draws inspiration from a legacy of iconic chronographs. True to its classical look, the ref. TZ20 features smooth case lines and a thin bezel that frames a domed sapphire crystal.
The highly attractive dial is beautifully finished in four textures. The outer dial is hand-brushed and printed with a blood-red telemeter scale. A mirror-polished silvered ring separates the outer and inner dial. The grained inner dial is grey and crisply printed in dark navy blue. Two large registers with circular finish are perfectly balanced at 3 and 9 o'clock.
Another particularity of the dial is that the grained finish is coated with a special filter treatment that minimizes reflections and creates the effect of champlevé enamel. Altogether the finishing details recreate the aesthetic of a perfectly aged dial.
The dial is fitted with heat-blued feuille (leaf-shaped) hands. An extra set of heat-blued baton hands accompanies the ref. TZ20.
Turning the timepiece over will further delight discerning collectors. Two case backs accompany the ref. TZ20, and the atelier will fit the owner's choice of either case back when the timepiece delivers.
Military watch collectors will appreciate the solid stainless steel case back with the simple engraving, "TZ " and the individual number designated to each ref. TZ20. The same simple engraving is located on the lower left lug.
The display back is fabricated from translucent blue sapphire crystal with a silver TimeZone logo, the Habring² logo and "20th Anniversary". This unique display back is rather new to the watch industry.
Completing the timeless design, the ref. TZ20 is fitted with a bespoke deerskin strap. With its understated looks, the strap is made through a complex process that results in a thick, yet super supple strap that requires no break-in period.
Patented COS System
Habring's innovative Chrono COS stands for "Crown Operator System" and the patented technology means the operation of the chronograph start, stop and reset are controlled by turning the crown, rather than with conventional pushers.
Master watchmaker Richard Habring is renowned for developing innovative chronographs and he famously developed IWC's rattrapante mechanism. The Habring² Doppel 2.0 rattrapante won the GPHG prize for Sports Watch of the Year (2012) and the Habring² Jumping Second Pilot won the GPHG Petite Aiguille prize (2013). In 2015, the Habring² Felix won the GPHG Petite Aiguille prize for the first fully in-house caliber designed and developed in Austria.
Habring's innovative COS design continues to push the chronograph into a new era of horology by ensuring his complication has the same reliability of a simple three-hand watch.
Developed and realized in-house, Habring's patented COS design minimises the risk of elements such as water or dust and eliminates any possible damage to the pushers, as well as any unintentional starting or stopping of the chronograph caused by simple movements of the wrist. In addition, the COS design eliminates the typical chronograph wear and tear that results in hard-steering or even frozen pushers over time.
With careful consideration of every detail, the ref. TZ20 is also designed to resist magnetic fields according to DIN 8309 and ISO 764. The antimagnetic escapement with Carl Haas hairspring is adjusted to chronometer quality. The timepiece's antimagnetic properties are proudly noted on the dial.
Caliber A08COS
The sophisticated Habring² caliber A08COS mechanical chronograph movement is crafted to be constant, precise and reliable for centuries and uses the wheel train of the ETA 7750 to ensure reliability and future ease of service.
From there, the Habring² caliber A08COS and ETA 7750 share nothing in common. The caliber A08COS chronograph control via the crown is a patented development that is exclusive to Habring². Absolute timekeeping superiority is achieved and will not deviate from 0 to +5 seconds per day. The mechanical movement is then hand-finished, sometimes using antique tools, and in accordance with fine watchmaking tradition. In addition to perlage, there are also plane polishes, chamfers and satin finishes.
Technical Details:
TimeZone 20th Anniversary Habring² Chrono COS, ref. TZ20
Movement
• Caliber A08MCOS mechanical hand-wound chronograph movement based on the ETA Valgranges wheel train
•Patented COS chronograph operation by rotating the winding crown to start, stop, or reset
•Triovis fine regulation system
•Antimagnetic escapement with Carl Haas hairspring and balance wheel in chronometer quality
•Hand finished detailing
•Incabloc shock protection pursuant to DIN and NIHS
•Hand-wound 17 jewels, 84 component parts, 28,800 beats per hour and with a 48-hour power reserve
Functions
• Hour hand, minute hand, central second hand
• Continuous seconds at 9 o'clock and 30-minute counter at 3 o'clock
Dial
• Rhodiated galvanized metal
•Sunken registers with circular finish
•Telemeter scale in blood-red
•Hour markers in dark navy blue
•Grained center dial is coated with a special filter to minimize reflections
•Polished and heat-blued steel feuille (leaf-shaped) hands
•Polished and heat-blued steel baton hands
Case
•42mm 316L stainless steel in three parts with brushed and polished finish
•Flat bezel
•Domed sapphire glass coated with anti-glare on both sides
•Double crown seal, sapphire glass base
•Water-resistant to 5 bar (50 metres)
•Bespoke super supple deerskin strap with tang buckle
Case Back
•Solid stainlees steel case back, individually numbered
•Unique translucent blue sapphire crystal display black with silver TimeZone logo, Habring² and "20th Anniversary"
Strictly Limited
•Manufactured by the Habring² atelier in Austria
•Limited edition of 20, each individually numbered
•Presented in a handmade Oregon-pine box with papers and spare parts (caseback and extra hands)
•Price is: $7,950
To order, please contact: tz20@timezone.com
Thanks.