DAY 3 @ SIHH
Hiren Kumar Bose on a new mechanical smart watch, the Piaget’s new calibre and more
After the chill of yesterday the weather in Geneva is comparatively bearable. The stale snow still lies on the roadsides and on rooftops waiting for the sun to melt it away. The roads are wet and slippery. Today I am adventurous and enter the Palexpo, the SIHH venue, just wearing a wind cheater. Well, with a thermal inner, of course.
The day began with the artisanal watchmakers H. Moser & Cie and Hautlence talking about their offerings to a thin but an appreciative audience. It was in 2014 that I discovered the Schaffhausen-based H. Moser & Cie at the Ramada Hotel where couple of non-Basel World brands were exhibiting. The brand gets its name Heinrich Moser, a 19-year-old boy from Schaffhausen who moved to La Chateux de FONDS to further his training as an apprentice watchmaker. In November 1827, he left for St. Petersburg via Germany where his timepieces graced the arms of Russian princes and members of the Imperial Court. In fact, most Fabergé table clocks were equipped with H. Moser movements. The brand was revived in 2005 but received investments and invaluable experience in late 2012 from the Meylan family.
Since then, the company has embarked on a journey of innovative products and fresh ideas. One of its fresh offering is the Swiss Alps, a smart watch with mechanical movement. With its 100% Swiss Made manufacture movement and a minimum power reserve of 100 hours, the Swiss Alp Watch is designed to last and is well equipped for the next generation. With its iconic fumé dial, a classic signature dial for H. Moser & Cie., it is timeless. Driven by the hand-wound HMC324 calibre, sadly the Swiss Alp Watch is just limited to 50 pieces. In a world where everyone wants to have smart watch pie its a dumb move, indeed.
Montblanc Timekeeper Exo Tourbillon Minute Chronograph is all about high-tech materials and bold shapes giving the future of time keeping an instantly recognizable face. The 45 mm watch combines two of the motor important chronometric complications: a monopusher chronograph and an innovative tourbillon, whose balance wheel runs outside of the tourbillon cage for greater isochronism.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of its first in-house quartz movement, the famous ultra-thin 7P calibre presented in 1976, Piaget unveiled the Emperador Coussin XL 700P: an astonishing concept watch issued in a 118-piece limited series. Featuring an unusual match between a mechanical calibre and a generator, this resolutely innovative timepiece is regulated by the high frequency of a quartz oscillating at 32’768Hz which controls the speed of the generator at 5.33 turns per second. This exclusive ‘motor’ boasting peerless precision is housed in a cushion-shaped case with a diameter of 46.5 mm, displaying the noble distinction of the Black Tie collection as well as the boldness of its powerfully structured lines.
