Back in January, H. Moser & Cie received announced their Swiss mechanical watch that was inspired by the Apple Watch, which not surprisingly, received a lot of press.
At the time, our Contributing Editor, Josh Shanks, wrote about it from the perspective of a tech guy and watch collector. And in March, at Baselworld, Moser had a working prototype (pictured), which I got to see up close.
The first thing I thought was that it does have the exact dimensions of an Apple Watch. However, after looking up the dimensions, the Moser watch is actually taller and wider than both the 38 mm and 42 mm Apple Watch. Interestingly, the Moser Swiss Alp watch is 2/10ths of a millimeter thinner, for those of you counting. So, it is not exactly the same dimensions, but overall, the look and proportions are very close.
H. Moser & Cie Swiss Alp Watch
44 mm height, 38.2 mm width, 10.3 mm thickness
Apple Watch 38 mm
38.6 mm height, 33.3 mm width, 10.5 mm thickness
Apple Watch 42 mm
42.0mm height, 35.9mm width, 10.5mm thickness
Second, I noticed the beautiful brown-gold fumé dial with sunburst pattern, something no Apple Watch will ever replicate. The quality and fit and finish are in a different league, including the white gold case with a curved sapphire crystal that seamlessly blends right into the case, and acts as a bezel.
Lastly, when you flip over the watch, you see the exquisitely finished, hand-wound Swiss manufacture movement. Beyond, the fit, finish, dial, and dimensions – it is a mechanical movement that makes a watch so special. And regardless of how close the Apple Watch and the Swiss Alp Watch are, nothing digital will ever beat the emotion that comes from owning and wearing a mechanical watch.
The Swiss Alp watch features polished applied indexes, polished leaf-shaped hour and minute hands, and small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. The screw-in crown is emblazoned with the Moser “M.”
In-house caliber HMC 324 beats at 18,000 vph (2.5Hz), has 27 jewels, hacking seconds, and can run without needing to wind it for up to 100-hours. The movement components are hand-finished and decorated to Swiss Haute horology standards. The backside has a power reserve indication.
Verdict
In all honestly, when Josh first wrote the article about the Swiss Alp watch, I was not a believer. In fact, I thought it was just a marketing gimmick. But now that I have seen it in person, I sincerely do think it’s at least attractive looking — even if part of the reasoning to create such a watch was likely driven by a desire to take advantage of Apple’s momentum — and not considering the crazy high price.
Each Swiss Alp watch comes with a beige hand-stitched kudu leather, with a leather lining in Moser green, and an 18K white gold pin buckle engraved with the Moser logo. (Ref. 8324-0200) Limited edition of 50 pieces. Retail is $25,000.
