Moser Introduces The Pioneer ‘Spiced Aqua’ Trilogy Of Hyperchromatic Watches

When last we checked in with H. Moser & Cie, the company was doing what it does best: confound expectations. The launch of the Moser X Alpine Mechanic’s and Driver’s watches saw the company pair its signature Agengraphe based chronograph movement with a Bluetooth connected smartwatch, in a move that we thought shows that far from being an outrage against tradition, smartwatches are ubiquitous enough that they have become simply another available design and functionality option. At Watches & Wonders, however, we saw another side of Moser which, while not as outrageous as some of the company’s past provocations (Swiss cheese watch case, anyone?) was still very startling in comparison to the usually rather staid use of color found in most luxury watchmaking. These were the watches in the new Concept Pop Collection which, while they used traditional fine watchmaking hardstone dial materials like turquoise, lapis lazuli, and coral, combined deeply saturated examples of each material in watches whose designs were more reminiscent of the Pop Art movement, and some of the brightly colored works of art from the Geometric Abstraction school, than of anything in the history of watchmaking.

Moser’s never been afraid of color, but the Concept Pop watches took contrast and saturation to a new level, and Moser’s continuing its exploration of the unexplored range of color in watch design with the new Spiced Aqua trilogy of watches. The new trilogy are part of the Pioneer Collection and include Centre Seconds, Tourbillon, and Skeleton Cylindrical Tourbillon models.

There are just two basic colors although you have the impression of more thanks to the way the blues and oranges are distributed. The hands on the Centre Seconds and Tourbillon models are partly skeletonized, letting the dial color show through (the solid dials on both models have a sunray brushed finish) and there’s a contrasting ring at the edge of each dial. There’s no dial furniture, except for the indexes on the Skeleton Cylindrical Tourbillon subdial, in keeping with the minimalist ethos of the brand, which has gone so far as to suppress its own wordmark on many of its watches in the interests of visual clarity.

The Pioneer Centre Seconds Spiced Aqua

The Pioneer Centre Seconds Spiced Aqua is available in two models – stainless steel, or DLC coated stainless steel. Both models are otherwise identical, with 42.8mm x 12.01mm, 120 meter water resistant cases and featuring the in-house automatic Moser caliber HMC 201.

The orange flange is actually orange Super-LumiNova, with orange SLN also filling in the semi-skeletonized hands. As with all Concept watches (which can be found in various Moser collections) there’s no dial furniture nor wordmark, and the Pioneer Centre Seconds Spiced Aqua models, of the three in the trilogy, are the most graphically straightforward. Both models can be ordered with a steel bracelet.

The Pioneer Tourbillon Spiced Aqua

The Pioneer Tourbillon Spiced Aqua is slightly smaller than the other two Spiced Aqua watches, at 40mm x 12.0mm.  The same basic blue and orange color is used, and as with the Centre Seconds, water resistance is 120 meters. In the Pioneer Torbillon Spiced Aqua, Moser switches the colors around; the tourbillon has a flange in turquoise Super-LumiNova, with the hands given the same treatment.

The movement is caliber HMC 805, which is an unusual flying tourbillon with double balance springs. The tourbillon cage is also driven via gear teeth at its periphery, unlike conventional tourbillons which turn on a central pinion, driven by (usually) the movement third wheel.

The double balance springs are given away by the two balance spring studs, which are on opposite sides of the cage. Double balance springs are found in very few watches (the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balancier is one of the other rare examples, although that watch isn’t a tourbillon). The reason for using two balance springs with diametrically opposed inner attachments and outer studs, is the same as for using a Breguet or Phillips overcoil balance spring. A single, conventional flat balance spring doesn’t oscillate symmetrically; instead, its coils “breathe” with the spring tension asymmetrically distributed and so the center of oscillation doesn’t coincide with the center of gravity of the balance. A Breguet/Phillips overcoil is designed so that the balance spring oscillates symmetrically, and the double balance spring is another solution to the same problem – the opposite pinning and stud attachments of each of the two springs, means that any asymmetries will tend to cancel each other out.

The Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Spiced Aqua

This is the most visually complex, as well as the most technically complex, of the three Spiced Aqua models.

The stainless steel case is 42.8mm x 15.3mm, with a domed sapphire crystal and the openworked caliber HMC 811. Water resistance is 120 meters and to both maintain legibility and keep the movement as open as possible, the time is read off a subdial at 12:00, with blue Super-LumiNova on the hands and indexes. If you look closely, you’ll also notice something on the sub-dial that you won’t see on the other two Spiced Aqua watches: the Moser logo, albeit very faint. Moser began using logos printed with transparent lacquer rather than white, in 2021, as part of its “Erase The Brand” campaign, launched at Watches & Wonders.

Technically speaking the big story in the Cylindrical Tourbillon Spiced Aqua is the cylindrical balance spring. Cylindrical balances springs are quite possibly rarer than double balance springs and thanks to their geometry, very difficult to make; Jaeger-LeCoultre very occasionally uses cylindrical tourbillons in its mult-axis tourbillons, including the Reverso Gyrotourbillon. The cylindrical balance springs used by Moser are manufactured by its sister company, Precision Engineering AG, which is owned by Moser Watch Holding (MWH also owns the Moser brand).

The cylindrical balance spring has quite a long history – it was invented by none other than the great English watchmaker, John Arnold, who was a close friend of the equally illustrious Abraham Louis Breguet; Arnold received a patent for the cylindrical balance spring in 1782. The cylindrical balance spring, unlike every other balance spring, does not have concentric coils; instead, each of the coils of the spring is equidistant from the balance staff and the rationale is the same as for the Breguet overcoil and double balance spring: ensuring that the center of oscillation for the balance and its center of gravity, coincides as closely as possible with the center of rotation of the balance, in order to reduce variations in rate due to the effects of gravity in different positions as much as possible.

The cylindrical balance spring was originally developed for use in marine chronometers, where it would have been in a single flat position thanks to the gimbals used to mount marine chronometers in their cases; today, they offer the same theoretical advantages in a wristwatch and they are very interesting purely from a design standpoint as well. You’ll notice that the cylindrical balance spring, as produced by Precision Engineering AG, has a Breguet overcoil; why not buy as much as insurance as you can.

All in all, a trio of very visually striking watches which have quite a lot more going for them than just unusual aesthetics; these are all three technically interesting watches as well, in different ways. Still, while the technical features of the watches may engage the mind, those brilliant colors really tug at the heart and together, the aesthetics and mechanics are uniquely Moser and uniquely compelling.

The H. Moser & Cie Pioneer Spiced Aqua watches: references, Cylindrical Tourbillon 3811-1203; Tourbillon, 3805-1200; and Centre Seconds, 3201-1202 in stainless steel, or 3201-1205 in black DLC coated stainless steel. Prices, $16,900 for the Pioneer Centre Seconds Spiced Aqua; $59,500 for the Pioneer Tourbillon Spiced Aqua, and $93,500 for the Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Spiced Aqua. The 1916 Company is proud to be an authorized retailer for H. Moser & Cie watches. Contact us for availability for the Pioneer Spiced Aqua trilogy.