Swiss Alp Watch: The product behind the marketing

Its launch was deliberately timed to coincide with this year’s CES show with another dig at Apple from H. Moser & Cie. But this new watch really deserves a better benchmark.

This is not the first time that H. Moser & Cie. has chosen to take a swipe at the giants of Silicon Valley, after the brand already presented its “original smart watch” last year. In its latest mockery of Apple’s marketing style, the brand still seems to see no contradiction between its “very rare” motto and comparisons with a multi-billion dollar corporation that sells its watches by the million.

With H. Moser & Cie. set to make its debut at the SIHH next week as part of the new “Carré des Horlogers”, the choice to launch the “Swiss Alp Watch” during the week of the CES, a consumer electronics show, seemed a little strange. But H. Moser & Cie under the leadership of Edouard Meylan is a small brand that likes to punch well above its weight, which applies as much to its marketing as to its genuine “manufacture” status.

H.Moser & Cie Swiss Alp Watch

Sadly, among all the marketing hype, some of the focus on the product itself, as well as its significance for the brand, has been lost. Casting aside the name, which is yet another dig at Apple rather than a genuine claim of origin (the movement is assembled a stone’s throw from the German border in Neuhausen, which is about as far from the Swiss Alps as you can get in Switzerland), the watch remains unmistakably Moser and should be celebrated as such. The shape of the case may be different, but the HMC 324 calibre that beats inside is one of the finest examples of high-end, vertically-integrated movement production on the market, right down to its proprietary Straumann® hairspring and interchangeable Moser escapement. The smoked dial is another signature trait and offers a gradient and depth of colour that is the envy of other, much bigger, brands. The lighter, softer touch of the unusual kudu leather, which comes from a species of antelope native to Africa, complete an ensemble that lives up to the company’s “very rare” slogan.

H.Moser & Cie Swiss Alp Watch

What’s more, in addition to its new rectangular mechanical calibre, which is an evolution of the HMC 321 calibre found in the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Small Seconds model, it’s worth remembering that, despite the unmistakable Moser identity, all of the principal components of the watch (case, movement and dial) are new designs. An expensive affair, no doubt, and one can rightly wonder whether the development costs will be covered by a limited edition of just 50 pieces costing 24,900 dollars each. Maybe next week’s SIHH will shed more light on to how this new movement and case will fit into the H. Moser & Cie. collection going forward. It might also be worth keeping an eye on the new launches from sister brand Hautlence, whose watches just happen to be primarily rectangular in shape.

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