04/18/2022

A Closer Look: The Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Lime Green from H. Moser & Cie.

For a watchmaker so renowned for its dial work, H. Moser & Cie. makes the unexpected move of maximizing the classical enameling techniques it has mastered via a vibrant, modern Day-Glo-like hue...Blimey, it’s lime!

By Mike Espindle

Executive Editor

You can rely on the precision in-house HMC 2000 automatic calibre movement inside the Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Lime Green recently unveiled by H. Moser & Cie. at Watches & Wonders to tell you the exact time. But wearing it can also remind you that it might be high time for a nice, refreshing, lime-garnished gin and tonic cocktail (which, in my book, could be pretty much anytime).

Let’s take a look!

Dialed-In

The dial work of the Neuhausen am Rheinfall-based watchmaker has always toted a lot of visual fascination for watch fans. From the maker’s traditional smokey enamel fumé dials (some with vibrant colors combinations that generate a visual vibe and reflective flare more akin to vintage guitars than timepieces) to its more recent experiments with the impossibly dark nano-material Vantablack, a good deal of the innovative effort of H. Moser & Cie. is most abundantly apparent right beneath the sapphire crystal.

H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Lime Green

With the new Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Lime Green, the unexpected (and, frankly, outstanding) dial approach is so appealing and dominant that it really doesn’t need additional adornment: No small seconds, no hour markers, no gauging, not even a logo. It has just three slim hands gliding over an expertly textured, brilliantly graduated, deep green dial that perfectly contrasts with its 40mm clean and shimmering steel case and crown.

All in the Technique

While the overall effect is very new-jack, the techniques used to produce this bountiful piece of visual fruit are steeped in tradition. And by revisiting these techniques to produce such a riveting and modern timepiece, like the Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Lime Green, H. Moser & Cie. continues its commitment to not only preserve its legacy techniques but to use them to become more and more relevant.

H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Lime Green

Starting with a gold base plate that has been delicately hammered to create a unique, one-off texture for each dial, three different color pigment solids are washed, crushed, and then applied to create the distinctive ombré effect. Of course, it takes a master enamel artist to add each pigment one by one so that the colors oxidize and meld together properly when heated in the furnace, without any pixelation, to achieve this. Moreover, a translucent “grand feu” enamel dial such as this must be fired 12 times to create the signature H. Moser & Cie. fumé effect.

H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Lime Green

I don’t know if the designers and craftspeople intended for the dial to look like the dimpled rind of a perfectly ripened lime, but you can tell from my introduction above: That’s what I see when I look at it.

Horological Mixology

Blend this lime superstar with a classic H. Moser sculpted steel case, add an exhibition caseback that provides a view of the double-hairspring-regulated movement and engraved oscillating weight (which winds up to 3 days of power reserve), serve over an intriguing and rare textured grey kudu-hide strap, and shake. Tangy. Tasty. Totally unique.