Loading...It is not often that I get to meet watchenthusiasts who appreciate the truly fine watchmaking. I am talking about watches that come from brands that are not known as widely as Rolex, watches that are not as industrially perfectly produced. Watches which still require true watchmaking skills. Which carry handfinished movements, bevelled edges, which are most likely made of a precious metal instead of steel. Which are not mainstream, yet are exceptionally beautiful to look at, and provide a completely different experience to the wearer as opposed to the regular mainstream. Wearing a piece of art, a timepiece which only you look at and know what you are looking at. A watch that does not get your neighbor to talk about you that you are wearing a … well, you insert the name of a famous brand here…
One of these small manufactures resides in the German part of Switzerland, in a town called Schaffhausen, the same town that is home to IWC. While most famous watchmanufactures reside in the French part of Switzerland, only very few are in the German part, and these two are probably the best known residing in the German part. Quite close to the German border in fact, and not only that, they are close to the source of the river Rhine, a river that goes through all of Germany until hitting the North Sea.
I am sure you are wondering who I mean, let me resolve the riddle for you: I am talking about Moser & Cie. They are making less than a thousand watches annually, all on the highest level of finishing with a classic look, beautifully finished movements and creative dials with fume touches. In addition, they are known for what may be considered the most simple perpetual calendar timepiece known. It is a watch you can easily adjust in every direction, and it does not really look like an ostentative perpetual calendar from outside. It is a timepiece for a true connaisseur. Someone who appreciates the hidden perfection and beauty, the art and creativity.
Back to the watchenthusiast I met. He acquired a rare timepiece from me and after a while we go into a lot of conversations by Email when he told me that he just acquired a Moser. I only know one other person in all my circles who owns a Moser, actually he owns the Perpetual Calendar. And I hope to write about him and his experience sometime soon as well. But let me first talk about the Moser Monard Date which will be center of this blogpost.
So Henrik, which is the name of the watchenthusiast I met, is a proud owner, and a very happy owner of a Moser. His Monard Date carries a silver or champagne colored dial in a Rosegold case. A classic look, and a great one in this watch. The watch is complemented with an 8 day powerreserve indicated in the back of the seethrough case. The dial looks clean. And beautiful to behold.
The case design is quite exceptional as well.
It feels like a beautifully sculpted bronze statue, with fine edges and angles and a very characteristic look.
I asked Henrik about his opinion on his Moser, and this is what he told me:
“I just wanted to give you my initial thoughts on the H. Moser & Cie that I recently purchased. Well, not exactly purchased. I traded it with three other watches due to the price level on this piece. And since I did not have the needed cash at the point of “purchase”, that is how I came to an agreement with the seller.
I traded in a mint Rolex Submariner TT, (ref. 16613 complete will all boxes and papers) bought in Italy in 2005, an Omega PloProf, dated 2014 bought in Norway complete will all boxes and papers and finally a Breitling Colt II, a 2008 model being fully serviced in 2014, bought in the States in 2014 complete will boxes and papers + some additional cash. In other words, I had to “bleed” for this watch but again, I believe it is well worth it. Probably very difficult to re-sell due to a relatively unknown brand and the fact that is in rose gold and a more dressier watch but again, this one I will keep for many years to come.
As mentioned earlier, what attracted me to Moser is the fact that is a up and coming brand, highly independent, stunning hand-made piece and in addition to be a very elegant and timeless piece. To be honest, I have not yet dared to wear it as much as I probably should. However, this will change. They are made to be used and not tucked away in a watch box! The finish of it is superb, at least from my standpoint. I have not yet seen a Patek and its movement with a loupe but I would argue that this one is coming close. As you see from the pictures, the movement is beautiful and I am especially dazzled about the power reserve indicator located in the back.
The face of the watch stands out and the champagne color changes when the watch is seen from different angles, depending on how the sun / the light shines on it. Hands and the big date are also very nice details, and the fact that you are able to change the date back and forth independently from setting the time is also a nice feature. Since I have not yet worn it over some time, I am not able to give input on how it holds its time. But what I have read is that it might need adjustment after one year of use, and that this is normal for a watch such as this.
The rose gold is stunning and the brown alligator wristband makes it complete. Another nice touch is the Moser logo being stamped on to the rose gold buckle.
I still have several sport Rolexes, one IWC BP, one Jaeger Master Control 8 days, Omegas, a couple of the Girard Perregaux Richeville’s (ref. 2710) and the Habring2 but none of them come close to the finish of the Moser. Perhaps unfair to compare the different watches mentioned but again, I do find the Moser to be one of the finest overall. Also, only producing little under 1000 watches a year, I will most likely not see another connoisseur with the same watch anywhere! That, for me, is also something special.
As my watch interest has rocketed the last three years, I have lately become very fascinated by the smaller and independent brands. Particularly Moser, F. P. Journe, Speake-Marin, Stepan Sarpaneva, Laurent Ferrier, Philipe Defour (far far away from me related to price but still very interesting!), and Kari Voutalainen (same here!). There are not yet much written books about these brands since they are relatively new and up and coming but the information found in the Internet is very fascinating. Another German based brand, D. Dornblüth and Sohn, does make very nice timepieces as well. Are you familiar with the Icelandic JS Watches? They also make few but very appealing watches.
Hope this gave some insight of my thoughts on the Moser. I appreciate following you on Instagram and I will most certainly continue doing so in the months to come.”
