BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Ever looked at the Pioneer Centre Seconds from H. Moser & Cie and thought “yeah, I like it, but it’s just not for me, it’s not masculine enough”? I have, in fact, that’s pretty much what I thought word for word, or thought for thought in this case. Now, one could argue that what Moser did for this unique collaboration with Collective Horology is make the Pioneer Centre Seconds look like any other sports watch with a bezel on the market. I think this is incorrect.
Fundamentally, the watch looks excellent. It has clearly adapted well to the bi-directional bezel it has received. The Pioneer Centre Seconds was quite chunky around the lug area but still seemed approachable, and this one does too. I particularly like the sides of the case, which have been decorated with vertical lines to evoke the grille of a car. The steel case remains, it comes in with a diameter of 42.8mm x 10.6mm, and it has a wide and chunky stainless steel bracelet. There’s also a Kudu leather strap. Kudu is a type of Antelope found in Africa.
Alongside the addition of a bezel, the dial is the watch’s other eye-catching affair. The dial colour is called “Collective Green” because Collective Horology worked with H. Moser & Cie to design it, so of course, it’s called Collective Green. As is typical with Moser watches, the colour fades out towards the edges of the dial. But in the centre is a pattern called Griffes, which Moser used on the Streamliner, their integrated bracelet sports watch. This isn’t something I can describe well as I have yet to see one in the metal. I like the application of lume here. It’s on the inner flange ring, the markers and the hands. I particularly like the way it cantilevers on the hands.
The calibre HMC 200 inside the watch has been made in-house by H. Moser & Cie. Designed and built in the company’s facility in Schaffhausen, except for the balance assembly which was designed by Moser’s sister company Precision Engineering AG. The movement beats at 3Hz and can run for a total of 72 hours, and it’s also automatically wound. The movement is on view through the caseback, and also under the rotor as most of the rotor body has been cut away.
The watch isn’t a diving watch, although the 120m water resistance does fall within the ISO 6425 minimum requirement, the bezel is incorrect, though. That leads me to suspect that we may see this shape again in the future.
To get one of these you need to be a member of Collective Horology, but it doesn’t matter if you are a founding member or you just joined to buy the watch. The price for one of these sits at $15,900, and there is no price discrepancy as the watch has both the strap and the bracelet in the box.
Visit Collective Horology here.
