BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
H. Moser & Cie. is known for making watches from some of the barmiest materials out there, including, but not limited to, a watch with a case covered in live plants and one with a case made from cheese. However, until now, H. Moser & Cie has never made a watch fully from ceramic before. The new Streamliner Tourbillon Concept Ceramic watch changes all of that, but it still has the Moser DNA we’ve all come to both love and expect from the brand.
The new Streamliner Tourbillon Concept Ceramic watch doesn’t pull its punches in the horology department, as we’ll get to in a moment, but it still remains approachable in person thanks to its case that measures 40mm x 12.8mm at the thickest point. With a tapering bracelet keeping the watch snug to the wrist and that lightweight ceramic case, the new Streamliner is sure to be a comfortable wear, and with 120m of water resistance, it’s more of a go-anywhere, do-anything watch than you might imagine, well, for a watch with a mechanical tourbillon movement in it.
Behind that gorgeously simple grande feu enamel dial with the red fumé gradient finish sits the self-winding calibre HMC 805. The calibre features classical finishing for H. Moser & Cie., with classy wave finishing on the plates, plenty of anglage to beautify the edges of the plates and bridges, and a mostly skeletonised winding rotor made of gold. The flying tourbillon is on view through the dial at the 6 o’clock position.
As is usual with Moser, there’s more going on than you might think. The balance wheel within the tourbillon has two hairsprings, rather than one, opposing each other by 180 degrees. Nearly every other watch not made by Moser has just one hairspring. By using two hairsprings that effectively “push” and “pull” the balance wheel in opposition to one another, Moser improves rate stability over time by reducing the impact of minor asymmetries in the spring’s geometry that would otherwise affect it. It’s not twice as accurate as a traditional tourbillon movement with a single hairspring, but Moser believes it creates a measurable gain in long-term consistency.
These hairsprings are made for Moser by its sister company, Precision Engineering AG, enabling greater vertical integration in its supply chain. They’re one of the few brands that make their own hairsprings, not because other brands are lackadaisical, but rather, it’s a very difficult art to do and is often best left to manufacturers that do it for a living, such as Precision Engineering AG. The balance wheel beats at 3Hz for a total of 72 hours.
Given the amount of work that’s gone into the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Concept Ceramic watch, which includes making an entire ceramic bracelet for it (with screws on nearly every link for extra flexibility), the watch isn’t exactly cheap. Sure, USD $112,100 is a lot of money, more than Audemars Piguet’s blue ceramic Royal Oak Double Balancier ref 15416CD, which in 2025 cost $101,100 USD, but at this level of disposable income, what difference is ten grand really? The Moser may not have two balance wheels, but it does have those two hairsprings within its flying tourbillon. Anyone for a game of horological Top Trumps?
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