Moser & Cie, Mayu
Heinrich MoserHeinrich Moser was born in Schaffhouse in 1805. Son and grandson of watchmakers, he learnt the craft from his father, Erhard Moser.
In 1824, he left Schaffhouse to set up in Locle where he perfected his knowledge in the presence of the greatest watchmakers of the time. Two years later, he tried to return and set up business in his home town, but the Municipal Council rejected his request to be given the honorary post of watchmaker to the town in favour of someone else.
Heinrich Moser & Co came into being in 1828 and in 1829, Moser founded his watchmaking business in Locle to manufacture pocket watches.
In 1831, he opened a subsidiary in Moscow, and became supplier to the tsars, the royal families and the Russian army. Moser also developed sales of his watches in Japan, China, Persia and Turkestan, as well as in Siberia and Kamchatka. (In 1845, the H. Moser companies in Russia employed around fifty people).
Having become a prosperous watchmaker, Moser decided to return and settle definitively in Schaffhouse in 1848 where he had the Charlottenfels castle built. He became one of the key figures in the town, participating actively in its development.
We owe to him:
- The construction of a canal on the Rhine, that served to feed a water turbine
- The construction of the biggest dam in Switzerland on the Rhine, which, thanks to its hydroelectric plant, brought Schaffhouse into the industrial age.
The railway line between Schaffhouse and Winterthur
In parallel with his industrial activities, Heinrich Moser remained a dedicated watchmaker until his death on October 23rd, 1874, when his second wife, Fanny, became his sole heir.
H. Moser & Cie changes hands.
In 1877, not wishing to take on the responsibility of her husband’s work, Fanny sold the Locle watchmaking business to Paul Girard, ensuring by contract that all Heinrich Moser’s successors would continue in perpetuity her husband’s work under the brand name of H. Moser & Cie or Heinrich Moser & Co. The names of the company and the brand would remain unchanged until the Russian Revolution in October 1917.
In 1920, Moscow founded the “Central watch repair workshop” on the ashes of the Moser watchmaking factories of old Russia. For the seventy-year period of the “Soviet Union” Moser watches would remain synonymous with work of a superior quality for the leaders of the eastern bloc. As proof of this, in 1966, the USSR presented one of its high-ranking military staff a Moser pocket watch dating from before 1917 (this collector’s piece has now been bought back by Moser Schaffhausen AG).
For over a century, the Girard family continued with Heinrich Moser’s work by perpetuating the manufacture of fine watches.
In 1973, Heinrich Moser & Co. was known as a firm that produced precision and special watches, notably in 18 carat gold or with cases inset with precious stones.
In 1979, the Locle watchmaking business became a member of the “Dixi-Mécanique” group and continued under the name of “Hy Moser & Cie”.
In 2002, Dr Jürgen Lange had the name re-registered internationally under the original name of the founder. It was a time of renaissance for the Moser Schaffhausen AG and the reintegration of the Moser lineage.
Today, Roger Nicholas Balsiger, great grandson of Heinrich Moser, heads the company’s administrative council as its honorary president.
In the autumn of 2005, for the 200th anniversary of its founder, the company reappeared on the international watchmaking scene.
.................................. Fast forward to Feb 2009
The Private Salon Sale
6 March - 8 March 2008 (Thursday - Saturday)
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I was considering a Choprad LUC Twist at the AD for the longest time. However, was immediately attracted by another piece on display at the recent THG Private Saloon Sale .
Needless to say, I ended up buying this piece instead. The Mayu is definitely a dressy watch, fit for a black-tie function.
Here are some pictures:
Presentation Box. Box is lacquered with Hand-painted wordings on the front. Nothing to shout about, one area H Moser should seriuosly work on. Lack of materials that gives the luxurious feel.
Nice Touch, Moser Seal embossed (below). On the pocket sleeve holding the warranty & instructions.
- The simplistic design
- The sub second hand
- Hand wound movement
- 3day+ day power reserve
- The substantial feeling on the wrist
The dial (see below), note the 9 & 3 o'clock markers. Hands (leaf-shaped) reminiscent of a stop watch from yester-year.
