H. Moser & Cie. this week debuts an ultra-precise moonphase complication within two beautifully refined Concept cases. The new Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept is H. Moser’s latest, most minimal, interpretation of the perpetual calendar, a complication H. Moser so successfully de-cluttered previously with its Endeavour Perpetual Calendar.
With this latest example, however, H. Moser clears the dial even more radically, doing away with all logos or markers to focus on the watch’s namesake display, its moonphase indicator. Indications are limited to three hands, the moonphase–and that’s it. The only logo visible anywhere other than on the caseback (which also displays a power reserve indicator) is the letter M on the screw-in crown.
Space itself is a unifying theme in general here as both Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept dial options are created to recall the darkness of the universe itself, well beyond the moon.
One dial is dark midnight blue, a choice not unusual among moonphase watches. But H. Moser endows that deep blue with its signature fumé with sunburst pattern, a treat found on other H. Moser dials, always with mesmerizing effect. For this model, the 42mm case is appropriately rose gold, perfectly complementing the dial.
The dark blue dial is certainly distinctive. However, the black dial model here is, if I may, light years beyond it in terms of technical and aesthetic note. In tune with H. Moser’s almost trademarked edginess, the steel-cased model is fit with a black dial that is not just black– it’s ultra-black.
By that I mean the black dial is scientifically proven to be as dark as possible without becoming a black hole. H. Moser created the dial from Vantablack, a material used in telescopes and by the military as thermal camouflage. It is composed of carbon nanotubes that are vertically aligned next to each other and incredibly is capable of absorbing 99.965% of light.
H. Moser claims that its new Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept offers the darkest black watch dial ever. While this model is not the first to utilize Vantablack’s rare charms (another small Swiss watchmaker, MCT, claims that distinction, though with a far smaller ten-watch series), H. Moser’s use of a Vantablack coating has successfully created another of its ‘very rare’ dials (to quote H. Moser’s tag line). The watch is a captivating wrist abyss on which its moonphase display seems to offer the only light.
That hypnotic moon indication is also extremely precise. The Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept's wheel train is calculated to deviate one day after 1,027.30 years. The moon phase system can be set, read and predicted to within a minute, according to Moser, and can be adjusted using a push-button on the side of the case. The movement providing these features, the HMC 801 hand-wound manufacture caliber (visible from the clear caseback), is naturally equipped with Moser’s ingenious interchangeable escapement, and offers a minimum seven-day power reserve.
The H. Moser Endeavour Perpetual Moon, showing back.
The Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept is available in a limited edition of fifty pieces for each of the two references. Price: $35,000.
Specifications: H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept
References: 1801-1200, steel model, Vantablack dial, black leather strap, limited edition of 50 pieces; and reference 1801-0400, 5N rose gold model, midnight-blue fumé dial, brown alligator leather strap, limited edition of 50 pieces
Movement: Hand-wound HMC 801 Manufacture caliber, frequency: 18,000 bph, screwed gold mounts, minimum 7-day power reserve with a double barrel, beveled ring and Moser teeth for all wheels and pinions, interchangeable Moser escapement, original Straumann hairspring, traditional screw balance wheel with gold adjusting screws, gold escapement wheel and pallet fork
Case: 42mm x 12.9mm steel or 5N rose gold, sapphire crystal, screw-in crown adorned with an M, moon-phase adjuster push-button on the case flank
Dial: Vantablack or midnight blue fumé with sunburst pattern, leaf-shaped hour and minute hands, center seconds, moonphase window
Strap: Hand-stitched black leather or brown alligator leather, steel or red gold pin buckle engraved with the Moser logo