The new Endeavour Tourbillon Skeleton from H. Moser & Cie is a thing of beauty, and it is everything we love about the Schaffhausen brand.
Smooth lines, red gold, a flying tourbillon with a double hairspring and fully skeletonised. What more in a watch could you want? Honestly, not much. And this is exactly what H. Moser & Cie has given us with the recent release of their new Endeavour Tourbillon Skeleton in 5N red gold. It is haute hologerie for a modern and discerning watch collector.
The Endeavour collection has always been a bit of a sleeper hit, in my opinion. The Streamliner seems to take more of a centre stage, but to me, the Endeavour is the most elegant in the brand’s stable. Yes, it is similar to the Pioneer, but the Pioneer takes on a more modern look – one that I really like. But, the Pioneer gives you great proportions, and the case shape itself is designed for daily wear.
With a diameter of 40mm and a thickness of 10.7mm, the Endeavour Tourbillon Skeleton will suit most wrist sizes above about 15.5cm without looking too cumbersome. The curved lugs are designed for wearing comfort, and the case sides are bevelled or hollowed out slightly, giving the case a flow, extending from the crown to the curved lugs.
While the 18k 5N red gold case may be beautiful, the skeletonised movement is really where the show is in this piece. The in-house calibre HMC 814 is fully skeletonised, all the way to the bare bones. Moser’s movement manufacture, Precision Engineering AG, has literally left nothing but the essentials to make this piece tick. The flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock moves around as if suspended in space, while you look adoringly at the anthracite coloured skeletonised bridges that hold the movement together.
Contrasting the brushed and bevelled anthracite bridges are the 5N red gold hands and indices, as are the leaf-shaped hands that point out the time. On the reverse side, the manufacture calibre HMC 814 reveals the opposite of what is on the dial side, with an underside view that reveals the bridges, rubies, and chatons – not to mention the fully skeletonised 5N red gold rotor that winds the mainspring, again, fully visible, to give it a 72-hour power reserve.
H. Moser & Cie is one of the few brands that make their movements fully in-house, including the hairsprings of the balance wheel via their movement maker, Precision Engineering AG. In fact, the brand produces approximately 4,000 for itself and approximately 300,000 for other brands. Another reason that makes Moser “Very Rare” other than their tag line.
Speaking of the hairspring, inside the HMC 814’s flying tourbillon is a double hairspring. This corrects the displacement of the centre of gravity during the expansion of the springs and reduces friction, significantly improving accuracy and isochronism in the movement, making it more reliable and accurate.
Final Thoughts
H. Moser & Cie make some of the best skeleton movements, in my opinion. When I say best, I don’t mean they are the best movements technically, or engineered the best, which you could certainly make an argument for. But I mean, they are quite possibly the best-looking skeleton movements on the market today. When i thin of skeleton watches, it is hard to think of another brand that does a pure skeleton movement like Moser. Yes, plenty do “skeleton” watches, but these are more or less skeletonised dials, or openworked movements.
When I caught up with Bertrand Meylan, Co-owner of H. Moser & Cie and CEO of MELB Luxe subsidiaries, at the end of 2024, he mentioned that one of the aspects of Moser that he believes makes it successful is their approach of making watches that he and his brother, Eduoard, would enjoy wearing, and also, stripping them back to be both minimalistic, but also complex at the same time. It is a tricky balance to get this right, but somehow Moser does it well. The Endeavour Tourbillon Skeleton is a prime example of this.
The case is simple, yet faceted and flowing, making it much more than a simple case on second glance. The movement has been stripped of all superfluous pieces, revealing only the bare components. But these components have been finished beautifully, showing that minimalism can be complex in nature. On a personal note, I think this is one of the nicest looking skeletonised pieces from Moser to date. There have been others that I love, but this may be my new favourite.
Reference: Reference 1814-0400
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 40mm Diameter x 10.7mm thick
- Case: 18k polished 5N red gold
- Dial: Skeletonised, anthracite finished bridges, diamond bevelled with 5N gold hands and indices
- Crystal: Domed Sapphire with anti-reflective treatment
- Caseback: 18k 5N red gold with sapphire crystal caseback
- Water Resistance: 30 meters
- Movement: HMC 814 Automatic Tourbillon Skeleton, Hours, Minutes, One-Minute Flying Tourbillon with 5N red Gold skeletonised rotor
- Power Reserve: 72-hour Power Reserve
- Strap: Brown alligator leather strap with 5N Red Gold pin buckle