Did a Niche Swiss Brand Just Invent the Sport Watch of the Future?

Watchmaking and motorsport have enjoyed a close relationship for as long as there have been races to time. In fact, the horological world was committed to sorting the winners from the also-rans back when horsepower actually meant something on four legs. The mechanical watch reached peak pit-lane relevance in the 1960s and ’70s, as Swiss firms developed increasingly sophisticated timing setups, but it was soon supplanted by digital technology. Today, luxury brands are mostly sidelined as a marketing opportunity in top-level motorsport. However, through its partnership with the Alpine Formula 1 team, the independent watchmaker H. Moser & Cie. is rethinking the role wristwatches can play in the sport.

The result is possibly the most practical watch a Swiss brand has supplied to the sport since the days of Jack Heuer. The new Streamliner Alpine “Mechanic’s Edition” combines elements of quartz-powered timepieces and smartwatches to create a watch synced to the team’s schedule, keeping everyone on track through a series of notifications and countdowns on race day. In a conversation ahead of Wednesday’s release, Edouard Meylan, H. Moser & Cie.’s CEO, says he was initially resistant to making a smartwatch but eventually saw a way in for the brand. “They need to keep track of timings when they’re working, so we started brainstorming,” Meylan says. “We said we don’t want to create a connected watch per se, but maybe we can create a Formula One watch.”

The Mechanic’s Edition arrives as part of a pair of new releases, both limited to just 200. Normally, the “Driver’s Edition” would be strong enough to stand on its own as a talking point. The new piece features a high-end automatic flyback chronograph made by independent specialist supplier Agenhor (in which H. Moser has a minority stake) and is available for the first time with a skeletonized dial and a brilliant metallic blue PVD steel case. However, the Mechanic’s Edition, a quartz-powered smartwatch with a host of bespoke functions and a hybrid analog-digital display, will steal headlines. Luxury watchmakers, especially high-end independent brands like H. Moser, very rarely deal in quartz and never venture into smartwatch territory.

The Streamliner Alpine F1 Mechanic’s Edition was developed in conjunction with Swiss smartwatch specialists Sequent, and features a “hidden” digital display below an analog hours-and-minutes dial that mimics other existing Moser designs. “I wanted people to be a little bit confused,” says Meylan, who intended to reference the brand’s work with VantaBlack dials in recent years. “It was important that it looks like a Moser watch, but has this element of surprise when the dial flicks on.”