At the beginning of this year, the Swiss luxury manufacturer H. Moser & Cie. has made a mechanical timepiece that is shaped like the Apple Watch. As the watchmaker noted on its website, the timepiece is a “statement” against the smartwatch trend and it proves that “traditional mechanical watchmaking has a future, and is, in fact, the future.”
The 2015 was the year of the smartwatch, or to be precise, it was definitely the year of the Apple Watch. The high-end watchmaking industry had mixed reactions to the Apple Watch, and some of them gone as far as the CEO of Swatch who dismissed the Apple Watch as a “toy” that is so far from the “revolution” Apple hoped it will be.
H. Moser & Cie. Swiss Alp Watch is a symbol of H. Moser & Cie.’s commitment to the values on which the reputation of Swiss watchmaking has been built for centuries. Furthermore, it comes for a retail price of $24,900 which is not too much for such a mechanical timepiece. For comparison, the Apple watch can cost up to $17,000 for the rose gold version (a starting price tag is $349).
This exquisite timepiece from H. Moser & Cie. is equipped with a rectangular in-house manufactured caliber HMC 324 hand-wound movement which can store enough power to keep the watch ticking for no less than 4 days (96 hours) when fully charged. The impeccable mechanism comes with a modular Moser escapement which is completely made in-house, and it is hand finished and encrusted in the purest Swiss watchmaking tradition. The handsome caliber shows its inner beauty through the clear sapphire crystal case back.
The Swiss Alp Watch is housed in 18-karat white gold case measuring 38.20mm x 44mm x 10.30mm. Dimensions are a little bit different from the Apple Watch (35.90mm x 42mm x 10.50mm). Also, the H. Moser & Cie. timepiece is heavier than the Apple Watch.
The tapered lugs give the Swiss Alp watch a vintage look, whilst the hand-stitched Kudu leather strap with a leather lining in Moser green brings a modern statement. The kudu leather strap fits with a white gold pin buckle.
Coincidentally or not, H. Moser & Cie. Swiss Alp Watch is accompanied by the Apple-style promo video.
The Swiss Alp Watch is among 23 pieces chosen for the pre-selection phase at the GPHG 2016. The watch is competing in the men’s category for the annual award.
