The knit team led by CEO Edouard Meylan has launched a sporty yet sophisticated watch collection called Pioneer. Upholding the design traditions of H. Moser, the first watch in this collection is the Pioneer Centre Seconds presented in three models and housing the new automatic calibre 230.
Entering the sport watch category has been part of the H. Moser & Cie strategy since 2013 when MELB Holdings acquired the independent Swiss watchmaker. During the Pioneer launch event, Meylan spoke about this and the significance behind the Pioneer collection, There is a long tradition at H. Moser of being pioneers. It started with Heinrich Moser 180 years ago and I think we want to continue this way. The watch we are launching today called the Pioneer is a tribute to Heinrich Moser and his pioneering life. The way he developed the entire region of Schaffhausen by creating first hydro-mechanical dam. I think this is a way for us to show the next step in the history for H. Moser & Cie that we took over three years ago with my family.
In The Details
The Pioneer Centre Second watch enters H. Moser into the sport watch category with a tailored and strong styled watch. While maintaining the H. Moser aesthetics, the case design is looking forward to the future by providing the ability to change the visual appeal of the case simply by altering the color or material. The sleek case measures 42.8 mm and is composed of nine parts of either 18-karat red gold or black DLC-treated titanium. This new modular case with the black DLC coated creates a lighter watch in turn easier to wear day to day or in a sporty situation.
The artisanal work on the dials offered in argenté dial, red-gold fumé dial or ardoise fumé are a striking characteristic of the Pioneer Centre Seconds and when paired with the 18-karat red gold of the case give this sporty watch a bit of elegance. The dials are complemented by skeletonized leaf-shaped hands reminiscent of past H. Moser pieces with the addition of Superluminova® to the hands and the 13 filled markers along the perimeter of the dial. Adding to the sporty edge, the watch is finished with solid rubber strap finished with a black DLC coated titanium tang buckle.
The heartbeat of the watch is a new in-house calibre, HMC 230 with a 3-day power reserve and powering the center hours, minutes and hacking seconds. Working together with Precision engineering, which is also part of MELB Holding, the HMC 230 incorporates a patented system with enhanced performance. The fine finishing touches know to H. Moser are also apparent through the sapphire case back such as the Moser stripes and a bi-directional rotor complete with the H. Moser emblem in red gold.
Take Off
A fitting site for the launch of the Pioneer collection was the Swiss Air Force Center where H. Moser took part in the first Swiss Parabolic flight to test the new Pioneer collection and various components in a zero gravity atmosphere. Teamed with its sister company Precision Engineering as well as Witschi to test regulating parts of the watch movement from hairsprings to escapements in a weightless environment. Following suit of the brands for fathers, H. Moser & Cie. pushes the limits of their timepieces by testing in a zero-gravity environment in hopes to lead to discoveries and innovations to improve the precision of time keeping
H. Moser Pioneer Centre Seconds (Reference 3230-0900) retails for $22,900.