Nice work on the side case. Fine intricate work on the CROWN, as expected of a fine swiss schaffenhuas
The buckle. HMC engraved & Platinium Seal on the reverse.
All new Moser watches possess a revolutionary, interchangeable escapement module, which greatly facilitates servicing. The uncomplicated interchangeability with a cleaned and fully timed movement module is reinforced by yet another exclusive feature of Moser watches: the blocking pawl. The blocking pawl is situated between the escapement module and the fourth wheel. It remains out of operation for as long as the watch is running. As soon as the escapement module is removed from the plate, the blocking lever of the blocking pawl moves automatically into the limbs of the fourth wheel. In this way, it prevents the wheel train from running down unchecked when the escapement module is removed and causing the destruction of valuable components.
Drawing inspiration from historical models but up-to-date in its implementation, adjustment of the escapement is effected not in today’s customary fashion with an index that is susceptible to error, but rather with steel screws on the periphery of the balance, which are provided with two slots. Screws with only a single slot are used for the basic setting of the mass moment of inertia of the balance. Because they exhibit a higher mass, these screws are made of white gold. The materials of the Glycidur balance and the balance spring are matched to one another in such a way that their thermal properties are compensated. As a result, the variation in the accuracy of the watch is insignificant even in the presence of major fluctuations in temperature.
A further exclusive feature, which is found in all new Moser watches, is the durable and highly effective teeth for the wheels and pinions. For optimal precision, all teeth are milled and not stamped. The pinion pivots are compressed and smoothed by the traditional roller-burnishing process.
Moser Cal. HMC321.503 movement is a hand-wound movement with a diameter of 32 mm (found in Mayu)
A modern feature is the double Moser ground lines on the plate and bridges, which are found only occasionally in the historical watches from Moser. The pattern is equally as intricate to produce as the sun pattern finish under the barrels and the perlage of the plate. These specialities are an exclusive indication of the aesthetic appeal of watches made by hand in the craft tradition, since much of this is only revealed when the watch is completely dismantled.
Thanks to the use of true bevel wheels, the operation of the winding mechanism is gentle and low-wear. For optimal torque in the escapement module, the Moser tooth system is optimized in the entire wheel train. The fourth wheel and the third wheel are arranged beneath a common bridge. The value of this watch is emphasized externally by the polished edges, the sun pattern finish on the plate and bridges and the Moser ground stripes.
Before u start chiming in.... yes yes, the case back sticker is still there .... the wife's been nagging as well
Smooth-winding action, a tad difficult due to the small crown. 30-36 turns fully wound. Mighty good effort and (IMO) a mite too close to GO for their comfort, neverthesless, still way off Lange territory. Nevertheless, brings a very wide smile to any owner.
And finally to sign-off, a photo that does justice to the CAL HMC 321.503
Hey...
Congrats, we must have a mini-GTG now, seems like quite a few are turning up with the Moser in Singapore 
P/S;You need to take the caseback sticker off, very unglam !
Yes indeed .....
Moser fans are sprouting up like wild mushrooms all over our sunny island ........
Dunno if there is any truth to it , a little bird told me THG they jus delivered its first Moser 1 to the first Singapore customer
PS. The sticker is off, the wife won
I inquired immediately after I read this and apparently
the Perpetual 1 has been held up again. 1 piece (case material not disclosed) was supposed to arrive in our shores for delivery this month. It apparently has not made it here yet and no duration has been commited on the duration.
While I have been eyeing (maybe craving the Perpetual 1 for quite a while, I wonder if it is wise to get the first batch or perhaps best to wait (seeing that I have no choice anyways given the wait list and choice of platinum casing vis-a-vis the output rate from Moser) maybe for a year or 2 to let any mechanical issues get worked out. If they are having trouble getting ourders out at a higher level monthly, I think getting the watch serviced should anything go wrong will also prove a very very long wait.
Sorry for the OT.
Nice Mayu flamenco!
Nice review ! Thanks a lot !
Fr.Xavier
Congrats on a beautiful watch and great post.
