The H. Moser & Co Swiss Alp Watch gets one last hurrah...
Moser have been a company that in recent years have firmly put themselves on the map. The small, forward thinking independent have one of the greatest marketing minds ever at their disposal. This has culminated in some hilarious releases over the years, poking fun at the seriousness and lack of invention in the modern watch industry. For those of you who dont know, below are the three previous releases that have caused such a stir.
3 of Mosers bonkers past creations...
Possibly their most iconic release, however, is the Swiss Alp Watch. Now for those of you who do not know, there is one watch that has sold more than any other on the face of the planet. And whilst it pains me to admit it, it is none other than the Apple Watch. Since its launch in 2015, the Apple Watch has sold more than 100,000,000 units. Truly bonkers numbers. Whilst I have been previously cynical about the Apple Watch, not only am I now warming to it, but I am finally realising the value that it has had on the industry.
The Apple Watch has acted as a gateway drug for new members of the hobby who have gone on to gain an interest in mechanical watches off the back of ownership of an Apple Watch.
Enter Moser, who in 2016, decided to pay homage to the impact of the Apple Watch on the community by releasing the Swiss Alp Watch. It is clear to see where the inspiration for this came from, but in true Moser fashion it was made to the highest standards, and at its beating heart a typically gorgeous Moser movement.
The first Swiss Alp Watch from 2015...
In the 5 years since the first Swiss Alp Watch was released, there have been a number of subsequent editions, such as a Tourbillon Minute Repeater with no hands (why not?!) and a model with sub-seconds which I am a huge fan of. To mark the 5 years of Swiss Alp Watch, and a last hurrah before the line is stopped, the company have come up with possibly their coolest execution of the watch yet.
Anyone who has ever used a piece of Apple technology will loath the little spinning wheel of doom as I have nicknamed it, which appears when there is a problem with your device. Some would argue that it is as synonymous with Apple products as a lighting cable or Apple headphones. Anyway, the geniuses over at Moser decided that this could be immortalised into an edition of the Swiss Alp Watch as a sub seconds dial, pure class.
Its just cool... undeniably cool...
As well as retiring the line of watches as a whole, this piece sees the sad retirement of the HMC 324 movement, which as you can see below is just drop dead gorgeous... If an Apple Watch was powered by a movement anywhere near as nice (and mechanical) as this one id have bought one by now!
In true Moser fashion, the movement is drop dead GORGEOUS...
This watch is filled to the brim with Moser DNA. It features a Vantablack dial which has become something of a Moser trademark. It also by extension features an unsigned dial, something that you are constrained to with Vantablack as you cannot print on it. However, it is impossible to focus on any other detail of the dial outside of the sub seconds. Moser say that they credit a collector with the idea who approached them with the idea. It completely defines this version, with the aperture whitening and fading to mimic the spinning icon we are all so familiar with.
"A piquant and playfully gentle acerbic commentary on the frustrating bugginess of even state of the art technology, Moser’s timing here couldn’t be more prescient. After almost a year of Zoom calls and FaceTime, the limitations of virtual substitutions for old fashioned human contact are obvious and exhausting.
It’s a simple but potent reminder: While we wait, time is still passing." Bilal Khan, A Blog to Watch
Whilst researching this piece, I came across the fantastic review by ablogtowatch.com which I would highly recommend you check out! This quote above in particular I thought perfectly summed up the brilliance of this watch.
Unfortunately this brilliant watch is a 50 piece limited edition, rendering the specs of the watch somewhat redundant. Not much point in knowing how a watch that none of us will likely ever own wears on the wrist is there? Having said that, considering it is a mere 50 piece limited edition, the price of £21,000 really is not as prohibitive as I thought. But what I really like is that the watch effectively mirrors the size of the latest Apple Watch Series 6. Coming in at 38.2mm wide, 44mm lug to lug and 10.5mm thick. Whilst the lug-to-lug may be a little longer than you would like, it is just 0.2mm wider and 0.2mm slimmer than an Apple Watch, so if any of you own said Apple Watch that gives you a pretty good idea of what we're talking about here.
In summary, the fact that this watch is based on a highly controversial watch anyway is going to make the Swiss Alp Watch a bit Marmitey. Frankly, some may say that Moser & Cie as a brand are even quite Marmitey. However it is hard to hate this watch I think. It is the wittiest and most playful watch Moser has released in my opinion, even more so than the Minute Repeater Tourbillon with no hands, which is just equal parts awesome and daft at the same time. It will be sad to not see anymore versions of this watch in years to come, but this serves as a fitting tribute to one of the funniest pieces of commentary on the watch industry. So thank you Moser for that.
Felix Arnold
Editor and Co-Founder