H. Moser & Cie. Gets Funky Fresh

Known for its sophisticated and classic timepieces that are both easy on the eyes and bring on a sense of nostalgia, the independent watchmaker injects a more distinctive brand of ‘Je ne sais quoi’ into its selection of novelties. From the striking Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue to the ground-breaking Venturer Tourbillon Dual Time Sapphire Skeleton, H. Moser & Cie. makes classic cool in 2015

Edouard Meylan, H. Moser & Cie’s risk-taking CEO, elaborated on some of the year’s more notable releases, the brand’s steady progress and what sets its creations apart, during a sit-down with ‘Day & Night’ magazine at the 2015 Baselworld.

Which timepiece would you rate as a personal highlight from the 2015 novelties?
I think it would have to be the Funky Blue. The Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue is the embodiment of the vision that I had three years ago for this brand. When we started out, people acknowledged that this was a “nice” brand, and that the timepieces resembled their grandfathers’ watches, so they thought that we were a bit old fashioned; however, in just three years we have managed to reposition that image of the brand – still with the same movements and the same case – but now its contemporary appeal is evident. People love the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue, with its electric blue dial, and kudu leather strap which perfectly complements the watch. Coming from a classic line of timepieces, this watch is a really fresh take for the brand and I love that. The Funky Blue is a concept, it is not just a watch – this is the best way to explain it from my personal viewpoint.

Looking back over the past three years, how would you rate the progress of the brand?
When we introduced the brand, we got a bit provocative. We didn’t show the watches in advertisements, then we started to create the environment, we created values, we created collections, we worked on the products – it was all a process of fine-tuning, it was never about a revolution of the products we had. With a tweak here and there, H. Moser & Cie. became a different brand. It took three years to do this, and now I meet customers and they say how amazing it is that this brand has only slightly drifted in three years, and now there is no other brand like ours. Before, we were trying to be like the big brands, but we’re never going to be Patek, Lange or Vacheron. I think that we have our own identity, we have some of the most beautiful, well-made and smartest movements out there, and we have this extra appealing touch of freshness and distinction.

The brand is renowned for its dials. How important are dials for H. Moser & Cie.?
I think that the dial is such an important part of a timepiece’s aesthetic. You recognize a brand by its dials and that is what the exercise was with playing around with the concept watch (featuring the hand-wound HMC 343 calibre), where we stripped the watch of all markings including the logo, so that the depth and richness of the fume dial can be admired. When I first suggested the idea for this watch, people said that it was crazy, but it ended up being one of our most successful pieces.

One of the biggest surprises at this year’s Baselworld was the launch of your Venturer Tourbillon Dual Time Sapphire Skeleton; what inspired this timepiece? Tell us more about the strap.
Well the idea came from my fascination with changing the perception of the brand, by highlighting our beautiful movements and watchmaking expertise, and enhancing the brand’s overall appeal. So we developed one of the most refined skeleton movements in German silver, and decided to display it in one of the most beautiful, transparent sapphire cases, which was so difficult to produce. It resulted in this incredible contrast with a traditional, classic movement, and a unique, modern case. When you look at it you see this three-dimensional aspect of the movement, and I thought about what kind of strap would complement this aesthetic – so I aimed for something that also was three-dimensional, a difficult feat to achieve with leather. That is when we came up with the idea of having something in rubber, and something that was very original. The only way to accomplish the end result was to use a 3D printer. I think that we are the first in the world to produce a three-dimensional strap with an organic shape.

What do you think is missing from H. Moser & Cie. at this stage?
Most importantly, I think that we need more visibility, we need to build knowledge of the brand on a wider scale. In terms of products, of course we need more complications, but I feel like we have everything that we need at this stage, so the focus has to be on providing H. Moser & Cie. with more visibility. I think that we are slowly achieving this through our strong and provocative communication strategies, which have earned us quite a significant following already.