DEPLOYANT - Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles - Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
Acquired by MELB, H. Moser was maker of one of the watch industry’s most innovative perpetual calendars. Launched in 2006, the Perpetual 1, H. Moser’s interpretation of the perpetual calendar, took the form of a highly elegant, easy-to-read and easy-to-use timepiece bringing the company much critical and commercial acclaim. By 2013, the marque was a critical celebrated if commercially floundering company with deep financial issues, that was until MELB Holding owned by Georges-Henri Meylan, former Audemars Piguet CEO, swooped in and rescued to the beleaguered watchmaker. By April of that same year, Edouard, son of Georges-Henri was appointed CEO and tasked with the enviable if challenging task of turning the watchmaker around- A tall order for a company built on the industry’s premise of traditional crafts (and the accompanying inefficiencies attached to labour intensive enterprises) and immense inertia from centuries of history.
Can one run a commercial enterprise without being entirely commercial? Deployant interviews Edouard Meylan, CEO of H. Moser & Cie, maker of the recently launched Swiss Alps Watch, to clear some of the nagging doubts harboured by many watch collectors.
Edouard Meylan, CEO of H. Moser holding the famed Perpetual 1 and the ironically provocative statement piece – Swiss Alps Watch S. The “S” stands for sexy.
An Interview with Edouard Meylan, CEO, H. Moser
You took leadership of H. Moser in 2013. It was a respectable but financially troubled brand. Under your management, what has changed?
It’s still respectable brand and we have no financial issues today. It was important to retain the essence of the brand but also create one with its own positioning in order to distinguish ourselves from other established brands who are also positioned as classic and traditional.
What followed was re-engineering to improve quality and reliability appropriate to the price points of our watches. The entire team worked on 8 calibres, some were not produced anymore, others we re-designed to improve the quality while reducing time needed for assembly and servicing. A a small brand, H. Moser has found its own voice and segment by producing classic watches with an aesthetic that is dynamic and fresh. Our brand communication “Very Rare” follows accordingly.
Whether it’s the open letter to the Swiss National Bank or the idea of the Swiss Alps watch, you have been very on-point in generating the kind of publicity that other independent firms can only dream of, what’s your secret?
Be lucky; The letter gave us confidence that we can be creative, punch above our weight and not be fearful that we were small. It was our revelation in 2015 and since then we have nurtured the idea of how we could work on topics beyond new watch launches. H. Moser goes beyond simply making watches but also providing commentary about industry subjects and news. With the Swiss Alps Watch, we expressed a counter-point to the Apple Watch and got tremendous PR value. Being a family business also means freedom from political correctness and to break some rules.
Deployant Executive Editor Jonathan Ho with the positively sublime Perpetual 1 timepiece from H. Moser.
Speaking about punching above your weight, even back then, [...]
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