Pre Baselworld 2015 - H.Moser & Cie Concept Watch

09 March 2015 | H.Moser & Cie.

To introduce the new model that H.Moser & Cie has previewed ahead of Baselworld 2015, I decided to cite the writer Seth Godin and his famous book “Purple Cow”, a sort of mantra for those who have decided to create their own brand and to set up their marketing campaign, in a way that will allow their product or service to really stand out. This result, if applied to high-end watchmaking, is hard to achieve if not impossible, since it's not easy for new luxury brands to stand out and attract customers who are often loyal to a small bunch of strong and renowned brands. H.Moser & Cie, which has a longstanding tradition in watchmaking and was founded in 1828 in Schaffausen (I suggest you read the brand's history on their website by clicking HERE), has been very brave (as well as smart) mainly for two reasons: it has given up massive ad campaigns and has followed a path that is opposite to today's trend in fine watchmaking, that is often all about making super-complicated, overdesigned and sometimes bizarre timepieces, just to attract new potential customers. The outcome is a Concept Watch, laconically referred to as Reference 343-0XXX.

H.Moser & Cie has therefore occupied an area that most fine watchmakers have actually abandoned, and has managed to capture the most difficult thing to communicate today: simplicity, a place where many connoisseurs actually live, though taken to the extreme in order to declare its vision: it's the product and the product only to market itself. The H.Moser & Cie Concept Watch is a three hands mechanical timepiece, where the power reserve indicator is placed on the movement side (the brand realizes the neatest and purest timepieces when it comes to design: a few years ago I had to actually read one of their timepieces’ technical sheet, to realize that it was in fact a perpetual calendar). No logo and indexes on its dial because, if a product is recognizable, you need nothing but functionality (you would recognize a 991 from a distance even without its logo or emblem). A clear reference to the brand's design is its fumé dial, a hallmark of any H.Moser & Cie.

The case is white gold and is 40,8mm wide and 10,9mm thick; the movement, caliber HMC 343, is made in-house, in a manufacture that employs just 50 people and produces just 1000 watches a year, made for those who appreciate the core of fine watchmaking and are not buying one after having seen an ad campaign with their favourite sports athlete (I associate the H.Moser & Cie's intimate approach to watchmaking to that used by some fine Japanese watchmakers). While waiting to get my hands on this beauty, here is a live photo of the timepiece which I found on the brand's official Instagram account, that you can reach via this link.