New Release: H. Moser & Cie “Swiss Icons Watch”

Through their usual tongue-in-cheek and provocative demeanour, H. Moser & Cie. is paying tribute to the legends of beautiful mechanical watchmaking by presenting the Swiss Icons Watch, a symbol of icons past and present and a safeguard against current excesses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9bnb15pKKY&feature=youtu.be

Swiss mechanical watchmaking owes its longevity and its international renown to its creativity and ability to innovate. It was able to rebuild itself and confront complicated situations, such as the great depression and the quartz crisis, by pooling common strengths, working hard, remaining true to its values, and particularly, remaining true to the product. At the time, little was said but much was done. Today, the opposite is true, often to the detriment of the product.

Since the times of the farmer-watchmakers, artisans have ceaselessly invented, refined and miniaturised, continually improving their precision, reliability and performances. Today, there is an immense chasm between the humility and serenity of the watchmakers who create these watches and the marketing that focuses on glitz and glamour above their products.

H. Moser & Cie. is taking a stand against this opportunistic watchmaking:
“Many brands, even historical ones, create and produce nothing but substitute substance with artificial hype to stay relevant. Reinforcing their efforts with prestigious events and paying ambassadors who have no links to watchmaking; these tactics are just artifice that serve as smoke and mirrors. It’s all about who has the longest history, the most famous celebrity ambassador, or influencer with the most followers. Their efforts are in vain, the essential lies elsewhere: with the product.” emphasises Edouard Meylan, CEO of H. Moser & Cie. “We should show our creativity and we should refocus on the product. We need to come back down to earth, roll up our sleeves and create unique ideas. This is the only way that we can make Swiss Made great again.”

At the coming Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie 2018 (SIHH), Edouard Meylan is launching the Swiss Icons Watch in support of his point. This unique piece revisits iconic watches from yesterday and today, fusing their various characteristic signatures into one balanced watch. It pays homage to those timepieces that have given Swiss watchmaking its reputation, but also renounces, with irreverent humour, the lack of substance that has characterised certain watchmakers for far too long. The Swiss Icons Watch also houses certain elements that have become H. Moser signatures, including a Funky Blue dial, a double hairspring made from PE5000, a paramagnetic alloy developed by Precision Engineering AG, as well as an interchangeable one-minute flying tourbillon.

The Swiss Icons Watch is a unique piece. It will be presented at the SIHH from January 15th to 19th, 2018.

Taking its place in the series of special watches that was inaugurated in 2016 with the Swiss Alp Watch and the Swiss Mad Watch in 2017, the Swiss Icons Watch will be auctioned off after the Salon. The proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Fondation pour la Culture Horlogère Suisse (Foundation for Swiss Watchmaking Culture) and will be used to support apprenticeships in the watchmaking professions and to safeguard expertise in the related watchmaking arts and crafts.

 

Technical Specifications

Reference 3804-1200, steel model, Funky Blue fumé dial, steel bracelet, unique piece

Case

• Steel
• Diameter: 43.0 mm/height: 12.6 mm
• Sapphire crystal
• See-through sapphire crystal case back
• Crown adorned with a cabochon sapphire

Dial

• Created from two overlaid plates
• Funky Blue fumé dial with striped decoration, cut-out numerals with Super-LumiNova®
• Blued traditional-shaped hour and minute hands

Movement

• Self-winding HMC 804 Manufacture calibre
• Diameter: 32.0 mm or 14 1/4 lignes
• Height: 5.5 mm
• Frequency: 21,600 vibrations/hour
• Automatic bi-directional pawl winding system
• Oscillating weight in 18-carat red gold with engraved H. Moser & Cie. logo
• Power reserve: minimum 3 days
• Original paramagnetic double hairspring
• Modular one-minute flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock with skeletonised bridges

Functions

• Hours and minutes

Bracelet

• Steel
• Steel folding clasp, engraved with the Moser logo

The Swiss Icons Watch will be auctioned off after the Salon.