H. Moser Introduces a Limited Edition Perpetual Calendar that Might Trigger Those with an Aversion to Dial Text

I have a pretty big soft spot for H. Moser. Somehow, these guys have become a lightning rod in the community – everyone seems to have very strong opinions on the unique way the brand goes about marketing itself. Notably, they aren’t shy about using humor at the expense of the rest of the watch industry. Watches made of cheese, minute repeaters with no hands, and a case that looks a lot like that of an ubiquitous smart watch are just some of the stunts Moser has pulled in the name of getting their name ingrained in the consciousness of the watch community. There is, to put it simply, a healthy sense of snark at play here, and if you think watches themselves can (and should, sometimes) be funny, there’s a lot to like. If you don’t (a completely respectable point of view, by the way) some of these watches might not hit the way the brand intends. Like this one: a perpetual calendar for dummies.

The joke here is that Moser’s perpetual calendar was already (pretty much) made for dummies. Perpetual calendars are notably finicky to say the least, but Moser’s movement is made in such a way that everything can be adjusted easily from the crown, any time of day or night, without risking damage to the movement itself. That’s a pretty neat engineering trick, given the complexity of these movements. One would also hope that this level of robustness would lead people to actually wear their perpetual calendar on a daily basis, the obvious intent behind the complication, and not let their pricey complicated watch sit undisturbed on a winder for its entire life. 

Anyway, back to this new version of the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tutorial in Moser’s “Funky Blue,” you’ll notice right away that the dial isn’t the normally stark execution that Moser favors. The playful writing on the dial, made to look like notes you’d find in a technical manual, is what Moser calls a “cheat seat,” breaking down all of the functionality built into the dial. Moser’s perpetual calendar isn’t only virtually unbreakable mechanically, but it plays with the traditional perpetual calendar format in a contemporary way, making it simple to read at a glance without the usual eye-chart of tiny sub dials to contend with. Moser’s instructions point the wearer’s eye to the watch’s unique features, none of which is more impressive than the ingenious method for reading the months via an unobtrusive, small hand at the dial’s center.

Some, of course, will look at this watch and think of it as a gimmick, or simply not find humor in it all. And that’s perfectly fine. Moser is only making 20 of these, after all. But for fans of the brand, this watch seems almost like a natural evolution, which is a strange thing to say about something so unusual. I think part of this watch’s appeal is really in how the humor behind it is somewhat self-effacing. Moser is really poking fun at themselves here, and it’s clear that it’s all in good fun. This watch doesn’t seem to be trying to make a large statement about the state of the Swiss watch industry, which is a habit the brand has fallen into that has grown tiresome to many.

The Endeavour case used here is 42mm in white gold, and measures a slim 11.9mm tall. The hand wound movement is visible through the caseback (critical, because this is also where you’ll find the leap year indication), and the whole thing appears to be finished to a very high level. The Tutorial version of the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar retails for CHF 59,000. H. Moser