Much of H. Moser & Cie.’s success can be attributed to its unique blend of classical watchmaking elements with a plush, minimalist modern design sensibility. Even its complication designs are stripped down to the bare visual essentials, allowing the brand to focus on perfecting each visible element individually. The brand’s latest release is no exception, combining two of the most intricate and sought-after complications in watchmaking into an elegantly restrained and simplified package. The new limited-edition H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue couples truly world-class movement work with rich color, exquisite new finishing, and the brand’s unique flavor of minimalism.

While many complication designs, particularly minute repeaters, tend to be on the larger side, the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue’s case measures in at a balanced and restrained 40mm-wide. Available in either titanium or 18k red gold, this case is reasonably tall at 13.5mm-thick but feels far from overwhelming or chunky in initial images. Like many of the brand’s designs, the overall case layout is deceptively simple, at first glance, but reveals a wealth of distinctive details on closer inspection. The sleek tapering lugs are a prime example of this philosophy at work. The overall lug profile is pure classic dress watch, as is the brightly polished top surface of each lug. When viewed from the side, however, each of these elements includes a softly flowing polished groove that extends well into the vertically brushed case sides and gives the elemental case shape a sinuously organic feel in images. The broad, polished smooth bezel keeps the classically simple overall look intact, as does the flared crown at 3 o’clock. The sliding minute repeater bolt at 9 o’clock takes on a surprisingly high-profile flared shape, flaring outward well beyond the case side in a way that should make for easy operation. H. Moser & Cie. completes the case with a sapphire display caseback, and although the brand does not offer a water resistance rating for this model, this is far from a sporting design.

The H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue’s dial showcases two of the most intricate and difficult complications in watchmaking with the brand’s usual refined minimalism. For the main dial surface, the brand introduces a new finishing technique to its collection. The gold dial base is painstakingly engraved to emulate a hammered texture before a sequence of four finely ground enamel pigments is added to the surface in a process that takes the brand’s master enameller a full hour of careful application. Over the course of 12 Grand Feu firings, this quartet of colors oxidizes and flows together, creating the brand’s signature fumé effect with a richly saturated and deeply translucent tone in images. The Aqua Blue name is apt here, as the color itself is handsomely oceanic with a genuine sense of visual depth. H. Moser & Cie. cuts away this textured, unmarked dial surface to reveal its pair of high-powered complications. The 6 o’clock flying tourbillon is framed with a remarkably ornate cage, while the red-gold balance wheel itself adds an eye-catching flair to the escapement in images. By contrast, the pair of minute repeater hammers at 10 o’clock cleaves far more closely to the brand’s minimalist aesthetic in images with deep polished dial cutouts and polished, chamfered shapes that call to mind the head of a bearded axe. The brand runs the elongated pair of minute repeater gongs in an arc surrounding the main dial surface, allowing the grainy matte movement plate to shine through and offering the wearer an unimpeded view of the whole complication in action. In lieu of any dial text or signatures, the brand allows its signature polished leaf handset to act as a calling card atop this design.

H. Moser & Cie. powers the Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue with its new in-house HMC 904 hand-wound flying tourbillon minute repeater movement. In addition to the aforementioned complications, the HMC 904 offers a massive 90-hour power reserve at a 21,600 bph beat rate. The movement’s presentation through the caseback carefully balances cleanliness with mechanical complexity, allowing a selection of polished skeleton bridges and gear train elements to shine through the series of broad bridges in images. The HMC 904 is fully hand-decorated, from the matte graining of its baseplate to the polished anglage and Côtes de Geneve across the bridges. H. Moser & Cie. pairs the Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue with a classical alligator leather strap in a warm mahogany brown.

By smoothly integrating two of the most revered complications in horology into a balanced, minimalist package, the limited edition H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue presents one of the most spectacular expressions of the brand’s singular watchmaking vision to date. Only 40 examples of the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue will be made, with 20 examples each in titanium and 18K red gold. The watch is available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue stands at $365,000 as of press time. For more details, please visit the brand’s website.