New Watch Alert: H. Moser, Cartier, Zenith

H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Electric Blue – c. $330k

New watch alert! I recently purchased an H. Moser & Cie. watch. All will be revealed. Meanwhile, it wasn’t this one. For one thing, the new-in-blue, titanium-cased HM&C CMPT is a little more than I can afford (assuming I don’t sell my house and live out of my car). For another, I consider accuracy-enhancing tourbillons tits on a bull. Really beautiful, intricate, fascinating, fun-to-watch tits, but horological mammaries none-the-less. As for minute repeaters . . .

They’re equally amusante. Un ballet, dontcha know. The 43mm H. Moser & Cie Endeavour’s bells sound loud and clear. As a former hand bell ringer, I was delighted to read “the wearer is invited to take part in the recital every time they pull the slide.” That said, having suffered through endless class-ending bells throughout grade school, I prefer the cha-cha slide. But that blue “lagoon” dial with those blued screws rings my bell-el-el . . . rings my bell.

Cartier 100th Anniversary Tank Cintrée LE – $30k

Nope. No link. Cartier offered its newest Tank to “friends and family” first, discreetly. If it weren’t for Instagram and some loose-lipped buyers, we’d never know it existed. Until someone flipped it, of course. The 100th Anniversary Tank Cintrée isn’t a repro of a previous piece, but it has the basic shape and form of the original 1935 Tank Cintrée. Which shouldn’t lower the value of the original, but certainly lowers my opinion of Cartier’s designers.

Old new watch alert! New old watch alert? Cartier currently sells no less than 31 Tank variations – chronographs, skeletons, everything but a GMT – in different sizes, bands, gems, shapes (including  an asymmetric model) and colors. “Constantly Reinvented” is how their website describes it. The Cintrée redux has blued Breguet hands, so there you go. I think it’s safe to say all 150 watches are sold, netting Cartier a cool $4.5m. I wonder if that curved case fits all wrists . . .

Zenith Chronomaster Revival A385 – $7,900

“The A385 was one of the original three stainless steel El Primero equipped watches that launched alongside the world’s first automatic high-frequency chronograph calibre in 1969,” Zenith recalls. And here it is again. Which, again, shows mainstream watchmakers’ inability to create models as or more compelling than its historical timepieces. Not to mention (again) throwing vintage watch collectors under the proverbial bus. Big style.

The Zenith Chronomaster Revival A38 is the ultimate example of a watchmaker raiding the archives. The company literally reverse engineered the original from the original blueprints and production plans to create an exact duplicate, right down to the 37mm tonneau-shaped stainless steel case and pushers. The only differences: sapphire replaced plastic and there’s a clear caseback to showcase the legendary El Primero 400 chrono movement. Worth eight G’s? An original (above) runs $13k. For now.

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