With the Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Cosmic Rain, the Schaffhausen-based Manufacture reinterprets one of its most complex creations in a limited edition of 20 pieces, where watchmaking excellence meets the artistic crafts. Housed in a 40-mm titanium case, this timepiece combines a minute repeater displayed on the dial side, a flying tourbillon fitted with a cylindrical hairspring and a fully skeletonised hand-wound movement. Complementing this technical feat is an artistic dimension embodied by a miniature aventurine dial enhanced with delicate mother-of-pearl inlays. Bridging sound, movement and light, this creation explores the many facets of the watchmaking art and celebrates the coming together of tradition, innovation and artisanal craftsmanship.
On this exceptional timepiece, the minute repeater takes centre stage. The hammers and gongs – traditionally concealed on the back of the movement – are revealed on the dial side. This distinctive construction required a complete rethinking of the calibre’s architecture in order to ensure impeccable acoustic quality while offering maximum visibility of the mechanism. The beauty of the sound is matched by that of the mechanics, revealed through meticulous skeletonisation. Openworked bridges, lightened volumes, clear views: the gaze moves freely through the movement. Nothing is hidden.
At 2 o’clock, in a break with this transparency, a small domed aventurine dial instantly draws the eye with its depth and visual richness. Descended from a centuries-old glassmaking tradition, aventurine glass is produced using a complex process that traps minute copper crystals within the material, creating its distinctive shimmer. For this creation, fragments of aventurine glass in two colours are applied by hand to a domed base to produce H. Moser & Cie.’s signature fumé gradient, then subjected to multiple firings.
Once this first stage is complete, the dial undergoes a second, extremely delicate process. Thin mother-of- pearl strips are cut, subtly curved then integrated into the previously engraved surface, following the contours of the dial. Their delicately iridescent glow seems to penetrate the depth of the aventurine, appearing like a shower of stars across the night sky. Each strip is individually positioned, transforming this miniature dial into a unique composition where glass, light and materials converge.
This artistry is not intended to compete with the mechanics, but rather to complement it. Where the minute repeater speaks to the ear and the tourbillon expresses the precision of movement, aventurine and mother-of-pearl speak to the eye. Three different languages brought together in a single creation.
To this sonic and visual architecture is added a one-minute flying tourbillon fitted with a cylindrical hairspring. Inherited from 18th-century marine chronometers, this hairspring rises perpendicularly around the upper stem of the balance staff. Its concentric geometry improves the isochronism and attests to a level of craftsmanship that has become extremely rare. Produced by Precision Engineering AG, a sister company of H. Moser & Cie., each cylindrical hairspring is hand-shaped using a demanding process that requires a significantly longer production time than that of a conventional hairspring.
Driven by the hand-wound, fully skeletonised Manufacture calibre HMC 909, the Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Cosmic Rain celebrates the convergence of a multi-faceted excellence: the mastery of sound, the precision of movement and the beauty of artisanal craftsmanship. H. Moser & Cie.'s own and unique take on Haute Horlogerie.
