It's been a while since we last brought you some H. Moser & Cie. goodness, but today, we bring you our hands-on review of the Venturer Big Date in 18K white gold —available with white lacquered dial or midnight blue fumé. This elegant time/date watch, where simplicity and clean lines are the name of the game, is one of the less than 1,000 watches that H. Moser & Cie. makes every year to stand true to its selling proposition of being 'very rare'. This company now under the reigns of former legendary Audemars Piguet CEO Georges Henri-Meylan, was 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. Venturer Big Date is perfectly sized in an 18K white gold case measuring 41.5 mm in diameter —2.5 mm wider than the case on the Venturer Small Seconds—, a white lacquered dial with black Roman numerals, subsidiary seconds, remarkably contrasting blued leaf-shaped hands and a supple matte black alligator strap with pin buckle. But what makes the Venturer Big Date an even more special watch is the unique design of its date aperture.
The Dial & Case
The white lacquered dial, featuring a domed shape and stepped tri-dimensional construction is inspired by traditional pocket watches. The Venturer Big Date ref. 2100-0200 features a subsidiary seconds register that lends it an elegant design that is rounded out by black Roman numerals. The blued hands provide a remarkable level of contrast against the white clean lines of this lacquered dial and the big square date aperture completes the equation with its prominent and unique shape. Its 18K white gold case —also available in 18K red gold— , features the ergonomic case design now traditional of the H. Moser & Cie. timepieces.
The Movement
The beating heart powering the H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Small Seconds is the in-house manual wound calibre HMC 100. The movement measures 34 mm in diameter and 6.3 mm in thickness, therefore, is perfectly suited to fit the case size. Equipped with Moser teeth for all wheels and pinion, pallet fork and escapement wheel made from gold and an interchangeable Moser escapement module —designed to simplify the servicing of the watch—, the movement beats at a frequency of 18,000 vph to provide a power reserve of 7 days. As expected, the movement and all components are hand-finished and exceptionally decorated and fully visible via the display case back.
On the Wrist & Pricing
On the wrist, the H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Big Date wears more like a 42 mm timepiece and with very special wrist presence. The watch is equipped with an elegant hand-stitched black matter alligator strap with 18K white gold matching pin buckle. If you like exclusivity and impeccable craftsmanship, look no further. One great thing for those of you not very fond of the 18K white gold, is that the two 18K red gold references of the Venturer Big Date are also very nice. Ultimately, you can't go wrong choosing any of them as they are indeed 'very rare'.
Sticker Price $33,000 USD. For more info on H. Moser & Cie. click here.
