H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Flying Hours with Planetary Display of Hours and Minutes (SIHH 2018)

When we hear the name H. Moser & Cie., we usually have classic and clean design in mind – or sometimes a certain sense of provocation, with the Swiss Mad Watch or the recent Swiss Icons Watch. Yet, for the first time in its history, the Schaffhausen-based manufacture has revisited its time display methods to create a new, disc-based system. Meet the Endeavour Flying Hours with planetary display of hours and minutes.

With the Endeavour Flying Hours, Moser introduces a truly original display of the time, which has been conceived in association with sister-company Hautlence (which are known for their unusual displays). At first, we though this new Moser watch was inspired by the well-known Audemars Piguet Star Wheel. However, we were wrong. On the AP and the Golden Wheel by Arnold and Son, the time is indicated by the means of 3 hour discs that rotate first on a central axis and then on their own axis. The hour numeral is used as a pointer for the minutes when running along the fixed minute arc.

On the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Flying Hours, things are slightly different as the idea was to create a planetary display of the time. The 3 hour discs are indeed fixed in position, although they rotate on their own axis. It features several planetary gears mounted on star wheels. In the centre, the main disc in sapphire displays the minutes on a 240° sector. Thus, on the contrary of the AP version, here the minutes are moving and not the hours, while the discs are still rotating on their own. A sort of inverted approach of the classical planetary display.

The 3 hour discs are perfectly integrated into the signature funky blue dial, allowing for an overall discreet watch. Only the current hour is illumined in white and points to the current minute on the central sapphire minute wheel. Complex and original, the Endeavour Flying Hours remains however clean and faithful to the rest of Moser’s production, with a brushed dial and the usual Endeavour case, here in white gold and measuring 42mm in diameter.

The movement used to power this planetary display is based on the automatic calibre HMC 200 with central rotor, later modified by Hautlence – changing the traditional central HMS triple-axle into a series of star wheels. This C806 movement is equipped with a bi-directional winding system powered by an oscillating weight of solid red gold. The escapement and hairspring are produced in-house by Precision Engineering AG. It boasts a 3-day power reserve minimum.