Hands-On: A Moser With The Eye Of The Tiger

Here’s an existential question: If you can’t tell the time on your watch, is it even a watch? The new piece from the pranksters at Moser has no markers, no numerals, no nothing but a wild tiger’s-eye dial and a spinning tourbillon. It’s meant to be a piece of functional art – worn by those who don’t need to know the time, because the world operates around their schedule. Fran Leibowitz would love it. Back in the 1970s, she appeared on a Canadian talk show and between drags of a cigarette expressed her disdain for digital watches and their wretched accuracy. "10:17 isn't a real time,” she said, “because you never have to be anywhere at 10:18. A quarter after is a real time." If someone asks you the time while you’re wearing this watch, whatever number you say has to end with the suffix “ish.” Utility notwithstanding, you come to appreciate the Tiger’s Eye when you have it on your wrist. You see the detail in the microcrystalline quartz dial and the motion in the tourbillon, and you become hypnotized. Moser released the Tiger's Eye at Watches & Wonders this year in two variations: The white gold Falcon's Eye (with a blue dial), and the red gold Ox's Eye (pictured here). The watch came out one week after the brand's April Fool’s-themed pixelated eraser collaboration with seconde/seconde/ . Moser kicked off its 2021 minimalist trend with that watch, and the Tiger's Eye carries the idea across the finish line. Once you embrace the functional-art idea, it does start to feel very cool, and also very much like a normal watch. Part of that has to do with the sheer wearability. The 40mm case and relatively compact lugs make it sit comfortably on-wrist. Add to that the 11.2mm case height and this pretty much hits the sizing sweet spot. It's fitted to a brown leather strap that compliments the warmth of both the sunset-colored dial and the red-gold case. That strap is affixed to a deployant clasp which is admittedly a bit difficult to operate. Strapping a watch to your wrist should be a thoughtless operation but I found this one required a fair amount of thought to attach the strap to the clasp. It felt like literally threading a needle. The Ox's Eye utilizes red microcrystalline quartz for the entire dial surface. The most striking features are the sharp horizontal lines. (Another existential question: Are they flowing from east to west or west to east?) The appearance of the Tiger's Eye changes depending on the light. It's honestly quite dull in most conditions – like an unedited RAW image. Get it in the sun, move it around a little, and you start to appreciate its full effect. Admittedly, I wish it could be in-the-sun radiant all the time, but you can't always get what you want. But if you try some – ah never mind. Not being able to accurately set or tell the time was oddly one of the most charming parts of this piece, though I'm not sure it’s five-figures charming. In any case, there’s a workaround: Set it at 12:00 on the dot, and you’ll know it’s always the right time – even if you can’t tell exactly what that time is. Besides the dial, the biggest draw for this watch has to be the tourbillon. In fact, the lack of any text, markers, or any things , really puts that tourbillon on full display. Watching it rotate, while ignoring the time, was something I had never done before. I really keyed in on the mechanics and the perpetual motion. And since there's an exhibition caseback, you can actually see your wrist through the tourbillon – a true wrist shot. That exhibition caseback shows off the caliber HMC 804 – a self-winding manufacture movement with a double flat balance spring, which reduces friction while improving accuracy. That’s probably not the primary reason you’re buying this thing, but it helps justify that knockout price. The Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Tiger's Eye is Moser doing Moser – and you can't knock ’em for having their own style and executing it so well. The brand is focused on producing watches with a minimal design aesthetic and this – a watch that is basically all dial – kind of nails that. What time is it? Honestly, it doesn't matter. The H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Tiger's Eye. 40mm 18-karat red gold case measuring 11.2mm thick. 30 meters of water resistance, a display caseback, and a red Ox's Eye microcrystalline quartz dial (each dial in the 50-watch limited edition is unique). The Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Tiger's Eye uses Moser's HMC 804 automatic movement with a double flat balance spring and three-day power reserve. Watch is  limited to 50 pieces (and a production of 20 pieces in a year) and costs $75,900 and comes on an alligator strap with matching gold deployant clasp. For more,  visit Moser online. Photos: Kasia MiltonThe new Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Tiger's Eye tells time so you don't have to.