H Moser & Cie Perpetual Golden Edition
There is something utterly satisfying when you encounter something which although ordinary in appearance is in fact extra-ordinary, something whose character belies its inner strength, talents or complexities. The clumsy colt which outruns the favourite by a fulong or two or perhaps the Audi RS4 Avant, masquerading as a family estate car but perfectly capable of leaving a Ferrari to eat dust at the traffic lights. The Moser Perpetual 1 is a deceptively complicated watch. To say that the simplicity of its rounded case and elegant dial are inconsistent with its complicated inner workings would be a colossal understatement.
When the Moser Perpetual 1 was first introduced five years ago, some of its features astounded the industry. At the centre of the dial is a chubby little arrow-shaped hand which serves to indicate the month of the year simply by using each of the indices as a corresponding month. Elementary? Yes. Canny? You bet. Then there is the unique and brilliant "Flash Calendar" which displays an instantaneously jumping date, perfectly centred every day, thanks to the use of one date window not two - it will never read "01" but instead a precisely positioned "1". Adjustment is foolproof, with the crown in the intermediate position the date can be adjusted backwards or forwards, the little mechanical memory counts the days and will skip unnecessary ones - from 28 to 1, 31 to 1, 30 to 1, even 29 to 1 if it is a leap year. A little star indication on the movement side of the piece displays the leap years.
New for 2011 is the Perpetual Golden Edition without doubt one of the most authentic gold, gold watches around, if you were promised a watch like this on your retirement you would never bad-mouth your boss. Only components which are unable to be crafted from gold escape the midas touch. The case is 18 carat gold, the gold dial features exquisite gold fumé shading with golden hands and indices. Inside the plates and bridges are also solid gold and even the most diminutive components, most of which will be seen only by the individuals who made the piece and those who you trust enough to service it, are immaculately hand-finished.
The Moser Perpetual Golden Edition is the world's first watch to include two functional diamond end stones intricated into the incabloc shock absorber and the piece also features the ingenious interchangeable escapement pioneered by H Moser & Cie, unscrewable at two points. This enables a pre-regulated module to be fitted easily, allowing the customer to take his precious piece home with him, while the watchmaker can service his escapement properly and re-fit it at a later date.
The superb Perpetual Golden Edition from H Moser & Cie is limited to 100 pieces.