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tony p
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More Moser & Cie photos from Baselworld

I have admired the work of Moser & Cie from afar (well, occasionally up close) ever since they first reappeared in 2005.

Featuring horologically significant movements - designed entirely in-house, with an intriguing "interchangeable"
escapement module which was devised with the assistance of Andreas Strehler - packaged inside desperately elegant
case/dial combos, these watches tick all the boxes for a true enthusiast.

All Moser's newly announced lines from 2007 onwards will incorporate the Straumann hairspring, an alloy of seven
elements invented in 1931 and manufactured for Moser & Cie by Precision Engineering AG, who worked closely with
Moser on the Straumann hairspring's integration into their escapements.

The Perpetual 1 is probably Moser's most famous model, particularly well-liked for its extraordinarily simple calendar
display - just a date window and a small arrow for the month. The date change is instantaneous, even from February
to March, snapping from 28 to 1 without any intervening dates being even briefly visible. And the date can be adjusted
forwards and backwards without breaking the mechanism. Brilliant.

I can confirm Don Corson's statement regarding delivery of the Perpetual 1 - the company has solved all the little "issues"
with this watch and are starting to deliver the first orders now. However, they are heavily oversubscribed on this particular
piece, and have no great desire to publicise it further.

So instead let's start with Moser's palladium-cased, "Fumé"-dialled watches, new for 2009, all of which feature a double
Straumann hairspring (to eliminate gravitational error in timing). The double opposed hairspring idea was of course also
seen on AP's Cabinet Piece No. 5 from a couple of years back - but that watch was at least one order of magnitude
pricier than these beauties...


First up: the incredibly svelte and understated Monard Fumé -





Here's the Monard Fumé next to its cousin, the Mayu Fumé with small seconds register at 6 o'clock -






The double Straumann escapement was first announced in 2007, when it appeared in that year's tonneau-shaped Henry model, seen
here nestled between its two cousins -







Basically, if it's got a Fumé dial, it's got a double Straumann spring escapement. All versions of the Henry also sport the double
hairspring configuration, as will the Perpetual 1.







The beautifully striped and anglaged Moser movement sports, in this case, a power reserve - an absolute necessity in a 7-day watch -
and of course, that double Straumann escapement.

Speaking of which -







Moser's casework is spectacular. Their cases are elegant, well-proportioned (hovering around the 41mm diameter mark), and feature
swooping lugs which are incorporated directly into the caseband, as seen in this side view -







And now to my personal favourite. Alas, much as I like these palladium-cased, Fumé-dialled 2009 models,
my first preference still lies with the aesthetic perfection of the Monard in pink gold with black dial -







Here it is next to the Fumé version, so that you can make up your own minds -







Tough choice, huh. I know, I'll just kill myself instead.


OK, I know Moser & Cie don't need any more orders for Perpetuals. But hey, I couldn't resist taking a snap of one anyway -






Cheers
Tony P