As if the watches of H. Moser & Cie were not already beautiful enough, news of a collaborative model with the brand’s long-time retail partner in Europe, Bucherer will have aficionados of the small but perfectly formed watch manufacturer reaching for their passports. Because not only is this special edition piece available only from Bucherer stores in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, there is also something quite different about the new H. Moser & Cie Venturer Small Seconds for Bucherer – it is blue and it is good.
Yes, for a brand more associated with its beautiful earthy fumé dials, in tones of cupric autumnal browns, suave metropolitan greys and understated silver, the arrival of this new edition is very noteworthy, even if the colour is the principal development over its predecessors.
Bucherer and H. Moser go back a long way, and before the ‘little pearl of Schaffhausen’ began to attract the international recognition it so richly deserved, a network of solid and supportive retail partners was essential to ensure that the watch making company could survive, and in Bucherer they found that chemistry essential to their existence.
H. Moser & Cie Venturer Small Seconds – Synergy Through Simpatico
The new H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Small Seconds Bucherer Edition is spectacularly beautiful. Encased in an 18Kt white gold case, its dial is the blue of a cloudless sky just before dawn, dark but tinged with hints of light, the sunburst finish adding lustre to the effect, and with only the small seconds subdial, quite deeply recessed at the 6 o’clock position it is otherwise a captivatingly minimalist affair. Slender white gold indices and long and elegant leaf shaped hands with satin finish perpetuate the purity of classic watch design, with elements of Moser’s pocket watches and the convex attributes of 1960s wristwatches blended into the mix.
The round 39mm white gold case with signed push-in crown, has polished and satin finishing on its curvaceous surfaces, and its profile is enhanced with a curved sapphire crystal. A look through the transparent exhibition caseback reveals a further nod to the Bucherer company, with the Straumann hairspring created in a luxurious blue, as is the balance wheel, with contrasting white gold screws accentuating the overall effect.
The movement is Moser’s in-house manufacture HM327 which beats at a leisurely 18,000 vph and boasts a power reserve of three days. An indicator which displays the reserve de marche has been cut into the Côtes de Genève decoration on the plates adjacent to the blued escapement with the crest of H. Moser is stamped in gold nearby.
The novelty of the midnight blue dial against the white gold case makes this special edition particularly desirable, and the fact that it is destined only for the Bucherer stores means that they should expect an increase in interest as in this guise, the new H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Small Seconds Bucherer Edition really is the icing on an already mouthwatering cake. Price: CHF 17’500.