Just as if the launch of its non-conventional looking perpetual calendar in 2006 —winner of the Grand Prix at the GPHG— wasn't enough, H. Moser & Cie. continues to tear down preconceptions with the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue, a bold reinterpretation of this haute horlogerie model featuring a sky-blue dial and a kudu leather strap. As the discussion around smartwatches builds, the independent watchmaker H. Moser & Cie. takes a clear but distinctive position today. H. Moser & Cie. has produced smart watches for over 100 years by combining a clean interface, state-of-the-art ergonomics, ingenious functions and long power autonomy – without compromise. Today, they continue to nurture the next generation of watch lovers launching the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue, a watch that both looks smart and is in fact very clever. This is the original smart watch and as H. Moser & Cie. likes to say it, "very rare".
But what makes H. Moser & Cie. so rare? Well, not only the fact that they make a 1,000 watches a year, but also their rich history. This company now under the reigns of former legendary Audemars Piguet CEO Georges Henri-Meylan, was originally founded in 1828 by Heinrich Moser in Russia. A year later, Heinrich Moser opened up a factory in Le Locle, twenty years later he moved to Schaffhausen —his birthplace— and in 1979 the company disappeared only to be brought back to life in 2005 when a new manufacture was built in Schaffhausen. As of 2012, along with Hautlence and Precision Engineering, H. Moser & Cie. is now steered in the right direction by the Meylan family who owns the MELB Holding group —an acronym after Meylan's son and daughters that stands for Meylan Edouard Léonore Bertrand.
The H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue is an exceptional timepiece fitted with a 40.8 mm white gold case and equipped with a number of ingenious features including what H. Moser calls the 'Flash Calendar', an instantaneous —literally a fraction of a second almost invisible to the naked eye— date mechanism that allows the wearer to adjust the calendar forward or backwards without the risk of damaging the mechanism. Now many of you might be wondering how could this watch be a perpetual calendar without the traditional day, date, month, year and leap year displays, well, that is exactly what makes this a very rare and very smart watch. Its stunning 'funky blue' fumé dial features running seconds at 6, a large date display with black calendar wheel at 3 o'clock, the month indicated by the small hand at the center of the dial —using the hour markers as the reference for the months— and the leap year indicator on the movement side. If you look at the picture below, you will see that the watch shows August 12th.
While most perpetual calendars feature several correctors on the case band to make adjustments, the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue comes with only one and the winding crown is also utilized to set the calendar. Additionally, in order to keep its dial design clean and easy to read, the leap year indication has been moved to the movement side and a power reserve —7 days— indicator is located at the 9 o'clock position. Now keep in mind that while this is a true perpetual calendar in all the sense of the word, you still won't have a year or day of the week indicator. But honestly, when you are able to buy an H. Moser & Cie. Perpetual, that's the last of your worries.
Its ergonomic case design —with the most fascinating curves on the case band and case back— along with the stunning tan hand-stitched kudu leather strap with solid white gold folding clasp with engraved Moser logo, makes for a perfect daily wearer that goes well on any occasion. The strap, with its distressed look similar to that of an 'Assolutamente' Panerai strap tones the watch down and only very few will now what you are wearing.
Visible via the display case back one can admire the beautiful in-house manual wound calibre HMC 341 that beats at a frequency of 18,000 vph. The movement fitted with a 28 jewels, double barrel, leap year cycle indicator and Moser teeth for all wheels and pinions also features the interchangeable Moser escapement with original Straumann hairspring and Breguet overcoil. All movement components are hand finished and decorated and a real treat for the eyes.
On the wrist, the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Perpetual Calendar 'Funky Blue' wears more like a 42 mm timepiece and with very special wrist presence. Wearing a watch that only very few know about makes one feel very special. Ultimately there are two types of watch collectors, those that like to wear a watch easily recognized by everyone and those that opt for the exclusive. If you like exclusivity and impeccable craftsmanship, then this is the way to go.
Sticker Price $60,000 USD. For more info on H. Moser & Cie. click here.
