H. MOSER & CIE STREAMLINER PERPETUAL CALENDAR

H. Moser & Cie, the high-end watch brand based in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, has enjoyed much success with its Streamliner collection first launched in 2020. Now the Manufacture has unveiled a new variant, the Perpetual Calendar Ref. 6812-1200. Mark McArthur-Christie, a self-confessed admirer of the brand, explores this wonderfully minimalist composition.

A 1970s style stainless sports watch with an integrated bracelet? This is going to be a Gentafest, isn’t it? Let’s spot the design cues from his greatest hits – you all know them, so sing along – and see which ones made it into the Streamliner.

Er, actually not – not that there’s anything whatsoever wrong with Mr Genta’s work, we’re fans. But H Moser & Cie has, as ever, done its own thing, in its own way, with the Streamliner. This is unquestionably a Moser and all the more interesting for it. It’s definitely a ‘70s influenced watch but without being in any sense derivative.

H. Moser & Cie hasn’t made things easy for themselves though. Looking at the Streamliner you’d have absolutely no clue that the cushion case contains that stickiest of complications, a perpetual calendar. But then this is the same company that hid its gorgeous, tourbillon minute repeater HMC 901 movement behind the plain black dial of the Alp Watch.

The 12 ATM waterproof steel case – just over 42mm and 11mm high – flows straight into the bracelet. Because there are no lugs, it wears smaller than its dimensions would suggest. Bracelets can often end up as a bit of an afterthought, but not here. This one is integrated and straight brushed with polished edges, yet works with the radial brushing on the case. At the same time, each link is so well-engineered that it makes the whole thing feel almost organic – there’s a flow to the way the bracelet moves. Again, typically Moseresque, it looks simple but the amount of cutting, polishing and finishing that goes into every single link is significant. Simple ain’t always easy.

Remember the way 1970s watches used chamfered plexi box crystals? The Streamliner picks up on the look with a domed sapphire that has a sharply angled edge. It gives another layer of depth to the dial, particularly to the ‘racing’ minute track with little ticks of red marking off each division.

Even without the rather understated lacquered logo, you’d know who’d designed the dial. For a start, it’s in Moser’s now almost trademark sunburst fumé. The hands are unusual though – the company says they’re “…reminiscent of those on the dials of car dashboards or measuring instruments…” and all feature the same double-layer style. There’s a lumed top layer inset in a metal base. Moser calls this lumed layer ‘Globolight’, it’s a ceramic containing Super-LumiNova pigment.

A quick glance and you’ll get the time easily enough but you’ll also miss most of the interesting action. As well as the hour, minute and seconds hands there’s a tiny red central hand and a power reserve indicator at 10. That central hand indicates the month – January at 12, February at 1 – you get the idea. It enables you to set the perpetual calendar to the right month and the movement gets on with doing the rest of the work. It uses a large format date thanks to two superimposed discs, one operating after the other. The first runs from 1 to 15, the second 16 to 31. Unusually, particularly for a perpetual, the calendar numerals are lumed too. All-round watch genius Andreas Strehler designed the brand’s inaugural QP movement, the HMC 341, some years ago. Superbly engineered, you can safely change the date at any time of day without causing any damage to the movement’s workings. Try the same stunt on your Valjoux 7750 and you’ll be waiting outside your friendly watchmaker’s workshop pretty briskly, bank card in hand. This movement, the Calibre HMC 812, is the latest evolution of Strehler’s design.

You might be wondering, given that this is a mechanical perpetual calendar, how you’d adjust for leap years. There’s a tiny, recessed push-piece on the non-crown side of the case. That moves a lever which in turn, moves the leap year wheel, visible via the caseback.

Over at 10, you can see another tiny hand, pivoted towards the centre of the dial. It runs along a two-box scale set within the minute track. That’s the movement’s power reserve indicator. By using the same weight of line and tone of red, Moser has managed to incorporate it so it’s not a distraction from the time but is easy enough to read when you need to.

While the dial is simplicity itself, turning the watch over reveals a gloriously rich movement visible via the display caseback. That’s the aforementioned hand-wound Calibre HMC 812, powered using the screw-down crown at 4 o’clock with its engraved “M”. Not that you’ll have to unscrew it too often – Moser claim a 168 hour power reserve thanks to its double barrel and leisurely frequency of 18,000 VpH, so it’ll happily run for a week on a full wind.

Moser hasn’t skimped on the movement finishing either – it’s a proper beauty. There are double horizontal ‘Moser stripes’ and the balance bridge, train wheels, barrel and escapement plate are all PVD coated. The mainplate features anthracite rhodium plating.

The Streamliner is a solid, robust piece of engineering that, despite its impressive level of complication, is designed to be used, not brought out reverentially from its box for the occasional evening. There aren’t many watches at this level that one could happily wear every day without fuss or worry, but this is one. It also passes the test that all the best watches manage – you’ll find yourself looking at it when you don’t need to know the time.