Ever since William Massena launched his semi-eponymous design studio in 2018, he’s proved to have the Midas touch, and while that’s true of their own collection, it’s Massena LAB’s collaborations that have sent their profile into the stratosphere. Pieces, for example, like their last collab with Unimatic, a cool, affordable, extremely limited slice of utilitarianism.
It’s not just Unimatic the studio’s done repeat outings with either, as this, the third outing with Austrian brand Habring² illustrates. And the Erwin-LAB03 is a beauty.
The base watch here is the Habring² Erwin, a classically styled dress number defined by its elegant simplicity and jumping seconds. Yet where Habring² themselves tend to keep the dials simple, not so Massena LAB.
The bronze dial is a masterpiece, with a salmon-adjacent colouring and intricate basketweave guilloche at the centre. The outer section is grained using a specific type of whetstone found along the banks of Scotland’s River Ayr for a very particular finish. The final flourish replaces the Erwin’s usual mix of Arabic numerals, indexes and sword hands for much more classical Roman numerals (painted rather than applied, unfortunately) and blued Breguet hands.
The movement inside is the standard Erwin calibre, the Caliber A11MS, with its jumping seconds and 48-hours of hand-wound power reserve. It’s well finished of course, and the monochromatic brass is a nice fit for the bronze dial.
Perhaps more interestingly, the movement is Chronometer Certified – but not by Switzerland. Instead, it’s been looked over by the Horological Society of New York, who recently filed their patent for the process. COSC holds the monopoly on testing no longer! Well, maybe. We shall how many more brands take the HSNY up on their testing.
The bottom line is that the Erwin-LAB03 is stunning. It’s also a rarity, with just 66 being produced. At a price of $9,450 and available exclusively online through Massena LAB, don’t expect them to hand around.
Price & Specs:
Model: Massena LAB Habring² ERWIN LAB03
Reference: E-LAB03
Case/Dial: 38.5mm diameter x 10.5mm height, stainless steel case, basketweave guilloche salmon dial designed by J.N. Shapiro
Water resistance: 50m (5 bar)
Movement: In-house caliber A11s, manual winding, 21 jewels, 126 parts, Chronometer Certification from the Horological Society of New York
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 48h
Functions: Hours, minutes, dead-beat seconds
Strap: Dark blue deerskin leather
Price/availability: $9,450, limited to 66 pieces, exclusively through Massena LAB online
More details at Massena LAB.
