Watchbi

Suisse · Fondation 1828

H. Moser & Cie.

Moser once cased a watch in resin mixed with Vacherin Mont d'Or cheese.

Texte éditorial en anglais.

H. Moser & Cie. is a family-owned manufacture beside the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen, controlled since 2012 by the Meylan family. It is known for fumé dials, logo-free Concept dials, in-house hairsprings and deliberately provocative one-offs. New watches start around €15,000; perpetual calendars and tourbillons sit far higher.

Histoire

Heinrich Moser was born in Schaffhausen on 12 December 1805 and learned the trade from his father Erhard before continuing his training in Le Locle after 1824. In 1828 he founded H. Moser & Cie. in St. Petersburg, selling pocket watches to Russian princes and the Imperial Court. In 1848 he returned to Schaffhausen and set up a watch factory to supply the Russian business. His reach went well beyond watches: he co-founded SIG, built the first hydroelectric power station on the High Rhine and was the builder of the Rhine Falls railway.

Moser died on 23 October 1874 and, with no heir willing to run the business, it was sold to its managing directors in Switzerland and Russia. The Russian branch was expropriated in 1918 after the October Revolution. The Le Locle business moved from pocket watches to wristwatches in the 20th century, but the quartz crisis pushed it into the Dixi Mechanique group and the name was altered to Hy Moser & Cie. Among the brand's early clients was Vladimir Lenin, who owned a Moser watch.

The modern company began in 2002, when Dr. Jürgen Lange registered the brand internationally and founded Moser Schaffhausen AG, with Heinrich Moser's great-grandson Roger Nicholas Balsiger as honorary chairman. Watches returned in 2005 for the bicentenary of Moser's birth, and four ranges were shown at BaselWorld 2006, including the Moser-Perpetual 1, which won the complicated watch prize at that year's GPHG. In 2007 the brand presented the Straumann Hairspring, developed with its associate company Precision Engineering AG.

At the end of 2012 MELB Holding, the Meylan family group chaired by Georges-Henri Meylan, took majority control, and Edouard Meylan became CEO on 1 April 2013. Moser then paired minimalist fumé dials with pointed humour: the 2016 Swiss Alp Watch parodied the Apple Watch, and the 2017 Swiss Mad Watch came with a statement that Moser would drop the Swiss Made label, arguing the 60% value rule was too lax. The Pioneer sports line followed in 2017 and the integrated-bracelet Streamliner in 2020.

The Streamliner Flyback Chronograph Automatic introduced the HMC 902, developed with complication specialist Agenhor, and in 2023 the Meylans' MELB Luxe took a minority stake in Agenhor itself. The Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton won the tourbillon prize at the 2022 GPHG. In 2024 Moser presented a paired set with British microbrand Studio Underd0g at Geneva Watch Days. The company produced around 3,000 watches in 2023 and employs more than 100 people.

Fondateurs

Heinrich Moser
Founder · 1805–1874
Schaffhausen-born watchmaker and industrialist who founded H. Moser & Cie. in St. Petersburg in 1828, then built a watch factory, hydroelectric plant and railway in his home town.

Dates clés

  1. 1828

    Founded in St. Petersburg

    Heinrich Moser opens H. Moser & Cie. in St. Petersburg, supplying pocket watches to the Russian nobility and Imperial Court.

  2. 1848

    Schaffhausen watch factory

    Moser returns to Schaffhausen and establishes a watch factory there to supply his Russian business.

  3. 1918

    Russian branch expropriated

    After the October Revolution, the company's business in Russia is expropriated.

  4. 2002

    Moser Schaffhausen AG founded

    Dr. Jürgen Lange registers the brand internationally and founds Moser Schaffhausen AG, with great-grandson Roger Nicholas Balsiger as honorary chairman.

  5. 2006

    Perpetual 1 wins at the GPHG

    The Moser-Perpetual 1, shown at BaselWorld 2006, wins the complicated watch prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève.

  6. 2007

    Straumann Hairspring

    Moser presents the Straumann Hairspring at BaselWorld, developed with its associate company Precision Engineering AG.

  7. 2012

    Meylan family takes control

    MELB Holding, the Meylan family group, acquires a majority stake at the end of 2012; Edouard Meylan becomes CEO in April 2013.

  8. 2017

    Swiss Mad Watch

    A unique piece with a case of carbon-resin composite mixed with Vacherin Mont d'Or cheese, launched as Moser drops the Swiss Made label.

  9. 2020

    Streamliner launched

    The Streamliner Flyback Chronograph Automatic debuts with an integrated steel bracelet and the HMC 902 calibre developed with Agenhor.

  10. 2022

    GPHG tourbillon prize

    The Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton wins the tourbillon prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève.

Trois choses que savent les collectionneurs

A cheese case priced at CHF 1,081,291

The 2017 Swiss Mad Watch was a unique piece whose case mixed carbon resin with Vacherin Mont d'Or, a Swiss winter cheese. A 50-piece white gold Venturer Swiss Mad at SFr19,500 was the wearable version.

More Swiss than Swiss Made requires

When Moser dropped the Swiss Made label in 2017, it said its watches were at least 95% Swiss by value, against the 60% minimum required by the revised Swiss Made rules.

Hairsprings from a sister company

Moser's Straumann Hairspring, presented in 2007, was developed with associate company Precision Engineering AG and uses an updated version of an alloy invented by Reinhard Straumann in 1931.

Modèles emblématiques

  • Endeavour Perpetual Calendar2006

    Descends from the Moser-Perpetual 1, shown at BaselWorld 2006 and winner of the complicated watch prize at that year's GPHG.

  • Pioneer Centre Seconds2017

    Moser's entry-level sports watch: 40 mm steel case, fumé dial, in-house HMC 201 automatic, 120 m water resistance.

  • Streamliner Flyback Chronograph Automatic2020

    42.3 mm cushion case on an integrated bracelet, HMC 902 calibre developed with Agenhor; first edition limited to 100 pieces.

  • Swiss Alp Watch2016

    A mechanical watch in a rectangular case, created as a parody of the Apple Watch.

Questions

Who owns H. Moser & Cie.?
The Meylan family. Its holding company, now called MELB Luxe, acquired majority control at the end of 2012, and Edouard Meylan has been CEO since April 2013. The group also owns hairspring maker Precision Engineering AG.
Where are H. Moser & Cie. watches made?
At the Moser Schaffhausen AG manufacture in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, next to Schaffhausen. Hairsprings come from the associated company Precision Engineering AG.
Does H. Moser & Cie. make its own movements?
Yes. Moser uses in-house HMC calibres, such as the HMC 201 automatic in the Pioneer. The HMC 902 chronograph in the Streamliner was developed with Agenhor, in which Moser's parent group took a minority stake in 2023.
Why do Moser watches not say Swiss Made?
In 2017 Moser announced it would drop the Swiss Made label, arguing that the legal threshold of 60% Swiss value was too lenient. It states its watches are at least 95% Swiss by value.

Sources

  1. H. Moser & Cie. – Wikipedia
  2. H. Moser & Cie. Timeline – Worldtempus
  3. H. Moser & Cie.: Edouard Meylan named CEO – Worldtempus
  4. SIHH 2017: H. Moser & Cie. Introduces Wristwatch with Swiss Cheese Case – SJX Watches
  5. MELB Luxe, Owner of H. Moser & Cie, Takes a Stake in Agenhor – Monochrome
  6. H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Flyback Chronograph Automatic – Master Horologer
  7. Hands-On with the Entry-Level Sports Watch from H. Moser & Cie. – SJX Watches
  8. H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer Centre Seconds Sunny-Side Up – Monochrome