Who needs handle? That’s most likely what went through the heads of the creative minds at Moser & Cie when they came up with this wacky watch. Not shy of challenges and provocations, defying the rules and conventions; the modest Swiss manufacture has often surprised us with very unique models that become a satirical, yet important, take on the current watchmaking industry.
This time, Moser & Cie had an unusual take on the répétition minutes; using a complication initially made to assist watch owners (allowing people to tell time without light), and making it the main and only function for their watch.
Based on their Swiss Alp watch model, a take one the Apple smartwatch, the mechanism was reworked, substituting the traditional mechanism for a répétition minutes. Everything was stripped away from the original model: the hand and the centre arm on which the hands are fixed. The dial, absent of any detail (even the logo), painted completely black, with no indication, is only holed on the bottom side to display the tourbillon. Every detail has been removed to the point where it doesn’t look anything like a watch and would lure neophytes into thinking it’s an apple watch if it wasn’t for the tourbillon. The only way this watch will give you the time is if you push the lever on its left side, starting up the répétition minutes mechanism and allowing the watch to ‘sing’ it to you.
We’ve talked about modern watches before but only when they’re truly deserving, watchmaking history in the making. And for the H. Moser & Cie, Minute Repeater Concept Black, that is certainly the case. This masterpiece was released in 2019 and priced at only $350,000. The case is in platinum and features a hand-wound, 87-hour reserve movement.
By: Simon Pontroue