H. Moser & Cie. Returns To Its Origins with the Russian-Inspired Venturer XL Stoletniy Krasniy
Few might know but (the very) Swiss brand H. Moser & Cie, based in Neuhausen-am-Rheinfall near Schaffhausen, was not founded in “chocolate and watch Land“. In fact, its roots go back to another country, which as surprising as it is, is Russia. Indeed, Heinrich Moser founded his eponymous company in Saint Petersburg, in 1828. With these origins in mind, contemporary brand H. Moser & Cie. presents a Swiss-manufactured watch with Russian inspiration, the Venturer XL Stoletniy Krasniy (for Centennial Red, the iconic red of Russia).
If, like us, you are madly into watches, then you’ve had today’s date marked in your calendar for the past few months. Yes, the 26th of October is the day (in America) that Phillips auction off Paul Newman’s actual Paul Newman Daytona. And given how crazy the hype is, we know that mere mortals like you and I aren’t anywhere close to even think about bidding on it. But that hasn’t stopped me wondering who will sign that winning cheque, with many experts speculating that the attraction of this watch extends far beyond that of your top tier watch collectors, given Paul Newman’s universal appeal. This is potentially not just the most expensive Rolex ever sold, but the most expensive wrist watch, ever. To most, the thought of dropping seven or eight figures on a watch is not only completely absurd, but financially impossible – but to a small percentile, it’s a drop in the ocean. For example, assume the hammer drops at say $10 million USD, to someone worth 300 million – you’re talking three per cent of their net worth. Doable. But why do we think a celebrity buyer is in the running? Well, given the publicity this watch auction has…
Raymond Weil, one of the few independent, family-owned operations in the Swiss watch industry, marked their 40th birthday this year. And while I’m sure there was cake, and perhaps even champagne, the best part of the celebrations has to be the Calibre RW1212. This automatic movement, with distinctive open-heart escapement, is unique to Raymond Weil, designed in-house and made by Sellita. RW1212 marks the first time Raymond Weil have dipped their toes into the deep (and often murky) waters of in-house movements, and it’s a testament to the brand that they’ve been transparent about the movement’s design, development and construction, and they’ve made a mechanism that meets their needs, in that it’s a solid, robust automatic, with a touch of drama, thanks to the design of the escapement, which has been positioned in such a way to allow an uninterrupted view from the dial-side, suspended via a diamond-polished double bridge, a look that evokes (very consciously, I suspect) the placement of a tourbillon. While closer inspection (of the watch, or the price tag) reveals that the RW1212 isn’t a tourbillon, the effect is somewhat the same — allowing the user to see the beating heart of their watch. It’s a…