H. Moser & Cie. Teams Up With Massena LAB, Presenting the Endeavour Chronograph Compax

Usually, when you think about contemporary chronographs produced by independent watchmaker H. Moser & Cie, you should have the highly complex Streamliner in mind, with its innovative movement by Agenhor. But Moser is more than just its modern side, as the brand was founded in 1828 and carries a rather unknown but wide portfolio of vintage watches, including handsome chronograph wristwatches produced during the 1940s and 1950s. And by teaming up with design studio Massena LAB, both parties have been on a mission to resurrect exactly that, by giving the classic Endeavour collection a retro twist and a chronograph movement. 

H. Moser & Cie. and Massena LAB, the design studio created by William Massena, specialised in collaboration watches with some of the greatest brands, have dug deep into the brand’s archives and decided to take inspiration from classic chronograph wristwatches produced by Moser during the 1940s/50s – a.k.a the golden era of chronographs. As such, there’s an undeniable vintage twist infused in this new creation, however, blended within the brand’s contemporary approach by using the classic Endeavour case. We’re not here to talk about proper vintage recreation, but instead about a Moser watch that has been given the retro touch by Massena.

Mid-century dial inspiration, modern Moser watchmaking… This is the whole idea here, starting with a case that’s all about contemporary Moser, with the classic, rather elegant and undeniably refined Endeavour case, with its original curved profile. The case, made of stainless steel with polished surfaces and vertically brushed accents, retains all the design cues of the collection – recessed flanks, concave bezel – with a quite reasonable diameter of 41mm, a thickness of 13.3mm (which isn’t thin but not overly thick either, considering the added module on the movement). It retains the classic conical crown of the collection and adds retro-styled mushroom-like pushers for the chronograph. Sapphire crystals are found on both sides.

The dial is where things get more unique. Using vintage codes from historic watches, with that beloved sense of elegance mixed with functional pragmatism, typical of mid-century chronographs, Massena LAB has transformed the signature blue fumé dial into a more complex and retro-looking face. As such, it relies on a classic bi-compax layout, with small seconds and 45-minute counter, with the periphery of the dial being equipped with a double tachymeter scale, capable of calculating average speeds on a two-minute base (from 300kph to 30kph).

This dial offers a cool contrast between modernity, with a gradient funky blue colour, and vintage touches, including the historic H. Moser & Cie. logo from 1947, Arabic numerals and all printings done in a cream colour. And at night, all elements such as the tachymetric scale, the chronograph graduation, the sub-dials and the hands, feature Super-LumiNova.

Inside the case is a modular movement, which combines the brand’s 3-day automatic in-house HMC 220 with a Dubois Dépraz chronograph module. It results in a caseback that’s identical to most classic 3-hand watches from the brand, but it’s also understandable as developing a new chronograph movement for a limited edition watch would be too complex. The movement runs at 3Hz and stores 72 hours of power reserve, and is nicely finished as you’d expect from Moser.

Worn on a brown kudu leather strap, with stitching in a white thread and closed by a steel pin buckle, the H. Moser & Cie. X Massena LAB Endeavour Chronograph Compax is released as a limited edition of 100 pieces. It will be priced at CHF 25,000 (including taxes). For more details, please consult h-moser.com and massenalab.com.