H. Moser & Cie sends up Apple Watch with $30,800 mechanical clone
Swiss watchmaker H. Moser & Cie has debuted a $30,800 followup to its original Apple Watch clone, dubbed the Swiss Alp Watch "Final Upgrade."
Credit: H. Moser & Cie
Like the original, the new Swiss Alp Watch is a mechanical timepiece crafted in a way to mimic -- and satirize -- Apple's digital smartwatch. It features a similar rectangular design, curved edges, and a crown on the side. The Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade does, however, feature a few new touches.
Under the hood, the Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade is fully mechanical and features the watchmaker's own hand-wound Calibre HMC 324 with a 96-hour power reserve. Its case is DLC-treated stainless steel.
To mimic the OLED display of an Apple Watch, the watchmaker has coated the dial in Vantablack -- the darkest artificial substance ever made that absorbs up to 99.6% of visible light. There's also a seconds display that apes the watchOS and iOS loading symbol but is fully mechanical. H. Moser & Cie used a series of apertures with a small seconds disc painted in a white gradient to achieve the look.
Credit: H. Moser & Cie
As with the original Swiss Alp Watch, the Final Upgrade is meant to poke fun at Apple and smartwatches.
"No updates required, no lousy autonomy, no unnecessary features, no annoying notifications, just the only reminder you ever really need: To disconnect from all the noise and cherish each and every moment," the watchmaker's description reads.
Credit: H. Moser & Cie
H. Moser & Cie Swiss says that only 50 pieces will be produced, and each will be priced at $30,800.
Credit: H. Moser & Cie
Like the original, the new Swiss Alp Watch is a mechanical timepiece crafted in a way to mimic -- and satirize -- Apple's digital smartwatch. It features a similar rectangular design, curved edges, and a crown on the side. The Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade does, however, feature a few new touches.
Under the hood, the Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade is fully mechanical and features the watchmaker's own hand-wound Calibre HMC 324 with a 96-hour power reserve. Its case is DLC-treated stainless steel.
To mimic the OLED display of an Apple Watch, the watchmaker has coated the dial in Vantablack -- the darkest artificial substance ever made that absorbs up to 99.6% of visible light. There's also a seconds display that apes the watchOS and iOS loading symbol but is fully mechanical. H. Moser & Cie used a series of apertures with a small seconds disc painted in a white gradient to achieve the look.
Credit: H. Moser & Cie
As with the original Swiss Alp Watch, the Final Upgrade is meant to poke fun at Apple and smartwatches.
"No updates required, no lousy autonomy, no unnecessary features, no annoying notifications, just the only reminder you ever really need: To disconnect from all the noise and cherish each and every moment," the watchmaker's description reads.
Credit: H. Moser & Cie
H. Moser & Cie Swiss says that only 50 pieces will be produced, and each will be priced at $30,800.
Comments
edit: oh wait, this is not screen just pure mechanical?
As a protest, the company produced a $1million watch made from Swiss cheese.
Moser is one of the relatively few Swiss watch manufacturers to design and make its own mechanical movements in-house. They only produce about 1500 watches a year, which explains the price. Beautiful stuff.
And you can't afford either, so why get worked up about it.
Fine mechanical watches will still be made when you just dust in the dirt, and not even a memory to anyone. That pleases me on several levels.
Kingsman Rose Gold – 100
Kingsman Stainless Steel – 500
Kingsman DLC – 500
Those low numbers kept the prices fairly high, but even the Rose Gold Kingsman was a little less expensive than the "Final Upgrade".