Independents

with this report I'd like to bring the only Austrian watch manufacturer closer to you. Maria Kristina and Richard Habring are not only the principals of Habring² , one of the most innovating and refreshing creators of fine timepieces, they are also watchmaking consultants who's services are in high demand throughout the watch industry.

And moreover, they are a fun and lively couple!

The Habring² manufacture is located in the city of Völkermarkt, a town of 11000 inhabitants located east of Klagenfurt (the capital of Austria's southernmost federal state of Carinthia) and north of the Karavanke mountains. Maria and Richard set up their workshop there in 2003 after acquiring their watchmaking expertise in several renowned watchmaking enterprises such as A. Lange & Söhne and IWC. Richard was responsible for many of today's watchmaking icons including IWC's Doppelchronograph or the El Destriero Scafusia.

Travelling to Völkermarkt is always associated with much pleasant anticipation, so I decided to let you take part and present this report as a kind of a travellogue. The added benefit for you is that you get an impression on the environment Habring² is surrounded with, the benefit for me is that I am forced to get my travel pics sorted...

Pictures btw. were taken with an (analogue) Nikon F65, an iPhone 3G, an Olympus E-3 and a Leica M9.

My partner Isabelle and myself start our journey in the west of Carinthia with a visit to the idyllic village of Heiligenblut and and excursion to the Grossglockner mountain, the highest mountain Austria has to offer (point A on the map below). From there we head eastwards and stop at the Porsche museum in Gmünd (point B on the map) before we finally reach Maria' and Richard's atelier in Völkermarkt (point C below).

Our (rental) car is ready to start...

... and the necessary tools prepared:

Note that for emergency situations we rely on tried and tested Swedish telecommunication devices and war-proven British timepieces (sorry Maria...):

Starting point of our journey is Heiligenblut, located in a romantic setting and the foot of the Grossglockner and the Pasterze Glacier. Both of which you will see later. The village is not only very picturesque and scenic, it also has some personal meaning to me as my parents spent their honeymoon there (I do not know whether I can attribute my very existence to that journey...). The Grossglockner can be seen in the background, as usual covered with mist:

Before you can hike the mountains you have to pass the Austrian equivalent of the Swiss Guard, chaste officials you better not mess with. They are positioned on either side of strategically important junctions, bridges or crossroads:

Affectionately called the 'Cow Guards', they give an oppressive feel and you are glad once you passed their thorough inspection.

In stark contrast to the laissez-faire impression Austrians so successfully try to convey to the uninitiated, the country effectively is a surveillance society with guards and spies placed everywhere around you, very efficiently camouflaged and always on watch:

Some of them look similar to the Cow Guards, but their different uniform clearly mark their undercover assignment. Note that this specimen failed to hide the antennas used to communicate with headquarters:

Austria is no foreigner to modern unmanned aircraft as this mini-drone demonstrates. I was able to take this picture only under considerable risks to my life:

But all this doom is forgotten once you being to admire the impressive landscape of the Austrian Alps. 

After mastering some strenuous climbs we slowly reach an altiplano that also marks the timber line.

From here on, vegetation increasingly gets penurious...

... but the light turns into magic!

We reach today's target, lake Zirm (Zirmsee), pleasing us with crystal-clear water and the already mentioned magical light!

Isabelle and myself feel like heros having successfully conquered the beast!

Exhausted but delighted we take the way back and fall asleep immediately. We decided to visit the Grossglockner and the Pasterze glacier the next day. It turned out to be a revealing (and in parts shocking) trip!

>>> Continued in subsequent post!

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