It was year 1828 when Heinrich Moser, a Swiss businessman founded H. Moser & Cie. at a young age of 23 in Saint Petersburg. Coming from a family of watchmakers, the young entrepreneur was a visionary. His dream was to create exceptional timepieces in first-class quality.
In order to do so, the businessman travelled regularly between Saint Petersburg and his hometown where he was born – in Schaffhausen. Although his business in Russia was a great success, he knew that he needed to build a manufacturing facility based in Switzerland in order to develop the top of the line of fine watches. In 1829, the factory in Le Locle, a city in the canton of Neuchâtel, laid the groundwork for his vision. Back then, the city used to be the cradle of watchmaking. A lot of great companies started their craftmanship in Le Locle such as Zenith, Ulysse Nardin, etc. Notable early clients of H. Moser & Cie. included Russian royals and members of the Russian Imperial Court like Vladimir Lenin.
20 years after Heinrich Moser founded his watch company, he returned to his hometown of Schaffhausen to become one of the leading industrial pioneers in Switzerland. He bought a significant piece of real estate alongside the Rhine where he constructed a factory which enabled many small and medium-sized companies to also develop similar operations under favorable conditions. One famous watch company who might not even exist without the support of Heinrich Moser is the world-renowned International Watch Company (IWC). It is worthwhile noting that the IWC founder, an American businessman named Florentine Ariosto Jones received not only financial support but also technical watch making expertise from Heinrich Moser.
After Heinrich’s death in 1874, the company was sold and its business in Russia was seized during the 1918 October Revolution. Today, the business is headquartered in Schaffhausen and is successfully run by the Meylan family who bought the company in 2012.
Enough of history, let’s check what H. Moser & Cie. has to offer. During the past few years, the Swiss brand made a bold move and perhaps one could call, a genius one at that. For a majority of their watches in their portfolio, the branding was completely removed. From a marketing perspective, to some what could be seen as super risky maneuver, seems to be the game changer for H. Moser & Cie. The fumé dials are classy and elegant and although they have no logo or indices on it, you can immediately spot that it’s an H.Moser & Cie. watch which is a kind of an anomaly – “no branding is the best branding”.
H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Tourbillon Cosmic Green Cover -
H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Tourbillon Cosmic Green Cover
Let’s take a closer look at their limited-edition Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Cosmic Green, which is my personal favorite masterpiece of the brand (reference 1804-0214). The case is made of 18 karat white gold and features at the back a sapphire glass, allowing you to see the HMC 804 movement working. The diameter of the watch is 42 mm and comes with a thickness of 11.6 mm. Power reserve is specified with a minimum of 3 days. The highlight of this master piece is the Cosmic Green dial with sunburst pattern featuring at 6 o’clock the flying tourbillon, which is simply eye-catching. The hand-stitched beige kudu leather completes this masterpiece.
It sounds crazy but if H. Moser & Cie. would have visible branding on their watches then it would just be another great watch brand but with no differentiation to their competitors. Hands down and respect to the risky move the company has made, because true luxury is unmistakable, even without a logo. H. Moser & Cie – you are Swiss Haute Horlogerie with that little extra.
Summary
Brand:
H. Moser & Cie.
Model:
Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Cosmic Green
Price:
retail price CHF 69’000
Limitation:
50 pieces
Measurements:
case diameter 42 mm, case thickness 11.6 mm
When to wear:
Fits perfectly with a smart casual outfit.
What we love about the watch:
The watch is an understatement and you need passion to wear this kind of watch. Non-watch lovers will never estimate the real value of such a beautiful, which is vice versa the most exciting thing about the watch.
Images: Instagram @moserwatches
