The Meylan brothers behind H Moser & Cie, an independent watch brand making waves in the industry

In the horological world, independent brands are becoming increasingly popular with collectors who value the creativity that smaller, niche producers bring to the table.

One such brand that is steadily garnering the attention of collectors is H Moser & Cie. Originally founded in 1828 by Heinrich Moser, the Swiss brand was acquired by the Meylan family in 2012. It is now led by CEO Edouard Meylan and his brother Bertrand Meylan, who heads the family’s holding company, MELB Holding. MELB also owns Swiss brand Hautlence, known for its avant-garde approach to watchmaking.

“In the last five, six years, for us at least, we noticed that a lot of customers are discovering and gaining confidence in brands beyond the established ones,” Bertrand said. A decade ago, customers were concerned if smaller brands would survive in the long run. “Now, we have seen a complete switch where customers are starting to trust a brand like us, believing that we are here for the long term.”

With prices starting at around CHF13,000 (S$20,000) Edouard describes Moser as an entry brand into the realm of independent watchmaking. “Among all the indies, we are probably the largest brand with the widest range of products. For our entry level timepieces, featuring fully in-house movements, I don’t see any other brands that can offer a similar price, with so much value in the product,” Edouard said. “That’s why a lot of young collectors start with Moser, and then they grow within Moser or they sometimes discover other brands.”

Moser is a brand that “creates a bridge between traditional and modern watchmaking”, according to Edouard. “We respect tradition but at the same time, we embrace modernism in terms of design. Our designs are very minimalistic. We love to play with metiers d’art techniques, such as engraving and enamelling, and try to make it modern.”

For every Moser watch across its four core collections – Streamliner, Pioneer, Endeavour and Heritage – unnecessary elements are stripped away to keep each piece as simple and user-friendly as possible. The brand also eschews logos. “It’s a mark of confidence to say that we’re established enough that our products are recognisable,” Edouard explained.

Then there’s Moser’s striking, unconventional dial colours, such as its signature Funky Blue fume dial with a gradient effect that transitions from a darker shade at the edges to a lighter shade towards the centre. At Watches & Wonders 2024, Moser turned heads with its Pioneer Centre Seconds Concept Citrus Green, sporting a zesty green fume dial.

In honour of Sincere Fine Watches’ 70th anniversary, Moser presented the Pioneer Perpetual Calendar Concept MD Purple Enamel Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition, featuring an exquisite grand fue enamel dial in a captivating purple fume hue, a first for the brand.

Limited to just 20 pieces, the watch stands out for its technical prowess and aesthetic audacity, with a strikingly minimalistic dial showcasing nothing else but fine gold hands indicating the main hours, seconds and power reserve. Two windows indicate the month and date, which run on Moser’s Flash Calendar function that allows for an instantaneous date change at midnight.

While in Singapore for the launch of the special anniversary watch, CNA Luxury caught up with Edouard and Betrand Meylan who tell us all about finding inspiration, Singapore’s mature watch collecting market and what’s in store for the brand.

What has been the current focus of the brand and its strategy in recent years?

Edouard: Historically, Moser has been very elegant and classic in terms of design, exemplified by the Endeavour collection. Over the years, we have maintained this tradition with very distinctive designs, including the concept dials and Vantablack dials. Slowly, we created more sporty, everyday watches with the Pioneer and Streamliner collections. This has been a big trend in the industry in general, but for Moser in particular.

Where do you find inspiration for your watches?

Edouard: Inspiration is everywhere, but we create watches that we want to wear ourselves. Sometimes we create watches based on a need. When we launched the Pioneer collection, it was because both Bertrand and I have young kids and wearing a platinum perpetual calendar while playing in the garden with the kids is a bit annoying. So that’s where we decided to create something more water resistant, in steel or titanium, that’s much more versatile to use every day. That worked very well for us. We like to say that we are the target market for Moser, so we want to do things that appeal to us, that’s surprising to the consumer.

