Written by
Reviewed by Matthew Ashton
Luxury watchmaker H. Moser & Cie was founded by Swiss-born Heinrich Moser in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1828. One of the few independent, family-owned watch companies in existence, H. Moser & Cie began its impressive history by supplying luxury timepieces to Russian princes and Imperial Court members, as well as Vladimir Lenin. The brand currently employs about 100 people worldwide, has 18 in-house calibres, and produces about 3000 watches per year.
The beginnings of H. Moser & Cie
Born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland in 1805, Heinrich Moser followed in his family’s footsteps to become a watchmaker and studied at Le Locle. He founded H. Moser & Cie in St Petersburg, Russia in 1828, and when he returned to Schaffhausen in 1848 he established a watch factory. But Moser’s contributions to Swiss industry went far beyond watches: along with Friedrich Peyer im Hof and Johann Conrad Neher, he founded SIG (a packaging company), built the first Swiss dam featuring hydro-mechanical turbines to produce energy, and also built the Rhine Falls railway.
Heinrich Moser is thought to have produced around half a million watches in his lifetime, from basic three-hand watches to “grande complications”. When he died in 1874, the company was split up between his managing directors in Switzerland and Russia. As H. Moser & Cie progressed into the twentieth century, the Swiss arm of the company turned its focus from pocket watches to wristwatches. However, due to the quartz crisis, H. Moser & Cie became part of the Dixi Mechanique Group and changed their name to Hy Moser & Cie.
The relaunch of H. Moser & Cie
In 2002, Heinrich Moser’s great-grandson Roger Nicholas Balsiger, together with Dr Jürgen Lange, founded Moser Schaffhausen AG, and by 2005 had established a new Manufacture in Schaffhausen. H. Moser & Cie was officially relaunched as a trademark of the company, with it being family-owned and run once again.
H. Moser & Cie is one of 1900 companies that are part of the Responsible Jewellery Council, which promotes responsible practices and ethical standards within the jewellery and watch industry. The brand is also frequently awarded for its innovation and craftsmanship: the Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton reference 3811-1200 won the tourbillon of the year at the 2022 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, and in 2024 H. Moser & Cie won the Time Only category with their Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel.
H. Moser & Cie have shown that they aren’t afraid to do things differently, or to stand out from the crowd. Since 2016, the brand have produced special watches for the annual Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) to raise public awareness on different topics – the watches unveiled include a watch made of Swiss cheese (2017’s Swiss Mad Watch) and a watch covered with live Swiss plants (2019’s Moser Nature Watch). They also collaborated with Studio Underd0g to produce a timepiece inspired by passion fruits, limited to 100 pairs: the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Passion Fruit.
In 2024, the brand collaborated with Massena LAB to create the Endeavour Chronograph: a timepiece inspired by Moser models from the mid-twentieth century with a classic layout and signature Funky Blue fumé dial, limited to 100 pieces. For 2025, H. Moser & Cie launched the Pioneer Tourbillon Burgundy, featuring a small tourbillon, gold markers and a striking red dial.
The celebrity fans of H. Moser & Cie
Since its early days, H. Moser & Cie has been a luxury favourite, with Russian princes and Imperial Court members being early adopters of the timepieces. Today, the watches can be seen on the wrists of notable figures such as French race-car driver Pierre Gasly, who wore a rose gold Endeavour Tourbillon with a Concept dial in Vantablack (the darkest black in existence) to the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Other celebrity fans of the brand include U2’s bass player Adam Clayton, and the Crown Prince of Ajman Sheikh Ammar, who was spotted in 2020 wearing a white gold Endeavour Tourbillon with a Concept dial in Vantablack – limited to only 50 pieces.
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