I have been asked a few times to post a review of my “Moser Pioneer Rotating Bezel Funky Blue”. A silly name but the watch apparently was never meant for commercialised production. Let's just call it the sports watch.
The origins of the watch are somewhat hard to believe, Moser themselves said they left some prototypes to show retailers on a tray at SIHH 2019. The problem was, somebody left this one on the wrong tray and the sales team ended up taking 50 orders. Moser decided to honour the 50 orders but the watch was never announced to the press and no more will ever be made.
Let’s look at the watch itself, 42.8mm case in steel with a satin finish and ‘ghost bezel’. The case is 12mm thick and is 120m water resistant. So more a desk diver than an actual diver but 120m is plenty for swimming and normal sporting activities. For me, anything around 42mm-44mm is perfect for this style of watch. In typical Moser fashion the case sides are beautifully sculptured.
Moser are renowned for their amazing dials and this one is no exception; this watch houses their ‘funky blue’ dial and it absolutely pops!
This is the first Moser to come on a bracelet, 22mm at the lugs tapering to 19mm at the clasp. The fit of the bracelet is extremely good with no gaps.
For me, my favourite part of the bracelet is the ‘on the fly’ adjustment mechanism. A simple push on the button built into the minimalist clasp gives up to 8 micro adjustments. Perfect for those days when your wrist gets hot and cold.
The watch is powered by the in house HM200 automatic movement which is very nicely finished giving 3 days power reserve and can be seen through the display back.
These were sold around the £13k mark, so is it a £13k watch? I’ve thought long and hard about this and I think the answer is probably yes. You have exclusivity of being just one of fifty watches in the world, you have the high end fit and finish associated with the Moser brand and a decent in house movement. It will be marmite to some and that’s fine, that is what makes this hobby so interesting.
I’ve been asked is it a keeper? … my 10 years on TZ has proven there is no such thing!