The New H. Moser & Cie. x Alpine Watch Has an Exposed Engine Powered by a Cylindrical Tourbillon Regulator

Motorsports and timepieces are a match made in heaven, marrying the realm of high-speed racing with the world of precision watchmaking. The collaborations between the two domains are motivated by the common goals of performance, precision, innovation, and luxury. They not only result in creation of special-edition timepieces, but they also strengthen brand identities. H. Moser & Cie. and Alpine have teamed up for the first time to create a one-of-a-kind collab piece. The result: the Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition (Ref. 6811-1200), a 100-piece souped-up skeletonised model that shares the collaborators’ love for high-performance mechanics.

The BWT Alpine F1 Team, led by Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, finished fourth in the 2022 Constructors' Championship as it strives to reach the summit of Formula One. Alpine is a French-style sports vehicle brand founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé and is led by CEO Philippe Krief. The Alpine Business Unit was established in 2021 as the Renault Group's brand dedicated to innovative, authentic, and exclusive sports cars, leveraging the heritage and craftsmanship of its historic Dieppe plant as well as engineering expertise from BWT Alpine F1 Team, Alpine Racing, and Alpine Cars.

The cushion-shaped, stainless steel Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition has a diameter of 42.3 mm and a thickness of 14 mm, if we include the sapphire crystal. With water resistance of 120 metres, the watch sports diamond bevelling; the small aerodynamic hollow runs down the side of the case. The dial features openworked main plate bridges, finished in anthracite, that reveal the skeletonised HMC 811 manufacturing calibre, which can be viewed through the caseback as well.

The sculptural one-minute flying tourbillon, with its cylindrical hairspring, sits at 6 o’clock. The skeletonised bridge is bevelled and polished by hand. With two Breguet overcoils, the friction on the pivots is minimised, thus improving isochronism. Cylindrical hairsprings are shaped by hand and take 10 times longer to manufacture, compared with regular hairsprings. Fortunately, Moser can rely on its sister company Precision Engineering AG (PEAG) to create the cylindrical hairspring, which combines a historic feature of vintage maritime chronometers with an ultra-modern skeletonised watch. PEAG became an independent firm in 2012 and joined the Moser Watch Holding group.

The hour and minutes are shown on a translucent, small, domed dial at 12 o'clock; its blue colour represents the Moser x Alpine partnership. The see-through blue subdial, made of difficult-to-machine synthetic spinel, provides great readability, thanks to Super-LumiNova®-coated hour markers and Globolight® inserts on the hour and minute hands. Both the polished caseback and the openworked gold rotor have Moser's name, while the dial side is unbranded; the crown at 3 o’clock bears the ‘M’ logo. The brand's HMC 811 skeletonised calibre powers the movement, which beats at 21,600 vibrations per hour and has a minimum power reserve of 74 hours. It also features a bidirectional pawl winding mechanism. The watch is completed on a blue rubber strap that has ‘Moser’ engraved on it and a steel folding clasp.