Another vote with your wife.............take the protective sticker off the back. It protects NOTHING. ;o) You don't have a protective sticker on the dial crystal and that one is more apt to come into contact with something, while the rear crystal only comes into contact with your wrist. Take that thing off and enjoy the movement. ;0)
Intrigued...
Mostly intrigued by the interchangeable escapement module. The whole piece is replaceable is a clever thought; it's a step forward but a step backwards in the same time.
The Step Forward; easier serviceability, ultimately a better timekeeper, and the whole concept makes sense.
The Step Backwards; what happened to the one man, one watch, master craftsman routine where one man made the entire watch from beginning to end? The continuous departure from this seems to me to be somewhat worrisome. I am assuming the entire escapement module is pre-assembled and will be switched in and out of various watches, without the full disassembly of other watch components.
Still, this is one of those smaller independent watch makers that conduct most of their manufacturing within, which is already a rarity in the watchmaking industry. So credit is still due to this beautiful watchmaking firm.
Beautiful watch indeed.
Different perspective
....... U brought a very interesting point. The modular escapment was what tickled me in the first place.
The escapement module is indeed replaced in its entirety when the watch is sent back for servicing. Moser will have pre-regulated ones in waiting, in a bid to reduce down time for owners.
How do you feel about this?
Any comments on this?
Best,
Magnus
Mixed feelings ....
........ and similar thoughts did occur to me.
The shorter down time during servicing is much appreciated. And from a pragmatic point of view, gives me comfort that Moser upkeeps an inventory. Feels like u are getting a new watch everytime
Guess its a compromise and a radical concept in the industry, and one that I can live with.
Congrats!
- SJX
Nice choice!
Best,
Jed
Ditto and thanks for the history of Moser
Am enjoying my rose gold Mayu. Keeps excellent time too. I do find it stiff to wind and the milled crown can be a little sharp!
Thanks for the Moser history, but what about the association with IWC?
I saw a photo of a recent example with red marks for the "Down" power reserve, as compared to ours which are all black. Is this standard for all recent examples, or a one off?
Dun cut yourself !
Florentine Ariosto Jones apparently rented his first factory premise in an industrial building owned by JH Moser. Energy was also provided by Moser since he also ran a hydroelectric station. This was in 1868. Not a big IWC fan therefore, am not too sure about the rest.
The red marks for the "Down" power reserve is from the Fume dial Mayu in Palladium, which also receives the Straumann double hairspring escapement with its escape wheel and pallet fork in hardened white gold.
Thanks all for your posts and help .. I am finally down to THE ONE
It's been a 2 year search for THE ONE WATCH since my 1st intro to the watch-world in Oct 2007 with the Hour Glass Tempus event.
Was initally bewildered (and still is) with so many possible possibilities and options and having to match against a budget so flirted from brand to brand and models in search of THE ONE. This is where the post in these forums helped in the research.
I guess on hindsight other than of course budget, I did not really know what I want.. I could not define what truly appealed to me. I know someone who knows what he wants - he drives the new Jag, live luxe in a nice house and wears a Zenith, Cyvtos and couple of others and he is more attuned towards cutting edge living and living a private banking type of lifestyle. That's just not me.
After some soul search and reading "A Gift from the Sea" by wife of Charles Lindhberg, the word Simplicity was the key word for me. I defined that I wanted a watch that appealed to me emotionally, classic, timeless [paradox of it] and can be a legacy to passed on to next generation. I wanted a watch that will stay with me for life which will define me and one that is not too common-place. I akin some of the Rolexes. Omegas to the LV, Gucci but prefer a Hermes - more exclusive/less mass, hand-crafted , classic which of course means paying more for it.
Back to the million $ question - what is THE ONE?
I have moved from going for a sports piece (Rolex , IWC Chopard MM) to narrowing my options down to JLC , LUC, Dornbluth and I was gunning for Dornbluth almost to the finishing line when I was recommended the Moser RG Mayu and looking through the past posts and based on the technical specs, looks .. I made up my mind that this is THE ONE. I have to of course double my budget (listed out 10 reasons for my wifee .. she's the CFO).
Will update this post and share more when I have the watch in hand.
TT
Glad u found your Grail
.......... for now at least.
Glad to be of assistance, if any at all. And post some pics when u do.