H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Big Date Purity

Following the well-known “purity” strategy of the brand – and that certain anti-conformist spirit that can make us laugh or make us think – H. Moser & Cie. continues to deploy the clean look of its watches with this refined interpretation of the Venturer Big Date. Less is more and if the focus is on legibility, it is done without losing the basics of the brand. Cleaner but still bold, meet the H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Big Date Purity.

This wish for purity came gradually for H. Moser. There was a clear, clever and well-thought strategy behind it. Step one was a bold statement to say “we are different”, to announce that the brand’s design codes are stronger than just a name printed on a dial. The first “concept” watches removed every single inscription from their dial to show just a pair of hands and the signature fumé dial. Step two was the real deal, the moment when Moser made some noise, by removing the “Swiss Made” mention from the dial. Following this came the “purity” watches: cleaner, focussed on the essential, but still less radical than the “concept” watches.

After introducing the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Purity or the Venturer Small Seconds XL Purity, it is now time for another classic in the collection to receive this “cleaning” treatment. The H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Big Date has been in the collection for quite some years now, but always with indices, hands and inscriptions on the dial. Now, with the Purity version, it becomes cleaner and even more “Moser” than it used to be.

The main point of interest of the Purity watches is their dials. While the display and the complications are still the same, the dial of the H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Big Date Purity only shows the essential: central hands for the hours and minutes, a small seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock, a large date at 3 o’clock and only four indices positioned at critical locations – 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock (which is, in fact, enough to read the time). On the Purity watches, the name of the brand is still printed at 12 o’clock but that’s the only mention you’ll find on the dial – remember that “Swiss Made” isn’t allowed anymore at Moser.

For the rest, the Moser signature style is still present – and admittedly, this cleaner look makes these watches somehow even more recognizable. Two versions of the H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Big Date Purity will be available: red gold with a smokey-grey fumé dial or white gold with a Funky Blue gradated dial. The case remains the same, meaning modernly sized at 41.5mm in diameter and 14.5mm in height – it is a rather thick watch, mainly due to the highly curved crystal on the dial side and the powerful movement inside.

Inside ticks an impressive movement, the calibre HMC 100. Thanks to two barrels, this in-house movement can store up to 10 days of power (with a minimum of 7 days). As often with the brand, the power reserve indicator is positioned on the movement, in order to keep the dial as clean as possible. It also features the exclusive interchangeable Moser escapement and the in-house manufactured Straumann Hairspring. Featuring the Flash Calendar mechanism, this movement ensures an instantaneous date change at midnight and allows the date to be smoothly adjusted forwards or backwards at any time. To have the date as large as possible, it is equipped with two stacked date discs, the upper disc bearing the numbers 1 to 15 and the lower disc bearing 16 to 31. The movement is, as always, nicely decorated with Moser stripes and polished anglages.

The H. Moser & Cie. Venturer Big Date Purity will be limited to 100 pieces – 50 pieces per colour – and priced at EUR 28,500 (inc. taxes). More details on www.h-moser.com.