Gut Reaction Reviews – First Look At The New H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer Centre Seconds ‘MEGA Cool’ From Watches & Wonders 2021
Editor’s note: Like you, we are also excited for the releases from the Watches & Wonders 2021. Before we get to dive deep into the releases and go hands-on with as many of these as the two of us here can, here’s our preview and the Gut Reaction Review (Grr…) of the new H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer Centre Seconds ‘MEGA Cool’. For our other detailed hands-on reviews, please head to our dedicated reviews section here.
Gut Reaction
Straight up – when it comes to Moser’s watches, the mesmerising dials are the toast of the town; and justifiably so. This time around, Moser is wooing us with a new colour for this collection — they previously used it in the Endeavour Centre Seconds — the Blue Lagoon fumé dial. Think of it as hues of turquoise dancing under the sunlight.
This non-limited edition is for the lovers of the brand who appreciate fine watchmaking but like to enthuse their collection with eclectic colours and fumé sunburst patterns dials. I have said this before and I will say it again; it is for those connoisseurs who like to not be a part of the herd and wear distinctive timepieces.
The Watch
Watches & Wonders 2021 presents the new H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer Centre Seconds ‘MEGA Cool’ ref. 3200-1214 retailing for 13’900 CHF. This regular production release features the calibre HMC 200, which is a self-winding manufacture movement beating at the frequency of 3Hz (21’600 A/h). The 32mm diameter and 5.5mm thick movement comprises of 27 jewels and boasts of a very decent min. 3-day power reserve. To get into more detail, it is an automatic bi-directional pawl winding system featuring an original Straumann® hairspring with flat overcoil, hacking seconds mechanism, and an H. Moser hallmark engraved oscillating weight with the Moser stripes finish and can be admired via the display case back.
Designed, developed and produced in-house, this calibre is equipped with a regulating organ manufactured by H. Moser & Cie.’s sister company, Precision Engineering AG. It is used fair regularly in Moser’s timepieces including the stunning Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept ref. 1200-1218. This limited to 50 pieces steel model features the Funky Blue fumé dial and purple seconds hand on a grey alligator leather strap.
The movement is encased inside a 42.8mm diameter and 10.60mm thick — sans sapphire crystal — solid steel case with its mix of polished and brushed surfaces. The case itself is pretty sculpted with angular and bevelled lugs but the most striking feature about it is the four indents on the sides. We have already mentioned that the timepiece offers a 120m water-resistance and that’s achieved thanks to the engraved with an ‘M’ screw-down crown.
Quotable
“The epitome of elegant, modern watchmaking, the Schaffhausen-based Manufacture creates timepieces that are classic but never dull, elegant with a hint of sexiness, refined with more than a little irreverence”.
That’s All Folks!
In a nutshell, the new H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer Centre Seconds features a beautiful dial, non-precious materials, 120m water resistance and a minimum of 3-days power reserve. What’s more, you can now also choose between a textile, rubber, steel or alligator leather strap.
It all harks to the same thing: it is an excellent daily wear watch with a personality of its own.
Besides capturing the colour of tropical oceans, what I admire most is the legibility of the dial: anthracite grey faceted appliqué indices are topped with Super-LumiNova® markers, in cahoots with the three-dimensional hands overlaid with strips of Globolight®, ensure that one can tell time as easily as looking suave when wearing the new H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer Centre Seconds ‘MEGA Cool’.
The same dialled timepiece is also being introduced with a one-minute flying tourbillon at 6’o clock (with skeletonised bridges), the ref. 3804-1205 retailing for 49’900 CHF. Dimensions and other details are very similar, though of course the movement is different: HMC 804 self-winding Manufacture calibre. You can see the images of this variation below:
Talking about tourbillons – Moser has also announced the new Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Tiger’s Eye which features the exact same movement. They are available in two versions, both limited editions of 50 pieces each only with the difference being the materials used. The ref. 1804-0222 features a white gold case with a Falcon’s Eye natural stone dial and the ref. 1804-0401 features a red gold case with Ox’s Eye natural stone dial. They both come inside a smaller 40mm diameter case (11.2mm thick) and they retail for 69’000CHF. Scroll through the gallery below for images of these tourbillons.
What else can we say except it’s the eye of the tiger… and Moser is rising up to the challenge of any rivals!
To find out more about the new H. Moser & Cie. watch and their other watches, please head to their website here. You can purchase H. Moser & Cie watches from Mr Porter here. All images unless otherwise stated are ©MOSER SCHAFFHAUSEN AG. All Rights Reserved. Make sure to check out our reviews of other Watches & Wonders 2021 releases here.
