Q&AH. Moser & Cie. Chief On Recent Novelties And How The Brand Remain Simple Yet Spectacular
Family-owned brand H. Moser & Cie. believe in keeping their products simple yet spectacular. Brand CEO Edouard Meylan talks about how they play to their strengths
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How do the 2022 novelties take the brand’s story forward?
We had the Endeavour Lime Green, which was a new type of dial for us—hammered gold, with a gradient of a beautiful lime green. The movement is simple, with a double hairspring. This showed Moser’s simplicity and elegance. The second was the Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon on the opposite end of the spectrum—very sporty, bold, a statement watch. The hairspring is cylindrical. You know we master the hairspring—we do it ourselves—but this was the first time that we used it in a skeleton display. In steel, it’s very practical, but also spectacular. Then in the Streamliner series, there’s the Tourbillon Vantablack. This is the first time we’ve done gold, a tourbillon, and a Vantablack dial in Streamliner.
From the chronograph to the Centre Seconds to the perpetual calendar to the tourbillon, and using gold in the latest—was that always the idea?
It was a coincidence really. The Centre Seconds was done to have an entry-level watch in the collection. The chronograph was sportier. The perpetual calendar is the highlight of Moser, so it had to be done. The tourbillon was always to be the fourth, but we decided to explore other materials, and gold entered the picture. It was easier to launch gold with the tourbillon, because the price would be relatively higher anyway.
Can you talk about the Vantablack concept watch?
It’s a concept, an art piece, not for sale. The idea was to show the intensity of the black in Vantablack. On a dial, you can see that it’s very dark, but you may not be able to see that it’s so dark that it absorbs everything. So we coated the entire watch to show how lost you can get in Vantablack, with the hands just floating in that darkness.
How do you decide when it’s the right time to bring out new versions of existing models?
The rule usually for us is about two years. Otherwise, if there’s an evolution in the movement even, it’s the right time to transition into a different movement.
In this age of gender-neutral products, with brands increasingly going unisex and avoiding classification, what is Moser’s stance?
Our watches are very suitable for women and men. If there’s one reason why they might be more suited for men, it’s the case size. But I think that even ladies wear the same watches as men. We see people labelling watches as meant for ladies because they have diamonds, but we end up selling them more to men.