The Habring² × SJX Perpetual Star is wonderfully unnecessary

I love a perpetual calendar, and putting one together with a monopusher chronograph in this little black-and-gold watch is exactly the sort of unnecessary watchmaking that gets me interested. The Habring² × SJX Chrono Felix Perpetual Star looks like somebody actually wanted to wear the complicated watch they were making.

The gold stars could have gone very wrong for me. In the official collaboration photographs, though, the black dial gives them enough space, and the moon at twelve makes the whole idea feel deliberate. The leaf hands fit it properly. I think I would spend a ridiculous amount of time staring at that dial before remembering I was supposed to be reading the time.

A calendar and chronograph in 38.5 mm

SJX, the co-creator of this edition, lists a steel case measuring 38.5 mm across and 13 mm high. That's right at the thickness where I start paying closer attention, but a perpetual calendar and chronograph give it a pretty good explanation. The stepped bezel makes the height visible rather than trying to hide every millimeter in the case flank.

The hand-wound A11CP combines Habring²'s A11 chronograph base with a Dubois-Depraz perpetual-calendar module. SJX states a 48-hour reserve and 30-meter water resistance. This is one I would keep well away from casual assumptions about swimming, however practical the steel case might look.

The chronograph has a single pusher at two o'clock, and Habring² also uses that pusher to correct the day of the week when the crown is pulled. I like details like that. It gives the control an additional purpose and avoids adding another protruding corrector just because there is another indication to set.

The collaboration page also identifies Pöhlmann-Bresan as responsible for finishing steel chronograph parts. I can appreciate the photographs and the named work without pretending I've examined the movement myself. The execution is a major part of why this watch appeals to me, and it is exactly what I would want to inspect in person at this price.

Thirty watches, and a very real price

The edition is limited to thirty pieces, and SJX lists US$28,500 before taxes, checked October 30, 2026. That is the figure used on the price chart, with its before-tax qualification. Availability still needs to be confirmed with the seller; an announcement and an allocation are different things.

I give this 113 out of 120 bezel clicks. I haven't worn it, and I would absolutely manage to let a hand-wound perpetual calendar stop if I weren't paying attention. Even so, the proportions, restrained pusher arrangement and oddly charming stars make this one of the more appealing complicated watches I've seen recently.