H. Moser & Cie. Reveals the New Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel Watch

Grand feu enamelling refers to a traditional and highly respected technique that is used to create durable dials. The term "grand feu" means "great fire" in French, highlighting the high-temperature process involved. Essentially, finely ground enamel powder (usually made from silica, red lead, and soda) is applied to a metal substrate, often copper or gold. The enamel is applied in multiple layers, each one requiring precise application and firing. The high heat fuses the enamel to the metal, creating a smooth, glass-like surface. This enamelling technique is on full display on the just-launched Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel (Ref. 6905-1200) watch from H. Moser & Cie. The movement of the hammers and tourbillon animates the grand feu dial of the watch, limited to 50 pieces, while the chimes ring out the time, as needed.

Before we examine the watch in detail, let's look at how a minute repeater functions. A minute repeater is a type of complication found in mechanical watches. It is one of the most complex and admired features in horology, allowing a watch to chime the time on demand, usually with a button or a slider on the side of the case. A minute repeater chimes the hours first, usually with a low-pitched sound. After the hours, it chimes the quarters (15-minute intervals) with a combination of high- and low-pitched sounds. For example, two chimes would indicate 30 minutes past the hour. Finally, it chimes the minutes past the last quarter with a high-pitched sound for each minute.

The new 42.3 mm watch gets a cushion-shaped stainless steel case, lugs and a crown at 3 o’clock. The case middle has been widened to the maximum in order to accommodate the movement, while allowing enough space to create a sound box and amplify the chiming of the hours, quarters, and minutes. The mirror-polished hammers in the top left quadrant strike the minute repeater's two gongs that are raised based on information provided by different feeler-spindles, revealing the dial's intricacies. The one-minute flying tourbillon that rotates in the aperture at 6 o'clock has a skeletonised bridge. 

As a Moser Concept watch, there is nothing extraneous on the dial to distract the wearers from the hands that have Globolight® inserts for better legibility and the curved minute hand. The three-dimensional hands are formed of two sections. The left side of the case has a sliding bolt with a runner made from Teflon to activate the minute repeater complication.

The watch features a grand feu enamel dial in Aqua Blue with a hammered texture. In keeping with the brand's distinctive fumé dials, the enamel has a fumé or gradient look, with the brighter middle portion progressively developing into a darker, more saturated section on the rim. This look is achieved by applying four different colour pigments to the gold hammered base. Each pigment is added individually, allowing the hues to oxidise and fuse in the furnace. Each dial must be burned 12 times to achieve the stunning translucency associated with grand feu enamel. 

Powering this timepiece is the hand-wound HMC 905 calibre, a new movement that guarantees a power reserve of 90 hours. This movement features an anthracite grey finish and certain parts are skeletonised. Turning the watch over showcases the see-through sapphire crystal caseback. There are double Moser stripes on the plate and bridges. Finishing the watch is an integrated steel bracelet with a folding clasp with three steel blades, engraved with the Moser logo. Half links are also available.