Intensely striking & enticingly cool: the new H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Concept is sheer watchmaking brilliance

Intensely striking & enticingly cool: the new H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Concept is sheer watchmaking brilliance

Telling time is a pretty straightforward concept. Traditionally, people look at the hands of the watch they are wearing, and by noticing where these intersect with the indexes or hour markers, they are able to tell time.

Over the decades as watches have become increasingly common place, watch brands have made their mark and established prestige by their company logos on the dials. And since the watch industry has churned out millions of these products, humans have gotten accustomed to wearing and using watches in a certain way.

The Context

Enter H. Moser & Cie. Nope, they weren’t having none of this existing traditional mumbo-jumbo. Like everything they do, they had to go ahead and revolutionise the way we look at time. 

In 2015, they launched their first purely minimalist Concept model, a watch featuring a dial that was devoid of any indices or logo. All it had was the now iconic brand’s signature fumé dial. 

And now in 2020, five years later, the other house of Schaffhausen, H. Moser & Cie has revealed three new limited edition models as part of their Endeavour Concept family. Despite featuring no embellishment, indices or logo, these watches stand out with their daring and surprising colours in a class of their own. 

The Versions 

The Endeavour Concept is being released in variations of:

1. Material – 5N red gold, white gold or steel
2. Hands – three or two hands versions  
3. Mechanisms – with or without tourbillon movement
4. Colours – Funky Blue or Burgundy 

In total the new release offers seven new watches made up of the above combinations. Let’s look at them in more detail.

Version 1: Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept

The Movement 

The heart used, calibre HMC 200, is a self-winding manufacture movement beating at the frequency of 3Hz (21’600 A/h). 

The movement is encased inside a 40.0mm diameter and 10.70mm thick 18-carat 5N red gold, white gold or steel case. The 32mm diameter movement comprises of 27 jewels and boasts of a very decent 3-day power reserve. 

To get into more detail, it is an automatic bi-directional pawl winding system featuring an original Straumann® hairspring — or double hairspring on the steel model — and a H. Moser hallmark engraved oscillating weight. The movement is decorated with the Moser stripes finish and can be admired via the see-through case back.

The Sub-variations

The Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept has three variations out of the seven overall with differing reference numbers.

Reference 1200-0215: white gold model with Funky Blue fumé dial and grey alligator leather strap. Limited to 100 pieces. 

Reference 1200-0409: 5N red gold model with Funky Blue fumé dial and brown alligator leather strap. Limited to 100 pieces. 

Reference 1200-1218: Steel model, with Funky Blue fumé dial and purple seconds hand on a grey alligator leather strap. Limited to 50 pieces. 

The Dial 

All variations within the Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept model range feature a Funky Blue dial.

The watch face shows the traditional functions of hours and minutes, along with a central seconds hand. 

The Funky Blue fumé dial with the mesmerising sunburst pattern is the standout feature of this watch. There is something so buttery smooth and slick about the dial that is really has to seen in person to be fully appreciated. 

Complimenting the dial are the leaf-shaped hour and minute hands that provide for exceptional legibility on an otherwise clutter-free, clean as a whistle dial. 

Other Features 

1. The crown at 3’o clock is adorned with an “M”
2. All straps are hand stitched featuring 18-carat 5N solid red gold, white gold or steel pin buckles 

Version 2: Endeavour Centre Seconds Diamonds Concept

The Movement 

The heart used is the same as above. Calibre HMC 200 is a self-winding manufacture movement beating at the frequency of 3Hz (21’600 A/h). The 32mm diameter movement comprises of 27 jewels and boasts of a very decent 3-day power reserve. Like the above, it is also an automatic bi-directional pawl winding system featuring an original Straumann® hairspring and a H. Moser hallmark engraved oscillating weight. The movement is decorated with the Moser stripes finish and can be admired via the see-through case back.

The difference is in the dial and case size.

The movement is encased inside a smaller — clearly aimed at women but I can also see men collectors going for it — 38.0mm diameter and 10.30mm thick steel case featuring a bezel set with 60 brilliant-cut diamonds (1.13 carats).

