Moser’s Latest Balances their Minimal Aesthetic with Some Serious Complicated Watchmaking

I don’t know about you, but when I hear the words “minute repeater tourbillon” in that particular order, the next word that comes to mind is not usually “understated.” It just seems like for a watch with these complications, going conservative or under the radar doesn’t seem like a design priority. In the crazy world of the highest end haute horlogerie, there are very few pure flexes left, so whether you’re the owner of a watch like this or you’re a brand trying to set yourself apart from other similarly equipped timepieces, it makes sense to swing for the fences. That’s what immediately sets the H. Moser Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue apart. While I don’t think anyone can credible call a watch like this under the radar, it’s an interesting experiment on Moser’s part in designing an extremely complicated watch with their trademark stripped down design language.

Moser’s “Concept” watch dials are distinguished by not having any hour or minute markings to speak of, and it’s a style that over the past few years and a handful of well regarded releases has become something of a trademark for the brand. It’s a strangely divisive idea to design a dial without any means to precisely read the time. Some find themselves in a camp confused and irritated by a decision like this, seemingly because of practical concerns around, you know, telling the time. Others, and I count myself in this group, are very much into this type of dial, at least in theory. From my perspective, it gives Mosere a chance to show off one of the things they do best, which is craft truly impressive dials with the subtlest textures and intricacies that really need to be seen in person to be appreciated. Why muddle it up with something as trivial as an hour marker? 

The idea behind the Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue, as it’s been with other versions of this watch going back to 2019, seems to be to play with the idea of their own Concept series. Moser, in theory, could have created a watch with the same complications and kept the dial completely empty, as they’ve done in the past with prior Concept releases. They did, after all, make a minute repeater with no hands. And a tourbillon, historically speaking, is traditionally hidden from the dial side and seen through the case back (exposed tourbillons are a relatively recent trend in the long history of complicated watchmaking). With not only a tourbillon on display here at 6:00, but exposed gongs for the minute repeater on the dial side, Moser has added more to the dial of a Concept watch than they have in the recent past. It will be up to collectors to determine if Moser has compromised what makes a Concept a Concept here, but my take is that the absence of timing markers remains a defining characteristic, as does the dramatic Aqua Blue dial color. The dial, by the way, is grand feu enamel, and has a hammered texture. 

The case of the new Endeavour minute repeater tourbillon is 40mm (a new size – previous versions came in at 43mm) and can be had in either red gold or titanium. The materials have been chosen largely for their acoustic characteristics, and Moser has widened the middle part of the case to create a “sound box” that properly amplifies the chiming components. Even with this widening, it’s still a relatively modest 13.5mm thick. Again, not under the radar (particularly in gold) but an interesting mix of Moser’s most minimaal dial style with a pair of technical features that frequently get a spotlight. 

The movement is a new H. Moser caliber making its debut in this watch, the HMC 904. It’s hand wound, and has a generous 90 hour power reserve. As you would expect, it is largely hand finished and features many skeletonized components. Another interesting design quirk here related to the repeater functionality is that the runner for the slider on the case band to activate the repeater is made from Teflon, which Moser has used for the smoothest possible sliding action. 

Both the red gold and titanium versions of the Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aqua Blue are limited to 20 pieces. The price, for either version, is $365,000. H. Moser