With its Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel, H. Moser & Cie. puts the queen of complications into a timeless case that also houses a beautiful Aqua Blue dial that draws attention without unnecessary distractions.
With the Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel, H. Moser & Cie. is combining one of the most traditional and romantic watch complications with a magnificent flying tourbillon that performs a spinning waltz inside a timeless case.
With this timepiece, the watch manufacturer focuses on the minute repeater, extracting the piece’s essence and placing the complex mechanism for striking the hours, quarters, and minutes on the dial.
The hammers and gongs twirl in a consummate ballet, and accompanying the dance is the one-minute flying tourbillon, which is positioned at 6 o’clock. The watchmakers also go against the grain by stripping out logos and indices. Devoid of unnecessary distraction, the Aqua Blue dial, created with a “Grand Feu” enamel on a base with a hammered texture, provides a beautiful backdrop to the mechanisms’ exquisitely crafted movements.
H. Moser & Cie. has opted to position the two shaped gongs and the hammers on the dial side. Achieving this was far from straightforward, and many challenges needed to be overcome.
The gongs, in particular, which are on a single level to preserve the ergonomics of the piece, had to be curved so as not to encroach on the flying tourbillon and to respect the purity of design.
The case middle was also widened in order to accommodate the movement while allowing enough space to create a soundbox.
The design amplifies the chiming of hours, quarter-hours and minutes by two gongs, onto which fall two hammers that are raised based on information provided by different feeler-spindles.
As mentioned at the beginning of this piece, somewhat unexpectedly for a watch of this calibre, its case is water-resistant to 5 ATM, which is ideal should the wearer succumb to the siren call of the mermaids to share the sweet melody of the minute repeater with the fishes!
At six o’clock, the one-minute flying tourbillon is visible behind a skeletonised bridge and appears to float weightlessly on the dial, which is crafted in “Grand Feu” enamel.
To achieve the beautiful dial, the watchmakers started with a pattern engrained onto a gold base, which looks as if it was hammered. Following this, four different colour pigments are washed, finely crushed, and then applied to create an ombré effect.
The master enameller spends around an hour of careful work painstakingly applying the pigments, adding them one by one so that the colours oxidise and meld together when heated in the furnace without any pixelation.
The translucent “Grand Feu” enamel dial needs to be fired an astonishing twelve times in order to achieve the signature H. Moser & Cie. fumé effect, and the result of this is no dials are the same.
The result of all this is a dial with a striking texture and an intense hue, which has been christened Aqua Blue; it is a timepiece that speaks for itself without the need for a logo or indices.
The three-dimensional hands display the hours and minutes. They are formed from two sections and feature inserts made from Globolight®, an innovative ceramic-based material containing Super-LumiNova®. As a final added touch, the minute hand of this timepiece is curved.
The hand-wound HMC 905 calibre, a new movement that guarantees a power reserve of 90 hours, powers the Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel.
H. Moser & Cie. ‘s unique take on Haute Horlogerie features a contemporary anthracite grey finish, and some parts are skeletonised, opening up its stunning mechanism for all to admire. The model’s codes rework a traditional aesthetic into an understated and minimalist style, adding the final touch of elegance to this disruptive new piece.
Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel Specifications
Reference 6905-1200, steel model, Aqua Blue fumé dial, integrated steel bracelet, limited edition of 50 pieces
Case
Steel topped by a slightly domed sapphire crystal
Diameter: 42.3 mm
Height without sapphire crystal: 12.2 mm
Height with sapphire crystal: 14.4 mm
Sliding bolt with runner made from Teflon
See-through sapphire crystal case-back
Crown adorned with an “M”
Water-resistant to 5 ATM
Dial
Aqua Blue fumé “Grand Feu” enamel with hammered texture
Hammers and chimes on the dial side
Hour and minute hands with Globolight® inserts
Movement
HMC 905 hand-wound calibre, partially skeletonised
Diameter: 33.0 mm/height: 9.62 mm
Frequency: 21,600 Vib/h
35 jewels
Power reserve: 90 hours
Double Moser stripes on the plate and bridges
Movement and components are hand-finished and decorated
Anthracite finish with Moser double stripes
One-minute flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock with a skeletonised bridge
Minute repeater
Functions
Hours and minutes
Minute repeater with hour, quarter-hour and minute chimes
Strap/bracelet
Integrated steel bracelet
Folding clasp with three steel blades, engraved with the Moser logo
Half-links available