In 2015, a few years after the Meylan family of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, acquired the historic Swiss watchmaker H. Moser & Cie., the brand introduced the Pioneer collection, its stylish contribution to the rapidly expanding luxury sports watch segment. Distinguished by its minimalist aesthetic, the collection would, over the next decade, become core to H. Moser’s growing appeal as a maker of elegant, everyday timepieces with instantly recognizable dials featuring the brand’s signature fumé treatment, a hand-finished, gradient effect that transitions from a lighter color in the center to a darker shade on the periphery.
Now, in honor of the collection’s 10th anniversary, the brand has introduced the Pioneer Flying Hours, which incorporates a bold design element borrowed from the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Flying Hours model introduced in 2018: a time display system featuring three fixed hour discs, each rotating on its own axis, that orbit the central minutes disc like satellites. Unlike the first generation of Flying Hours timepieces, in which the hours gradually glided in and out of sight as each disc circled the dial, the new Pioneer model features an instantaneous display. That means that on the hour, the time “jumps” into position inside one of the three windows positioned around the dial, providing instant readability and accuracy. When one window displays a value, the other two appear blank.
Note that the time can be set forward and backward without risk of damaging the movement, a subtle yet impressive technical achievement that distinguishes the piece in a crowded field.
The Pioneer Flying Hours watch embodies everything H. Moser fans have come to love about the brand: robustness in the form of a screw-down crown and 42.8 mm case, water resistant to 12 ATMs; a spare, almost industrial design that showcases the signature fumé dial treatment; and a meticulous approach to movement construction, as seen in the model’s in-house HMC 240 automatic caliber, equipped with a bi-directional winding system and a minimum power reserve of three days. It’s available in two versions, a steel model with a white fumé dial on a gray rubber strap and a red gold model with black DLC titanium inserts (limited to 100 pieces) with a spangled aventurine dial on a black rubber strap. (The case backs reveal another subtle difference between the two models: The steel version features a skeletonized tungsten rotor, while the red gold version boasts a rotor in matching 18-karat red gold.)
Beyond their physical characteristics, the models exemplify the fiercely independent spirit that has characterized H. Moser & Cie. since its revival by the Meylans in 2012. Indeed, under the family’s stewardship, the brand “has embraced a philosophy of independence that goes beyond mere ownership,” Oliver R. Müller, the founder of LuxeConsult, a watch consultancy near Lausanne, Switzerland, wrote last year in a think piece about the company. “The brand’s commitment to in-house manufacturing, including the production of complex components like hairsprings, sets it apart in an industry where such capabilities are increasingly rare. This vertical integration allows H. Moser & Cie to maintain control over quality and innovation, ensuring that each timepiece is not just a product but a reflection of the brand’s values.”
The dial of the Pioneer Flying Hours offers one obvious example of H. Moser’s values, not to mention its iconoclastic style—obvious, that is, due to what’s absent. The face bears no logo, no brand name, no indices, and no token phrasing about how the watch is “Swiss made.” In stark contrast to virtually every other maker in the luxury trade, H. Moser has manufactured a product whose sophisticated, no-frills design speaks for itself. Pioneering, indeed!