Simple watches are one of the most difficult to design and make but making complex timepieces simple is even more difficult. But what a stroke of genius from the group at H Moser & Cie in collaboration with Andreas Strehler.
A stroke of genius really - using the 12 markers on the dial do indicate the 12 months of the year. Brilliant really! No one has yet done that. In 2003 Andreas Strehler worked with Moser to develop the Moser Perpetual Oneand it wowed many a watch collectors - me included. A beautifully crafted timepiece - classic. If one does not pay attention, the Perpetual One looks like the Mayu with the small sub-seconds at 6 O'Clock.
Take a close look at the watch - notice the small arrow hand pointing to 6 O'Clock? That is the hand indicating the month. The large date is actually a single window with two discs one on top of the other. The timepiece comes with an impressive 7 days power reserve and the indicator is located at the 9.
The black dial is rather well made - almost resembling a lacquer dial. And the finishing on the hands are excellent. The date and month indicator changes are all instantaneous and one can change dates forward and backwards - impressive to say the least. The clean, uncluttered and well proportioned dial makes the Perpetual One a pleasure to the eyes.
At the back is the in-house developed HMC341 calibre done in collaboration with Andreas Strehler. The manual winding movement comes with an impressive 7 days power reserve and beats at a slow 18,000 vph.
The back comes well curved to sit snugly on the wrist. From the back, one can see how well finished the movement is. Not only is it beautifully constructed, the finishing is of a rather high quality.
Another feature in the Perpetual One is the interchangeable Moser escapement. This is also a feature in all their watches. The module allows a watchmaker to easily remove the entire escapement for servicing or replacement with a new one. Another clever invention.
The way the module is constructed is such that the entire escapement module may be removed for servicing or repairs. In theory, watch repair centers around the world can simply take out the faulty module and replace it with a new one and it should be going back to the owner in no time. A close up of the module featuring the Straumann Hairspring.
In recent years, I have come to appreciate manual winding watches as opposed to automatic ones. One of the main reason is the visibility of the movement - I love a well made and well finished movement. The rotor on the automatic covers the beauty of the movement.
Overall, the watch is well made and definitely a gem. One glance and you will see the beauty of the timepiece. A classic in every sense and the simplest complication money can buy. And honestly, I love the rose gold back dial version the best.
For more information, please visit the Moser Website.
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