Now this is the type of timepiece I expect from Switzerland-based H. Moser & Cie., and not futile attempts to play with (or play against) the smartwatch market. For the celebration of the brand’s 10-year anniversary, H. Moser & Cie produced this Perpetual Calendar Heritage Limited Edition that has been inspired by a pocket watch from the late 19th Century. H. Moser & Cie. connects what is probably its most admirable model with a very beautiful nod to the past.
At its heart, the H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Heritage Limited Edition watch is the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar watch that I reviewed here. This very clever minimalist perpetual calendar indicates the month, date, and time on the dial, along with a handy power reserve indicator for the manually wound movement. To fully set the perpetual calendar complication, a leap year indicator is placed on the rear of the movement (because you don’t need to see that very often, and it works much better there).
The in-house-made H. Moser & Cie caliber HMC 341 movement operates at 2.5Hz, or 18,000 bph, which is a bit on the steady side, and has a long power reserve of seven days across two mainspring barrels. The movement is fully hand-finished, and I really like how the bridges are produced from 18k gold. Other important movement features include an easy-to-replace Moser escapement (for service needs) as well as a double hairspring (here, as the “Original Straumann Double Hairpring”). In this watch, we also see diamonds being used as the palette jewels for the balance wheel.
I should note that elements such as the gold bridges and diamond end-stones are unique to the HMC 341 movement in the H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Heritage Limited Edition watch – as the HMC 341 in the “standard” versions of the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar watch do not have these features.
For the dial, the brand goes really retro (in a good way) for the H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Heritage being directly inspired by 19th century enamel pocket watch dials. Here, we have a lovely white-color grand feu enamel dial with actual hand-painted black Roman numeral hour markers (I personally get a kick out of that). The black “dovetail-shaped” hands offer supreme legibility against the white dial. My hope is that H. Moser & Cie considered using a version of this dial for other future versions of the Perpetual Calendar watch.
Of course, what you’ve been noticing this entire time is the double hunter-style case that opens both on the front and rear. The brand needed to increase the size of the H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Heritage Limited Edition watch (in comparison to the Endeavour version) to 46mm wide, and they produced it in 18k red gold.
Even with the hinged top and back, the H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Heritage Limited Edition is still only 13.6mm thick, which isn’t too bad. With that said, in order to view the time, you’ll need to operate the pusher in the crown in order to release the crown cover to view the watch dial. The entire case is further distinct from other Perpetual Calendar watches in the H. Moser & Cie. collection, notably, with the hinged wire-style lugs.
As you can see from the included images of the late 19th century H. Moser & Cie pocket watch, the decoration on the case cover, sides, and back is directly inspired by this earlier horological item. It would probably be safe to say that H. Moser & Cie did their best to directly replicate this luxurious and decorated pocket watch in wrist watch form. The majority of the decoration is cloisonne enamel, which begins with guilloche machine or hand-engraved gold, and is then painted with a layer of blue enamel. The composition is then baked so that it remains permanent.
In addition to the cloisonne enamel work, the H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Heritage Limited Edition replicates the pocket watch’s diamond setting (28 stones) on the top of the case lid as well. Some might see this aesthetic as a bit feminine, but for the right wearer, this entire composition looks pretty amazing and genuinely “old world.” Attached to the H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Heritage Limited Edition watch is a lovely deep red-colored alligator strap.
Even though “Limited Edition” is technically part of the name of this watch, H. Moser & Cie has not yet communicated how many pieces will be in this limited edition. That is often because it depends on how many orders they get. Timepieces such as this are often too expensive to produce in a series without orders. So whether or not you want to refer to this watch as a limited edition or limited production, it will undeniably be rare and exclusive. The brand has designated the H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Heritage Limited Edition as the reference 8341-0400 and the price is $250,000 USD. h-moser.com