Some thoughts on the Moser Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbilllon Alpine Limited Edition.
amanico
The universe of Tourbillons in sports watches is curious and quite uncommon. How many brands did make one? Laurent Ferrier comes to our mind, indeed, as well as Jaeger Lecoultre with the Amvox III, and Richard Mille. Moser played this card, recently, and unveiled the Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon for Alpine in last April, to celebrate their partnership with the french sports car brand.Curious, because we don't naturally imagine a Tourbillon in a sports watch. We rather see a tool watch, solid, robust, and not necessarily refined. About the Moser I know that the Alpine pilots wear it ( or them, as there are two a Blue and a Pink ), but I don't know if they wear it / them during the F1 or Endurance races... It would be interesting to know that point, if the watch can stand the many G forces during the races. Now that being said, let's see and discuss the watch.
1/ The case 
Here, we have a kind of cushion case, with some generous dimensions ( 42, 3 mm big ), but not too high ( 11 mm excluding the sapphire glass, 14 mm with the sapphire glass, which is domed ). To add to this original shape, we have no lugs. The case is made in steel, which seems, on the photos, a tad dark. I didn't find any information about that. But I think it is due to the finish of the case,which looks soeillé. The good news is that the case is water resistant to 120 meters. If you want to swim with it, no problem, you can! For those who wondered, the crown is screwed-in.
So, I guess that the case will provide a good presence on the wrist, without being too show off.
2/ The dial:
Or the dials, as there are two, one blue, one pink.
The blue dial is made in synthetic blue spinel, while the pink is also synthetic, but in corundum. Superluminova for the indices, whole the hands are treated with a luminous material called " Globolight ". I don't have lumed shots, but it may be something, in reality. Both dials are domed.
A Chromatic explanation: Blue is the official color of Alpine, while Pink is the official color of BWT, one of Alpine's Sponsors.
The first impressions, when you look at the face of this watch, are lightness and balance.
I really like the fact that the dial at 12 makes echo to the tourbillon at 6. You understood my point, the dial is not only the one dedicated to Time, but the whole face, the movement, in fact.
3/ THE MOVEMENT:
The movement is the Cal HMC 811, which is 34 mm big and 5, 5 mm high, automatic, beating at the pace of 21, 600 vibrations per hour and offering a power reserve of 74 hours.
It is fully skeletonized, from the plates to the bridges, without forgetting the rotor, of course. The plates and bridges are anthracite finished, and the balance bridge is hand beveled.
The flying tourbillon receives a... Cylindrical hairspring, which is a rare and sublime detail, nowadays.
4/ THOUGHTS:
Uncommon and curious, these sporty tourbillons don't lack interest, even if their existence and purpose are hard to justify. A superlative chronograph, why not, a chronometer, too, but a Tourbillon???
Anyway, it is here, and it is not bad looking at all, I must say.
I am not a big fan of this kind of case, but it quite works here. I prefer cases with lugs, rather than without... But, once again, I find it interesting, here.It enhances the sporty look of the watch. On the other hand, I don't like this kind of trend with this kind of case... So I have mixed feelings, on that matter.
The big asset of the Alpine Streamliner certainly is, at least for me, the face.
I am not totally mad about Tourbillons when they are on the dial side, because they most often make a hole in the dial. But here, this Tourbillon is part of the dial, it makes echo to the dial dedicated to Time, in a balanced way. And it is pretty!
Same for skeletons. When I find traditional skeletons a bit " baroque ," this one is modern, subtle and light. Very much my taste.
The back is superb, too. But I would have preferred a manual winding movement, or... An automatic, but with a micro rotor.
Limited to 100 pieces in blue, 20 pieces in pink, this watch comes at a certain price: 89, 000 CHF... I would have expected a steel bracelet, in addition to the rubber one, and / or another metal for this price, such as tantalum, palladium, or at least titanium.
And a last personal note: I find it quite stupid to state " Very Rare " in the Moser official logo... Who will believe that they make very rare watches? What is rare other than a silly, or at least very artificial and over abused motto...
Best,
Nicolas
Comments:
enjoythemusic September 23rd, 2024-16:07
Great timepieces and my one and only wish..... By unifying the Streamliner case, they can offer various color straps so we can extend the style. []~(￣▽￣)~*
mdg September 23rd, 2024-16:35
I appreciate the thickness with/without the crystal... ...but ultimately, how it wears (and which door frames it hits) are determined by the total height. Too thick for me.
Chewbacca September 23rd, 2024-17:24
Love Moser as a brand. But I struggle with the skeletonize watches now that I’m older and my eyesight is failing.
amanico September 23rd, 2024-20:57
Well, here the contrast between the hands and the dial is clear, at least.
MTR September 23rd, 2024-19:06
I like the shape of the case. And the whole composition of the dial. If I compare the Streamliner Chronos, for example, then the case without the bracelet in the same metal looks better to me. See both examples here. As far as their slogan "very rare" is concerned, I don't think that's soooo dramatic. They don't make more ...
amanico September 23rd, 2024-20:58
I thought they were more into the Lange production ( circa 2500 / 3000 pieces ). Anyway, that is much less rare than Pascal Coyon,, Dufour, or even Ferdinand Berthoud, just to quote a few... ;)
amanico September 24th, 2024-05:05
You see? Like children trying to know who has the biggest... Ridiculous.
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