H. Moser & Cie. Revisits its Russian Past

The company goes back to its historical roots with a model version in a bronze case.

The title of Supplier to the Russian Imperial Court has been held by more than one Swiss watch company. Some of the big names uttered inside the Court included Breguet, Chopard and even Tissot. One name which stands out on this list is Heinrich Moser.

This Swiss watchmaker founded his independent company in Saint Petersburg in 1828 and the timepieces he created were on the wish lists of Russian nobility. The third-generation watchmaker from Schaffhausen was born into a family of watchmakers and followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Johannes Moser and father Erhard Moser.

Business went very well for almost a century.  Things were going so well that his movements were used in Carl Fabergé's desk clocks, and his thriving business gets a mention in a short story Dostoevsky wrote in 1876 called "A Gentle Creature". Of course, that all changed with the events of 1917.

The 1917 October Revolution led to the nationalization of H. Moser & Cie. and ultimately forced the watchmaker to take an involuntary break until the brand was revived in 2002. And it wasn't in Russia anymore after its revival. In 2017, H. Moser & Cie. Commemorated the dramatic events which took place a century earlier by creating the Venturer XL Stoletniy Krasniy model.

It had a blood-red fumé dial with the company’s original Cyrillic logo and was limited to 17 pieces. Four years on, the company has decided to revisit its historical roots a model called Heritage Bronze “Since 1828”. The Blackor fumé dial once again features the Cyrillic logo used by the brand before the Russian Revolution.

It's encircled by large Arabic numerals set with Globolight blocks. The manufacture has been using this material since 2019, when numerals which glow in the dark were first made from a ceramic-based material infused with Super-LumiNova.

A similar dial design was already seen on a steel model called the Heritage Centre Seconds Funky Blue, albeit without the Cyrillic logo and in a different shade, which took its stylistic cues from 1920s military watches.

Bronze has been chosen as the case material this time round — a more suitable choice for historical models. It's been used to make the 42 mm case which is just 11.1 mm in height.

It houses the automatic HMC 200 movement which measures 5.5 mm in height with a central seconds hand and a 72-hour power reserve. The bronze case can either be paired with a black textile strap or the more exotic option of a strap made of kudu antelope leather.