Hot Shop: H. Moser & Cie at Palladio

When a watch company makes the claim, via its tagline, that it is "very rare," it gives room for some speculation. Is it the materials it uses, the designs it creates or the way in which its timepieces are manufactured? Regarding Swiss watchmaker H. Moser & Cie, the answer is all three—and more.

Sold exclusively (and that’s in all of Canada) at Palladio Jewellers in Vancouver, we had the chance this week to find out more about the brand, which produces a maximum of 1,200 timepieces—including its gorgeous Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Cosmic Green with an emerald-coloured fumé dial and Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue, equipped with a number of ingenious features, such as an instantaneous date change—per year (so yes, rare). Among our discoveries: this is one luxury watch-maker that likes to keep things light. Case in point: poking a bit of fun at the watch industry’s growing fear of smartwatches (as well as consumers’ growing fascination with them) by creating the Swiss Alp Watch—a luxury mechanical (versus connected) timepiece that looks so much like an Apple Watch, it’s easy to be fooled at quick glance. While it doesn’t let you make calls or send texts or measure your heart rate, it does allow you to pass it onto your children one day without worrying about having to upgrade. Also, after a new law was passed regarding the use of the words “Swiss made” (as of January 1, Swiss law requires 60 per cent of a watch’s value to be created in Switzerland, up from 50 per cent), H. Moser’s response was to manufacture a one-off Swiss watch housed in a case of hardened Swiss cheese, a strap made of cowhide and a red dial reminiscent of the country’s flag.

In other words, nearly 100 per cent Swiss, and it can be yours for a mere $1 million. —Noa Nichol

Palladio Jewellers, 855 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, 604-685-3885, palladiocanada.com