Now under the ownership of the Meylan family, H. Moser & Cie. has joined the racing grid with a collaboration with Alpine F1. Two limited-edition versions of its Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine have been produced, one in French racing blue (100 pieces) and the other in the Alpine F1 pink of its main sponsor, Best Water Technology (BWT), of which only 20 pieces were made.
The name Alpine harks back to the days in the early 1970s when the A108 and A110 cars would win the Monte-Carlo and World rally titles. It was merged with Renault in 1973, but by 1995 the name had been abandoned. In the first decade of the 21st century Renault was reportedly developing a new Alpine car, which was the followed by the release of the new Alpine A110. In January 2021, Alpine absorbed Renault Sport Cars and Renault Sport Racing.
Alpine has renewed ambition to be competitive and battle for the constructor’s title once again. Just a few weeks ago, it was announced that not only is Flavio Briatore, former boss during the constructor championship years, has returned as Executive Advisor, but the French team has also signed senior engineers from Red Bull and Ferrari in the roles of chief aerodynamicist, head of vehicle performance and deputy chief engineer, to help move them towards the front of the grid.
The Alpine F1 flying the finishing straight at Silverstone, 2024.
It was Renault CEO Luca de Meo, a watch enthusiast, collector, and fan of Moser, who suggested that Alpine Motorsports reach out to discuss a partnership. To some degree, Alpine was already in the Meylan blood, as (CEO of H. Moser & Cie) Eduoard’s father is a vintage A110 collector. An agreement was hastily put in place for the 2024 Formula 1 season and in six weeks, the first collaborative watch, the Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition, was unveiled.
The Streamliner case is ideal for a sports watch connected to motorsport, with its smoothed and tactile shape that melds seamlessly with the wrist. Moser’s credentials in the technology and engineering field are evident with the “vomit comet” tested, GPHG award-winning HMC 811 skeletonised tourbillon movement, that uses its proprietary cylindrical hairspring. It is a beautiful movement with dark anthracite brushed bridges, which stand in stark contrast to the bright satin keyless works and gear train. The dial is a translucent blue domed spinel crystal at 12 that displays the time. The hands are treated with luminous inserts while the pill-shaped dial indices are Super-LumiNova for increased legibility in low light.
From the left, detail of the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition in French racing blue; and Pierre Gasly, the Alpine F1 driver, and Moser brand ambassador, wearing both this model and the Pink Livery version before the Miami Grand Prix.
While the cobranding economics were more a gut feeling than exact numbers when the contract was signed, Edouard Meylan noted that the project is working very well. For a start, the BWT pink version of the Alpine Streamliner Skeleton has already sold out, and Pierre Gasly – the young Alpine F1 driver – is now an H. Moser & Cie. ambassador, wearing a dedicated Streamliner model, with a dial in the same pattern as his helmet. With the enhanced brand awareness and the new press and marketing opportunities, the partnership has already proven to be a success.
Rather than randomly push into sports design and new materials, Moser can now use Alpine F1’s in-depth knowledge to develop new watches. There are strong synergies between the two companies in terms of mentality and belief in testing engineering limits that bleed down technology leading to improvements in the car you drive or the mechanical watch on your wrist. Despite the traditional finish or its watches, Moser has a history of introducing new materials. The kind of thing that NASA and various other technology orientated industries might use, such as Vantablack, or through their technical arm, Precision Engineering AG, developing award winning, technically innovative, movements.
H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition Pink Livery (already sold out).
The workstream over the next three to five years will include the introduction of esoteric and rare materials into Moser watches. At the same time, H. Moser Cie. will be looking at developing a new logo – as the current insignia is not very recognisable on a fast-moving car – and how to optimally integrate the new composites and alloys into traditional horology. There are also plans to design instrumentation for Alpine F1 and road cars, along with a planned Moser edition of the A110. They might only be just off the start grid, but Moser & Cie has joined a rarified group of haute horlogerie manufacturers who work with and mutually learn from an F1 team.
Author: Andrew Hildreth
Opening image: Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition, 100 pieces, in French racing blue (left) and (20 pieces) in BWT pink (right).
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