The Sub-variations

The Endeavour Centre Seconds Diamond Concept only comes in one version, chalking up the fourth reference number in these new releases. 

Reference 1200-1208: steel model with a diamond-set bezel. Limited to 100 pieces. 

The Dial 

The watch face shows the traditional functions of hours and minutes, along with a central seconds hand. 

The Burgundy fumé dial — used for the first time in an Endeavour Concept watch — is the standout feature of this one. The sunburst pattern really compliments the diamonds in the bezel, visually taking the gaze of the viewer towards the diamonds. 

Complimenting the dial are the leaf-shaped hour and minute hands that again provide for exceptional legibility.

Other Features 

1. The crown at 3’o clock is adorned with an “M”
2. Grey alligator leather strap is hand stitched featuring a steel pin buckle engraved with the Moser logo

Version 3: Endeavour Tourbillon Concept

The Movement 

The heart used, calibre HMC 804, is a self-winding manufacture movement featuring a tourbillon and beating at the frequency of 3Hz (21’600 A/h). 

The movement is encased inside a 40.0mm diameter and 10.70mm thick 18-carat 5N red gold, white gold or steel case. The 32×5.5mm movement comprises of 28 jewels and again boasts of a very decent 3-day power reserve. 

To get into more detail, it is an automatic bi-directional pawl winding system featuring an original double hairspring and a — slightly different than the earlier versions — H. Moser & Cie logo engraved oscillating weight. The movement is decorated with the Moser stripes finish and can be admired via the see-through case back.

The Sub-variations

The Endeavour Tourbillon Concept has three variations with differing reference numbers.

Reference 1804-0221: White gold model with Funky Blue fumé dial and grey alligator leather strap. Limited to 50 pieces. 

Reference 1804-0400: 5N red gold model with Funky Blue fumé dial and brown alligator leather strap. Limited to 50 pieces. 

Reference 1804-1208: Steel model with Funky Blue fumé dial and grey alligator leather strap. Limited to 50 pieces. 

The Dial 

Like the Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept, all variations within the Endeavour Tourbillon Concept feature a Funky Blue dial.

The watch face shows the traditional functions of hours and minutes only.

The combination of the Funky Blue fumé dial and the modular one-minute flying tourbillon at 6’o clock with skeletonised bridges is the standout feature of this watch. 

Complementing the dial are the leaf-shaped hour and minute hands that again provide for exceptional legibility.

Other Features 

1. The crown at 3’o clock is adorned with an “M”
2. All straps are hand stitched featuring 18-carat 5N solid red gold, white gold or steel pin buckles engraved with the Moser logo. 

Watch Ya Gonna Do About It?

You gotta hand it to H. Moser & Cie.

The new 2020 watch release Endeavour Concept is the definition of contemporary Haute Horlogerie. Intensely striking, the collection features the brand’s distinctive minimalist design codes that we have gotten accustomed to. 

In terms of our picks, we would go with the reference 1804-0400.

On the 5N rose gold version, the appearance of a tourbillon on an otherwise clean dial is simply divine. 

Add to this the combination of rose gold with the blue dial colour, and what the brand has achieved is extraordinary elegance. 

All the watches are come in a daily wearable watch size of either 38mm or 40mm. Given that the watches are limited edition, they are something that should sell out real fast, and if you reckon this is the right option for you, you shouldn’t wait.

Architecturally, they feature graceful proportions, harmonious forms, and high-end finishes. Visually, the dials are clean, uncluttered and that tourbillon at 6’o clock is sheer watchmaking brilliance.

For a watch enthusiast, usually the tourbillon can be one of the most complicated appearing functions on a dial face. To pair this with a totally uncomplicated dial background is the unexpected meeting of two opposing forces that collide to provide with a visceral extravaganza. 

This is as classy and non-conventional as Haute Horlogerie gets. 

For more information on this watch and other H. Moser & Cie watches, head to their website here.