Hy Moser & Cie, an hundred-year-old watchmaking of quality

 

H. Moser & Cie is a watchmaking company founded by Heinrich Moser in Russia during the 19th century.  Becoming Swiss during the early 20th century, it has remained synonymous with quality and precision since its debut.

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Hy Moser & Cie's precision

The rapid expansion of companies founded by Heinrich Moser
The career of Heinrich Moser was completely devoted to his passion: watchmaking. When in 1826 he was denied the dignified post of official watchmaker for his hometown, Schaffhausen in Switzerland along the border of Germany, Heinrich Moser decided to pursue his dream in St. Petersburg.  He left in1828 and founded the company Heinrich Moser & Co., whose main feature was the signature. Each item produced has a hallmark and a Cyrillic or Latin mark.

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Hy Moser & Cie's mark

Heinrich Moser already had a degree of success that led to opening another watch manufacturer in 1829 in Le Locle, Switzerland, a few miles from Neuchâtel.  This second company produced pocket watches mainly for the European and Asian markets.
Finally, in 1831, Heinrich Moser opened a subsidiary in Moscow, and two branches: one in Nizhny Novgorod and the other in Irbit, the two main administrative centers of Russia.

The rise of H. Moser & Co.
The H. Moser & Co Companies prospered, with sales spread throughout the Asian continent, including Japan, China, Persia, Turkestan, Siberia and the Kamchatka Peninsula. Heinrich Moser also maintained trade relations with Paris and 50 different collaborators of various European nationalities, so that in 1845 he dominated the watch trade in Russia.
But Heinrich Moser, both a lover of watches and a businessman thought about working on the quality of the cases. He decided to open in 1853, a

workshop producing watch cases in Schaffhausen, in the form of revenge for the failure that he had there had some 27 years ago.  This workshop also experienced great prosperity and other shops opened a few years later.

The opening of the Hy Moser & Co. watchmakers worldwide
When Heinrich died in 1874, his son Henry did not want to take over. Thus Fanny, Heinrich’s second wife, inherited everything.  She sold the Russian divisions to Johann Winterhalter and the Swiss companies to Paul Girard. Both were former employees of Heinrich.  The names of the companies did not change complying with the founder’s wishes.
In 1917, the October Revolution forced the Russian companies to close.  Winterhalter fled to Switzerland, now the leader of the watch market.  H. Moser & Co maintained production of pocket watches and wristwatches however the Cyrillic signature disappeared. The company, renamed Hy Moser & Cie, held an esteemed reputation worldwide.
Since 2002, the company is again in the hands of the Moser family since Roger Nicholas Balsiger Moser, great grand-son of the founder, joined the Board of Directors.

Thus, after 183 years of existence, the Moser companies are still recognized for both the precision of their watches with lever escapement, and for their special watches, either gold or set with precious stones.
Expertissim.com offers for sale an "officer" type wristwatch lever escapement movement, signed and numbered, produced by the Hy Moser & Cie
workshops, guaranteeing quality for a long time.

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Wristwatch Hy Moser & Co, presented by Expertissim.com

Clémence ENRIQUEZ (étudiante à l'Université Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne)