H. Moser & Cie. Launches Pioneer Centre Seconds Swiss Mad Red with Scarlet Fumé Dial


H. Moser & Cie, the indie brand from Schaffhausen, introduced the Pioneer Centre Seconds in 2019 as part of its “everyday wear” collection. Meant to be a hard-wearing watch with a water-resistance of 120 meters, this was the sportiest Moser watch until the Streamliner came along this year. For 2020, Moser now introduces the Pioneer Centre Seconds with a new face it calls the Swiss Mad Red fumé dial.

The Pioneer Centre Seconds is Moser’s “everyday wear” watch.

Those familiar with Moser’s 2017 protest watch, the Swiss Mad Watch, will find this red vignette dial familiar. In a satirical move to express displeasure at how loosely the norms for “Swiss-Made” watches were regulated, Moser created a watch with a case that was made entirely of Swiss cheese.

Yes, Swiss cheese – a Vacherin Mont d’Or médaille d’or – was mixed with a composite material, machined and polished to create a unique case. This original “Swiss Mad watch” was paired with a strap made from Swiss cowhide and sported a striking red fumé dial and doubled indices at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, subtly reminiscent of the Swiss flag.

The red vignette dial was first seen on the Swiss Mad Watch.

The Pioneer Centre Seconds uses a 42.8 mm-wide stainless steel case with a curved sapphire crystal over the red fumé dial. As mentioned earlier, the case is water-resistant to 120 meters and is 10.6 mm thick and sports those distinct lugs.

Two partially skeletonized, leaf-shaped hands indicate the hour and minute on applied steel indices; both the hands and hour markers are treated with Super-LumiNova. A central seconds (hence the name of the watch) sweeps across the striking red dial.

Moser’s smoked dials have become a brand signature.

Caliber HMC 200, visible through another sapphire window in the back, bears the stylistic hallmarks of Moser movements, including the emblematic double stripes on the bridges and mainplate. A large, engraved bidirectional rotor transfers energy to the barrel through a pawl winding system, reducing the amount of time required to wind the movement up to its full three days’ worth of power reserve. The Pioneer Centre Seconds comes on a sporty, perforated black rubber strap with a pin buckle, and retails for $12,900.

A version of this article first appeared on our sister website, WatchTime Middle East.

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