Note the twins pictured here, which aren’t quite identical. Two 42mm white gold H. Moser & Cie. watches which are mechanically and dimensionally the same, but one with…well, just something a little different going on! That’s right, the one on the left is our watch under discussion, bringing the mystery of H. Moser’s delightfully simple perpetual calendar seen on the right, clearly to light, in an exercise that’s either ridiculously cheesy, or possessed of a considerable sense of humor, depending on your perspective. In the rather dark and dystopian days of the 2020s I tend to find it more of the latter, and beyond that, some possible proof that hardcore high horology need not take itself too seriously to be enjoyable. (Based on what we’ve seen from other H. Moser & Cie. watches, it’s apparent the company also feels similarly.) Could that make me a jaded guy who’s been around this odd hobby too long? Possibly. But, if you share my appreciation for finely crafted things that tick, perhaps you also may find some joy, however fleeting, in this strangely straightforward yet charmingly quirky H. Moser perpetual calendar timepiece. Among its many virtues, the Endeavour Perpetual Tutorial showcases the prodigious grey matter of independent watchmaking legend Andreas Strehler, who among more than a few notable feats, provided the technical solutions powering Harry Winston’s Opus 7, a beautiful watch offering a unique, and charmingly ephemeral, “butterfly” time display.
Why would a manufacturer place literal spelled-out indications for the various functions all over the dial, especially on one as visually striking as this? Well, to the uninitiated, it would be tricky to perceive that the H. Moser Endeavour Perpetual in its stealth (i.e., standard) form would be anything but a simple time and date watch with an ravishing blue fumé dial and an extra hand for the power reserve indication. But there is more to this watch…much more, and to those unfamiliar with it, it might beg the question, once the truth of the watch’s complexity is known, “How does it work?? Where is the day, date month, to say nothing of leap year?” Philosophical answer: The Endeavour Perpetual minimizes things superfluous, smoothly integrates key functions where they create the least visual clutter, and joins it all together with a mechanism optimized for real world use, as well as a demonstration of traditional watchmaking flair.
The Endeavour Perpetual is one of H. Moser’s mightiest timepieces–perhaps the most so–in the sense that it effortlessly blends the brand’s design ethos, sense of playfulness, and penchant for mechanical ingenuity, and does those things seamlessly while elevating one of the most impressive of traditional complications. Most perpetual calendar watches have dials with an imposing array of calendar information, to include the day of the week, the date, the month, and even the leap year indication, often in tandem with the moon phase. This smorgasbord of information, customarily given with pointer indications in elegant but minuscule subdials, gives such watches a classic, imposing stature, as their complexity is readily perceivable to even a fairly lay person. What these watches lose, however, is easy legibility and simplicity of operation. Some notable watches have emerged in years past by other innovative luxury brands such as Ulysse Nardin that offered ingenious backwards and forwards adjustable calendars, yet it remains pretty established that most perpetuals are a notable pain to set and reset if–God forbid–they should stop. Such watches are also notoriously easy to break if adjustments are made at the wrong time, or the various correctors are forced. Needless to say, if there were one mechanical watch that probably justifies the ownership of a fancy watch winder, it’s a traditional perpetual calendar (or two, or three) in one’s collection. Then again, if perpetual calendars like the H. Moser Endeavour were more the norm…well, that justification might just about evaporate entirely, save for perhaps the want of pretty pieces of furniture in which to store the collection!
Looking at an H. Moser Endeavour Perpetual on its face, it seems less to be a complex machine that keeps pace with the machinations of the date through the years, even to account for leap years, but to be a watch that just tells you the time and date, along with the power reserve indication for the lengthy 168 hours (7 days) the in-house manufactured HMC 800 caliber offers up. The Tutorial Limited Edition playfully lets us in on the secrets, and describes the subtle nuances of this very sophisticated and surprisingly practical high complication wristwatch, which can be crown-adjusted forwards and backwards with ease (and no mechanical danger) as well as effortlessly shifting the date ahead with “knowledge” of the length of months, even during a short February in leap year. Need to know if it’s currently a leap year? Once everything is properly set and running, just turn the watch over: the leap year indication has been shifted to the back, where it joins the assemblage of pretty mechanical components to look at, which include golden jewel chatons, separated bridges in classic pocket watch style, and a shapely balance bridge complete with a 14K gold balance assembly that Moser has optimized for easy replacement and adjustment when servicing is required. As mentioned, the date can be switched backwards as well as forwards, all with no damage to the mechanism. And of course, there’s the discreet monthly indicator in the central hand stack that moves but twelve times per year–neatly in accord with the twelve hour indicators doubling for months. The information is there, but the brilliant and forward thinking mechanism does this all without spoiling the harmony of an achingly elegant, visually simple design.
This is the sort of watch that would pique even the interest of a non-watch person, I’d like to think. They might gently accost you with the usual “why do you like these mechanical watches?”, or, “why spend so much money on a silly, outdated thing? Veblen is laughing at you from the Great Beyond.” But, then they get curious. Perhaps it’s at this point they ask “well, what is a perpetual calendar anyway?” After telling them how they work and what they do, they suddenly seem quite impressed and rather bemused that a little micro-machine whose origins go back well over two centuries, can disseminate all of that information. They may wonder out loud, as inquisitiveness gets the best of them, “Well, ok, how do you read one of these things? With this watch, there’s barely anything even there!” Then, rather than telling them, you put the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Tutorial carefully in their hand, and watch their own cogs start to spin as the dial spells it out a little bit at a time. Talk about a high-grade horological gateway drug!