Introducing – H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Concept – the cleanest QP becomes even cleaner (or too clean…)

Perpetual Calendar watches are usually quite complicated in terms of display, with a dial featuring 3 to 4 sub-dials. In terms of legibility, not the most practical choice. Recently, we reviewed a QP that solves this issue with great style and ingenuity, the H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar. With its super-clean display and technical movement, it impressed us. It comes back now in a new edition, under the name H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Concept, an even cleaner version… or is it too clean? Let’s find out.

The main difference between the H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar and most of the competitors is its visual purity, its virtual simplicity that tends to make you think that you’re in front of just a 3-hand watch, with date and power reserve. Take a look at the normal edition that we reviewed and you’ll find out. However, one little detail makes a world of difference: the tiny little arrow hand placed on the central axis. It cleverly uses the 12 indexes to display the months of the year. The rest is all about a QP: flash-date that instantaneously jumps at midnight and leap year displayed on the movement side.

To make this H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar even cleaner, the manufacture first removed the small second placed at 6. Then, the indexes, as well as every track or scale is also removed. Finally, even the brand’s logo disappeared. At first, the visual result of this empty, super-clean fume-black dial is really superb. The combination of a white gold case, with this nicely colored dial and the vintage-style kudu leather strap is very attractive (the same kind of combo as this funky blue edition).

However, now comes the question of the daily use of this watch. Precision of time-reading will of course be affected. It will be difficult to adjust the watch to the right minute and to read time precisely. But that’s not the worst. If time-reading remains quite intuitive (we’re able to approximately tell the time from the position of the hands… it’s something quite natural), the question of the month is more complex. The very point of cleverness of the H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar was its display of the month – and this Concept edition looses it. Considering the size of the arrow hand, legibility of the month will be highly affected. The same remark can be made for the power reserve indicator (the 9 o’clock positioned hand).

This point apart, the H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Concept remains the very interesting watch that we know, with its 7-day power reserve movement, nicely finished with extra-large jewels in screwed gold chatons and the in-house interchangeable escapement module.

This new edition leaves the bitter-sweet feeling of a watch that is visually superb, hyper-clean and racy (you have to have guts to remove your logo from one of your products) but that is also strange in terms of the very idea of a watch: displaying its indications clearly and easily. You’re now aware. This H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Concept has to be bought knowingly.

Limited edition to 10 pieces. Price: around 50.000 Swiss Francs. More details on Moser’s website.