Brand: H. Moser & Cie
Item Number: 4195
Description: 18k white gold 41.5mm round case. black alligator strap with tang clasp. fixed 18k white gold bezel. white lacquered dial with roman numeral hour markers. date at 3 o'clock position. small seconds at 6 o'clock position. hours, minutes. sapphire crystal. transparent caseback. h. moser & cie hmc 100 manual wind movement. 7 days of power reserve. h. moser & cie box and papers and 2 year warranty.
Condition: Unworn in mint condition with no signs of wear.
Shipping: Free shipping on all orders. Two-day delivery anywhere in the United States for all purchases over two thousand dollars and ground delivery for all other orders.
Directions: This is an antique watch. Different antique watches use different mechanisms to wind and/or set the time. If you are not familiar with these, or it is unclear to you how to wind or set the time on your particular watch please contact us for specific instructions prior to attempting wind the watch or set the time to prevent damaging the watch.
Servicing: This original movement of this beautiful wristwatch has been beautifully preserved, astoundingly so considering the age of the piece. The mechanism has been recently serviced to ensure it winds and sets smoothly while keeping accurate time.
Protecting and Caring For Your Watch: All antique watches are mechanical, and as such should be treated with extra care. You should be careful not to expose an antique watch to the wear and tear. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear it often, or even every day. The best thing for something that is mechanical is to be used regularly. It does mean extra care should be taken not to drop it or expose it to water.
Antique watches are generally not waterproof as this technology was not in general use until the mid-20th century. You should therefore protect your antique watch from exposure to moisture.
If your watch becomes wet it should be dried as quickly as possible. This should be done using a hair dryer, opening all covers and gently blow drying the movement, dial, covers, and crown. This will eliminate or at least reduce the build up of any rust. Be careful not to turn the speed of the hairdryer up too high or hold it too close to the watch. A strong hair dryer held too close to a watch could blow a hand off the watch.
If your watch becomes exposed to salt water you should immediately spray your watch with purified water to remove all salt before drying the watch. If salt is left inside the watch it will combine with moisture in the air over time and begin to rust metal the components of the movement and other parts of the watch.
Winding any mechanical watch too tightly may break the mainspring, so be mindful of when you begin to feel resistance as you are winding your watch. Avoid winding the watch with force or aggressively.
When you are adjusting the hands of your watch, move them in a clockwise direction only. It is possible that counter-clockwise adjustments may damage the movement. If you do decide to make counter-clockwise adjustments make them for minutes, not hours.
We recommend that every two to three years you have your watch serviced, primarily to oil the mechanisms within the movement.
If for any reason dust or dirt makes its way into the watch, allow the watch to run down completely. Don’t wind the watch again before having it serviced by a qualified watch repair expert. Dust will absorb and remove the most important lubricants and cause the movement components to wear down.
If a need arises to clean the case, dial, crystal, etc., we advise you use a cloth that does not leave fibers as these may get caught and left behind in the movement.
Keep your antiques watch away from magnets. Strong magnetic fields may affect the accuracy of your watch since some vintage watches were made including iron-based components
Antique watches typically keep time accurately within about five minutes per day. If you experienced a various significantly greater than that, please contact us (or a watch professional for diagnosis). We see this very, very rarely with our watches, but should it occur it is not cause to be alarmed.
If you are flying a high-altitudes regularly with your antique watch you may wish to have it oiled more than every two to three years. The extreme temperature changes that accompany high altitudes can cause the oil viscosity to decrease more rapidly than usual.
The Story: Henry Moser was born Johann Heinrich Moser and grew up in Schaffhausen in the traditions and experience of a watchmaking dynasty that had become established over the generations. Son and grandson of watchmakers he learned the traditional watchmaker’s craft from his father, Erhard Moser and from his grandfather Johannes Moser.
In 1824, he left Schaffhouse to set up in Locle where he perfected his knowledge in the presence of the greatest watchmakers of the time. Two years later, he tried to return and set up business in his home town, but the Municipal Council rejected his request to be given the honorary post of watchmaker to the town in favour of someone else.
Heinrich Moser & Co. came into being in 1828 and in 1829, Johann Heinrich Moser founded his watchmaking business in Locle to manufacture pocket watches.
As an ambitious and visionary watchmaker, Johann Heinrich Moser decided to set up in business in Russia. Tsarist Russia at the time was regarded as an excellent labour and sales market and as a sound trading base for watches.
After several employed positions as a watchmaker, he founded his own company in St. Petersburg at the end of 1828. This marked the hour of inception of the greatly successful brand, Hy Moser & Cie. Alongside precision watches and watches designed as pieces of jewellery, Johann Heinrich Moser also offered a range of simple watches.
As he built up his trading network, he came to realize that a successful wholesaler should also be a manufacturer. Johann Heinrich Moser accordingly established a watch factory in Le Locle in 1829, which produced watches exclusively for his businesses. This allowed him to guarantee the high quality of his products. Eventually, he was made an honorary citizen of Le Locle in acknowledgement of his services to the town in the Swiss Jura.
Johann Heinrich Moser’s constant quest for quality was crowned by success. In 1831, he opened a subsidiary in Moscow, and became supplier to the Tsars, the Royal Families, the Imperial Court and the Russian Army.
Within just a few years, he was selling watches to Persia, China, Japan and Turkestan. Johann Heinrich Moser also developed sales of his watches in Siberia and Kamchatka as well as New York and Paris, where his brother Georg Moser was working as a watchmaker. Only 15 years after starting his company, Johann Heinrich Moser was the undisputed market leader in the Russian watch trade. In 1845, the Johann Heinrich Moser companies in Russia employed around fifty people.
Having become a prosperous watchmaker, Johann Heinrich Moser decided to return and settle definitively in his home town of Schaffhouse at the end of 1848 where he had the Charlottenfels castle built. He became one of the key figures in the town, participating actively in its development.
Every Watch Has a StoryTM is in no way affiliated with H. Moser & Cie and does not claim to be. We simply love their products and make them available to our customers who enjoy surrounding themselves with the best of the best.
