At the highest levels of horology, there are two schools of watch design: The first is about leading with the wow factor, with cutaway dials to show off complex movements, and complications front and centre on the dial. The second leaves more to the imagination, taking a more abstract approach to dial design, but — as the kids say — if you know, you know. Schaffhausen-based independent watchmaker H. Moser & Cie sits firmly in the second category, as does its new Endeavour Flyback Chronograph Dual Time Date.
The Endeavour Flyback Chronograph Dual Time Date brings together three complications — a flyback chronograph, a second time zone, and a date display — but none of that, aside from the date, is obvious at a glance. Instead of separate subdials, the hours, minutes, seconds, and flyback counter are centralized, with a slim red hand tracking elapsed seconds and a similarly slim rhodium-plated hand displaying elapsed minutes. Equally notable are the chronograph pushers at ten and two, and the winding crown at four — an unusual layout for an unusual watch.
The second time zone appears on a fumé disc at the centre of the dial, finished in “Blackor fumé” with a sunburst pattern and a discreet white arrow tipped in Super-LumiNova to indicate the hours. The date, meanwhile, is more or less exactly where you’d expect it to be at six o’clock. If I were one to nitpick, this might be where I’d start; given the refined austerity of the rest of the dial, a conventional date window feels disappointing somehow. But it’s a small detail, and a forgivable one in the larger scheme of things.
The full-on minimalist approach would dictate a metal caseback, but what fun would that be? If the front of the watch is an exercise in minimalism, the back is the opposite, with many of the anthracite-finished 383 components of the new hand-wound HMC 730 calibre on display via a sapphire caseback. You’ll also find the power reserve indicator there, a move that preserves the clean layout of the dial, while allowing you to check the remaining power before you strap the watch on.
Priced at US$74,400 (about $103,000 CAD), the Endeavour Flyback Chronograph Dual Time Date is the latest embodiment of the brand’s “Very Rare” slogan, a credo that’s reflected in both the minimalist design of the dial and the finesse of the new in-house movement. It’s also a natural addition to an increasingly esoteric H. Moser lineup that includes the spectacular Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton, the Reebok Streamliner Pump collab, and the flamingo-coloured Streamliner Alpine Drivers Pink Edition created for the brand’s Alpine Formula 1 team.
Learn more about the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton.
