Interview: H. Moser's CEO On Pixelated Erasers And Mega Cool Tiger's Eyes

Even with dozens of other brands competing for attention, H. Moser & Cie's new pieces managed to break through this week at Watches & Wonders. They're simply too bold, too different to ignore. We had a chance to sit down with Moser CEO Eduard Meylan to talk about new releases like the Mega Cool and the Tiger's Eye , plus last week's April Fools Day release – which we'll just call the pixelated eraser watch . Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept x seconde/seconde/ Where did the inspiration for a watch like this come from? From seeing the way seconde/seconde/ looked at brands compared to us businesspeople. Sometimes, what we do at Moser is try to look at things in a different way. One day I said to them, "You know, I like the way you look at Rolex, Patek, Zenith, and IWC. Why would you not look at Moser?" I know we might not have the same history – vintage history, even though there's tons of amazing Moser vintage, but they're not that well-known. And then I said, "Well, why don't you take a look at what we do today. What would be your take?" That was the beginning of the story. What sort of discussion took place to put a pixelated eraser on the dial? The pixelated aspect is the seconde/seconde/ signature. If you look at the Air Jordans on the Rolex they made – they pixelated the Jordans. There was the Patek where they played on the words of "tech" and "Patek." And, so that's their signature. So they came with that, but then the story was really about trying to understand Moser. We had this idea a few years back when we removed the Swiss Made for the first time, followed by the logo – trying to push the boundaries of minimalism. There are still people who don't understand why we do that. I mean, I love to think – and it's very pretentious – that we're creating pieces of art. Watches are not instruments anymore. They were instruments when they would be used to guide boats or pilots, or measure time for a race track, but they're not anymore. For me, they're becoming functional art. And this watch is not a commercial thing. We did 20 pieces. I think, in a way, it was also to help seconde/seconde/ get known because we need people like that. We need people to kind of challenge us and look at what we do in a different way. Sometimes satirical, and sometimes criticizing so that we stay on our toes. The Pioneer Mega Cool Tell us about the design, color choices, and overall aesthetic of this watch. Pioneer has been a very strong collection for us because we really see it as the entry point, not only to Moser, but to independent watchmaking. So this is a watch that has been extremely successful. We thought, "We have this idea that after two or three years, we kill certain products to protect the value and the exclusivity of our products." So it was time to kill the Cosmic Green, which is quite funny because that's just when AP launches their Cosmic Green. So then we asked, "What would be the perfect fresh color for the summer 2021 when, hopefully, there's no more lockdown?" And what's a better color than the Blue Lagoon, inspired by the beautiful colors you would find in the waters of the Caribbean? Then there was the idea to use the Streamliner hands because they're very three-dimensional. We have our leaf hands that are a little bit three-dimensional, but I think the monolithic, Globolight elements on top of it are beautiful, and they're very sporty and classic at the same time. It works very well with the Streamliner, and it's become a little bit of the signature of that watch. I think it works very well with the Pioneer as well. We did the first example of that with the Collective special edition , and I just loved it. So the idea was to put them in there, and we didn't want them to be too shiny. So, we made the hands a little bit darker with anthracite indexes, as well. So you have this beautiful LumiNova white that really strikes, and then you have the anthracite darker gray hands and indexes. What was behind the decision to make a transparent logo? There were, believe it or not, weeks, if not months of discussion about, "Do we put the logo or not on the Mega Cool?" I mean, Mega Cool was the code name for the project. When we saw the first prototypes (and it was with and without the logo), everybody was like, "this is very mega cool," which is a very Swiss-German way of saying it is incredible. So we said, okay, let's keep that name for the watch. At Moser, we always talk about logos, and there's always this question. In this case, the logo is transparent, so you can see it under different angles. Maybe that's the future of Moser – having some very minimalistic watches, with no logo, and those with the logo would be in this beautiful, transparent style. I believe that if a Moser is not recognizable three meters away, then we haven't done a good job. Then we shouldn't release it. That's been the motto since 2012, when I started. Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Tiger's Eye How did this release come to be, and what went into the minimal design choices? With no logo, no indexes, you can really appreciate the beauty of the dial. I think our dials are so successful because they can really play with the light depending on where you are. So I said, "Well, I need to find a stone that would be the equivalent of a Blue Lagoon or Funky Blue dial." I came across those beautiful bracelets with Tiger's Eye [a microcrystalline quartz]. For me, that was really the equivalent. Not only because of those horizontal lines, which make me feel good, but because I like this kind of squared approach. At the same time, when you play with it, you get all those different colors in blue, and red. That's typically what we see in a Funky Blue, white, or Swiss Mad Red dial. For me, in a way, that answered the question. If Moser were a stone, what would it be? I think it would be a Tiger's Eye. How did you decide to combine this Tiger's Eye design with a tourbillon? The decision to pair this dial with the tourbillon had to do with production. It was a good time to release a new tourbillon. All our limited editions are gone, and we have a significant amount of demand, and we don't want to do the same thing again. We have a very competitive and amazingly innovative tourbillon. It is a double hairspring, modular escapement, flying tourbillon, and it really fits well on an empty dial. These are the type of stone dials that would work perfectly with the tourbillon or the center seconds. I think adding dates or complications would disturb the beauty of these dials. The magic of the tourbillon, and the choreography of the tourbillon with those horizontal lines, enhance each component.Are watches tools or art? Eduard Meylan gives us his take.