Hands-On H. Moser's Newest Perpetual Calendar Is A Tantalum Fumé Stunner

Releasing a watch in tantalum is enough to get enthusiasts pretty excited. The extremely hard, heavy, dark, lustrous, and ductile material is gorgeous, in my opinion the best white metal material on the market. But most enthusiasts know it's also a nightmare to work with, gumming up machinery and driving case makers insane. And while a tantalum watch might not be the massive achievement it used to be, it is certainly a moment for a brand to proudly say "look what we can do."

A fumé Grand Feu enamel dial is bound to grab attention as well. The extremely delicate art Grand Feu enamel consists of fusing glass to metal, sifting enamel down layer by layer, and firing it to create a bubbly, almost "living" texture and is rarely seen on watches save from a few manufacturers (including surprisingly affordable ones like anOrdain).

Put both components together in a beautifully simple 42mm perpetual calendar like H. Moser & Cie.'s new Endeavor (ref. 1800-2000) and you've got a winner. 

Back in 2015, Ben Clymer called Moser's Endeavor the "most elegant perpetual calendar I can think of" during his "A Week On The Wrist." I'd venture to say that's still true today. It's a simple design that could be mistaken for a time-and-date watch rather than something so much more complex. While you occasionally want a calendar watch that loudly proclaims "I'm complicated!" there's something luxurious about a watch that doesn't need to shout. Even better when a simplified display acts as a palette for such an incredible "Abyss Blue" fumé Grand Feu enamel dial. But I'll come back to that in a moment.

I had to go back to photos of the Moser Endeavor Perpetual Calendar Tutorial, a watch that took that simplified perpetual calendar and gave a hilarious lesson on the dial on how to read the simplified display. Knowing the Meylans and their sense of humor, I viewed the "Tutorial" with the appropriate amount of "tongue-in-cheek" when it was released, but thought to myself how insulted someone might be if they couldn't understand the design without the help. Well, turns out I forgot and needed help too. I mean where does the month start? Does the month hand jump or move incrementally around the dial? I wasn't so much insulted as ashamed.

As a refresher, don't overthink it. The date jumps at midnight, as does the month hand when necessary. That means the small month indicator will always point to the hour on the dial associated with the month of the year – 1 through 12 or January through December. And while the hand is short relative to the large dial and might leave you guessing "is it January or February?" you'd eventually get used to it.

Powering this elegant design is the 34mm caliber HMC 800, a derivative of the original HMC 341 that was in the watch Ben reviewed eight years ago. The new movement, with 32 Jewels, features all the iterative improvements that H. Moser & Cie has made in those intervening years, increasing reliability and longevity, and reducing assembly time by a third. That focus on assembly and reducing serving downtime has been a core tenant of Moser for some time now, as evidenced by the clever replaceable escapement module that has become one of the brand's calling cards. And while some of the finishing "shortcuts" Ben pointed to back in 2015 remain (interior angles were less of a buzzword then than they are now) like the chamfers on certain parts of bridges, it does somehow feel like the watch has more shine to the finishing that makes it feel a little more attentive.

Unlike a lot of manual wind perpetual calendars, the Moser Endeavor Perpetual Calendar has a lot of bonuses going for it. The simplified display belies the complexities of the fully integrated (not modular) movement inside. 

If you're getting a vintage manual wind perpetual calendar and it doesn't have a leap year indicator, you're in for a rough time if you forget to wind it. But flip the Endeavor over and you've got a wheel that indicates which year in the cycle you're in so you can quickly – in the words of my favorite infomercial icon – "set it and forget it!" And with a double barrel, the watch has a whopping seven-day power reserve so you have leeway to, well, forget it – or at least forget to wind it.

The biggest bonus, however, is pointed out clearly on the "Tutorial" watch: The movement is made to be foolproof. Watchmakers seem to be paying more attention to the user experience (and probably avoiding angry service requests) when it comes to setting and using their watch. Here, there's no hour-long tutorial needed on when you can and cannot set the watch, no danger hours of nine p.m. to three a.m. where you can't set the date or month without completely bricking the movement and incurring a huge service fee. Again, "set it and forget it."

Reading between the lines, tantalum may be the metal of the year for H. Moser & Cie. The brand has also released a 10-piece limited edition of the Endeavor Perpetual Calendar in tantalum with jade dial, but I'd argue that the fumé Grand Feu enamel dial is the perfect pair for the case metal. The darker, almost moody, case is the perfect backdrop for the captivating dial, which can shift from both deep and light blue tones to almost a seafoam green in the center depending on the light. 

The leaf hands also catch the light and shadow in an interesting way as well, bisected from center post to tip while always popping against the gradient of the dial. And the final detail was the metal surround on the large date window, correcting an element I thought was missing from the jade dial.

Everything the Endeavor Perpetual Calendar has going for it on paper could mean a whole lot of nothing if the watch doesn't wear well, but – sorry to the haters – the watch wears great. The glass caseback curves gently at 6:00 and 12:00 and the lugs sit slightly higher on the scalloped midcase so that the watch can better hug your wrist. The matte kudu leather pairs great with the dark tantalum case, which has all the heft you'd expect for a watch in this metal, and the steel clasp engraved with "H. Moser & Cie." is the only place you'll see the name of the maker while wearing the watch. Sure, at 42mm wide and 13.1mm thick, it's not your traditionally sized dress watch, but nothing about Moser is meant to be particularly traditional. 

The only thing maybe more eye-catching than the dial is the price. At CHF 74,000, the watch is a CHF 20,000 premium over the white gold and "funky blue" fumé variant without Grand Feu enamel dial. It's a pretty tough pill to swallow when a brand like anOrdain can do Grand feu enamel for less than 3,000 Swiss Francs. But between the tantalum case and the perpetual calendar caliber inside, this is pretty much an apples-and-oranges comparison. And I guarantee that there's more than one Moser-curious watch fan out there that will take this release as a cue to jump into the deep end with the brand.