Teachable Moment: Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tutorial
After putting out several tongue-in-cheek pieces over the years, H. Moser & Cie. is at it once again with a meme-like take on haute horology with the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tutorial.
If the numerous perpetual calendars that riddle the watchmaking industry, a common aesthetic connects them regardless if they are made in Geneva, Neuchâtel, Vallée de Joux, Saxonia or beyond. A certain busyness engulfs the dials yet people celebrate the clutter, seeking out harmony amidst the chaos afforded by a mix of apertures and subdials. Call it a phenomenon if you like but when H. Moser & Cie. first put out the very first Endeavour Perpetual Calendar in 2005, it bewildered many with its alternative interpretation of the perpetual calendar — clean, minimalistic and easy to manipulate.
H. Moser & Cie. CEO Eduoard Meylan once joked that Swiss watch brands make a virtue of putting user manuals and technical specs on the watches themselves. Well, he has delivered a commentary on this practice with this new watch.
The Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tutorial follows in the tradition of the manufacture’s salty streak, concocted with classical mise-en-place and spiced up with a dash of modernity. When applied to its watches, classical codes and influences guide H. Moser Cie, only to be elevated by bold — and contextually very funny — aesthetic choices. Its fumé dial, an icon in its own right, is one of the very definitions of the Schaffhausen brand’s savoir-faire that collectors have grown to admire and appreciate. The Funky Blue dial makes a reappearance seven years after the same shade marked the beginning of the H. Moser & Cie. revival in 2015. In literally bigger news, the new Calendar Tutorial is now 42mm, up from the 40.8mm of existing Endeavour Perpetual Calendars.
The Calendar Tutorial follows the narrative of being the enfant terrible of Swiss haute horology as H. Moser & Cie transforms its normally minimalist dial into a “cheat sheet”. Sketches and notes that showcase the ingenious technical characteristics of the perpetual calendar busy-up the dial. The H. Moser & Cie perpetual calendar is touted as simple enough for a child to operate, and now with the added scribbles, it brings the Calendar Tutorial deep into “idiot-proof territory”. This edition is limited to 20 pieces, with a regular Funky Blue variation released too.
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