If ever a watchmaker could be said to be on the rise, it is Schaffhausen-based H. Moser & Cie; it raises lower levels of hell these days than it once did with the Moser Nature and Swiss Mad watches, although one of Google’s top searches for H. Moser & Cie is for the so-called H. Moser Apple Watch, which is actually the Swiss Alp model. This is all pretty remarkable for a brand that is completely classical in spirit, as we have often remarked in our frequent chats with H. Moser & Cie top dog Edouard Meylan. For example, if you hankered after the H. Moser Streamliner Central Seconds, you might be fresh out of luck because this model is perpetually sold out everywhere; it is not limited, at least the version in Matrix Green is not, but it is highly popular. Well, last year H. Moser & Cie proposed a solution to the availability crunch in the Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel watch, which boasts an extraordinary dial that looks half-baked.
To be sure, the dial is fully baked, being enamel and all that it just would not work in production for it to be anything other. The hammered texture, per the official description, smashes what is normally expected of enamel, which is of course a smoothness that puts fine Japanese whisky to shame. H. Moser & Cie calls this Aqua Blue fume Grand Feu and it has already generated a powerful degree of desirability. This is now another new entry level Streamliner in steel and is the most petite model to boot, at 39mm (though we must note that the price point has shifted dramatically upwards; the existing Central Seconds model costs SGD 34,000). There is a new movement in place here, the HMC 500, with a micro-rotor. The manufacture calls this a partially skeletonised movement and it seems to be at least partly machine-finished, which is entirely fair at this level.
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There is most likely more happening with calibre HMC 500 since this little engine manages to squeeze out roughly two more hours of power reserve on calibre HMC 200. As a result of the micro-rotor, HMC 500 is thinner than HMC 200 and we surmise that this, along with the complex dial accounts for the big price gap. As always, how one feels about this sort of thing is entirely dependent the brand’s proposition and this is where the brand’s current positioning matters as well as the status of the Streamliner itself. We are on the record that the price of the Central Seconds model is a good one, and we ourselves had to recently turn down a friendly offer on the watch from a collector friend.
Movement: Automatic calibre HMC 500 with micro-rotor; 74-hour power reserve
Case: 39mm in steel; water-resistant to 120m
Strap: Steel bracelet
Price: H. Moser & Cie CHF29,900
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