The most discussed and appreciated watch we created this year is the Citrus watch. It is probably the most unexpected watch we’ve done in years, yet it’s one of the simplest. We had many high-profile collectors discovering the brand through a watch like this.

Bertrand: We realise that the products that work best are the ones where you have people who love it, and people who hate it. That creates discussion and the more discussion you have, the more people will be interested in your brand.

How important is the Singapore market for an independent brand like Moser?

Bertrand: Singapore has always been one of the most mature markets in watch collecting. It was probably one of the first markets to adopt independent brands 20 years ago, when many markets would never buy from a brand like ours. There is an extremely strong community of collectors. Some of the biggest watch collectors in the world are based here. What is interesting is how young collectors who are interested in brands like Moser are here, which shows that Singapore is ahead of many other markets. If you do well in Singapore, it helps you develop in many other markets in the region.

Which are some of your other key markets in Asia?

Bertrand: Hong Kong is a key market for us. It has opened a lot of doors for us in Greater China in general. At the moment, we are putting a lot of energy into mainland China. We have opened our first boutiques in Beijing and Shanghai, where we believe there’s huge potential for Moser to grow. It takes time, but there is a new generation of collectors who are interested in different watch brands from what their fathers or grandfathers were buying.

What is the long-term strategy for Moser?

Edouard: Stay independent but continue to grow. I think it’s important for us to continue to expand to have a wide spectrum of products. Right now, we have four collections, and we will continue with that. Eventually, we might create more feminine lines. The key is to grow the community, maintain the highest quality and an exclusive retail network and continue to be disruptive in the industry to surprise customers with new movements, new designs. If you stand still, then you die as a brand.

Bertrand: We still believe that we are not known enough. There’s a lot of work to be done in building the brand, even though we have seen a huge growth in brand awareness in the last 12 years [since we acquired the company]. We are meeting more and more people who have just discovered the brand, and that’s something we need to continue to do.

Edouard: This year, we decided to move into Formula 1 as the timekeeping sponsor for Alpine Motorsports. This is the kind of activation that widens audience awareness of the brand. As an indie brand, you are always seen as a niche brand and to suddenly be a premium sponsor in Formula 1, we have made it to the next step. We will continue to bring more experiences to our customers as well.

What are your plans for a feminine line?

Edouard: It sounds stupid, but [we plan to develop] smaller diameters. Smaller diameters for a brand like ours mean we need to develop smaller movements. At the same time, it’s about finding the right inspirations. We don’t want to design a ladies’ watch the same way we design a men’s watch. The easy way would be to take a men’s watch and make it smaller. Does it work? I don’t know. The objective is to launch a feminine line in 2026. Can we achieve it? If we feel confident that we have something special, we will launch it. If not, we will continue to work on it.

Do you each have a favourite watch from the Moser collection?

Bertrand: The problem is that every year it can change. It also depends on the occasion. The Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton is one of our favourites that we designed this year. The Endeavour Funky Blue Perpetual Calendar has always been one of our favourites because it was a really big step and evolution for the brand so it has a special place in our hearts. It’s not easy to pick a favourite. We design watches that we want to wear, it is quite egoistic in a sense that we design them for ourselves. So, at the end of the day, there are quite a lot of watches that we are happy to wear.

Edouard: The Streamliner Vantablack Rose Gold Tourbillon is a watch that I was surprised I love a lot. I am not someone who would wear a rose gold watch, but last year, it was very difficult to take it off my wrist. There are a few models that we feel are perfect. There are many others that we might change a little bit over the years. But for this watch, it feels like the black dress of Chanel. It might never change. There’s not much I would do differently.

What else can fans of the brand expect from Moser in the coming months?

Edouard: They can expect the unexpected. We have a few collaborations and new complications coming up. We are exploring our past to see how we get can get inspired. We have a Heritage collection where we pick and choose pieces from our museum to see how we can modernise them. So yes, they can expect a few things.

Bertrand: They will be surprised hopefully.

Edouard: I’m sure they will be.