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H. Moser & Cie

Switzerland · Founded 1828

Founded 1828 in St. Petersburg, Russia by Heinrich Moser (1805-1874), a Schaffhausen-born watchmaker who became a favored supplier to the Russian Imperial court (Moser pocket watches reportedly reached Tsarist officials and, per later accounts, Vladimir Lenin). The original firm lapsed into dormancy in the 20th century. The name was revived in Schaffhausen in 2002 as Moser Schaffhausen AG, with the brand formally relaunched at the end of 2005 to mark the 200th anniversary of Heinrich Moser's birth; the debut watch was the Perpetual 1, later renamed Endeavour Perpetual Calendar, which won the 2006 GPHG complication prize. Since 2012 the company has been owned by MELB Holding, the Meylan family's holding company; Georges-Henri Meylan is chairman, his son Edouard Meylan is CEO, and Roger Nicholas Balsiger (a great-grandson of Heinrich Moser) holds the title of honorary chairman. Moser builds movements largely in-house (including its own Straumann hairsprings via sister company Precision Engineering AG) and produces roughly 3,000 watches a year with just over 100 employees. The brand is known for minimalist fume dials with no logo or indices on its 'Concept' models, and for irreverent marketing stunts, most notably the 2017 Swiss Mad Watch, made in protest of Switzerland's tightened 'Swiss Made' labeling law.