Greetings.

Every once in awhile you get a chance to own a vintage watch that is truly special, perfect, and original. This one is a showstopper! Certainly, you can find many fake or hacked together pieces on the net with remade dials and cases, often from Ukraine, for significantly less money. But to find one this nice is exceptionally rare. Many of these massive tonneau watches were made in Switzerland for the Russian market circa 1915, and I have seen them connected to the Tsar's imperial court. This is certainly where Franck Muller got his inspiration from. I've seen similar antique examples from Longines, Omega, and Cyma.

H. Moser & Cie can trace its origins back to 1828 when Heinrich Moser, whose family held the office of official watchmaker for the Swiss town of Schaffhausen, began trading watches in St Petersburg. An astute businessman as well as a watchmaker himself, Moser imported quality timepieces for his Russian clientele. It wasn't long before he was at the head of his own brand and had opened a factory in Le Locle. It remained in production until 1979 when it fell victim to the crisis that hit mechanical watchmaking. The Moser brand was revived in 2005 thanks to Dr. Jürgen Lange.

Case:

Excellent+. A small scratch here and there. One scratch noted on the beveled glass crystal. Russian hallmarks.

Dial:

Near perfect deco / nouveau. Inspecting under magnification, the only flaw I can find is a 2mm piece of missing enamel on the 6.

Movement:

Properly signed high grade 15j Moser movement, perfectly functioning, keeping time, completely cleaned and adjusted about 5y ago.

Measures:

52 mm long, by 28mm wide (lugs included, but without the crown)

Strap:

I've included a basic black leather strap.

Enjoy!

I've collected restored and sold antique wrist watches for the past twenty years. May you love your new watch as I have. See my other auctions for other rare and early pieces.