H. Moser & Cie. adds two limited steel Heritage watches, from $18,300

H. Moser & Cie. has added two limited-edition steel watches to its Heritage collection: the Heritage Chronograph White fumé and the Heritage Centre Seconds Espresso fumé. Each pulls a different chapter from a house founded in 1828, and both are available through the maison's boutiques and authorized dealers.

Heritage is the most understated line in Moser's catalog and the one closest to its history. Its design language comes from the pocket-watch era: round cases, slender tapered lugs from the period when pocket pieces were adapted for the wrist, and a notched crown stamped with an “M.”

The chronograph revives a 1940s instrument

The Heritage Chronograph White fumé takes its cues from Moser chronographs of the mid-20th century, tools made for explorers and adventurers who needed to time a journey. Its white fumé sunburst dial carries the brand's 1947 logo, printed along with the numerals, tachymeter scale and graduations in blue.

The blue print gives the dial an old-fashioned look while making it easier to read. Subdials at 3 and 9 o'clock show the small seconds and a 45-minute chronograph counter, and the sword-shaped hands and hour numerals carry a Super-LumiNova fill for reading in the dark.

Inside the 42 mm steel case, which measures 13.8 mm in thickness, is the automatic HMC 220 Manufacture caliber. A Dubois Dépraz chronograph module is added to it, and the movement runs for at least three days on a full wind.

A grey kudu leather strap with matching grey hand-stitching finishes the piece. Moser limits the chronograph to 100 pieces and prices it at $34,100, the higher of the two tags in this release.

The three-hander goes slimmer

The Heritage Centre Seconds Espresso fumé looks to the early 20th century, when pocket watches were turned into wristwatches by fitting slim lugs. It keeps the 42 mm steel case, rounded profile and notched crown, but at 11.1 mm thick it wears noticeably slimmer.

Its Espresso fumé sunburst dial brings warmth to the classic layout. A white railway minute track runs around the edge, and oversized applied numerals in Globolight give the dial presence. Globolight is a ceramic-based material containing Super-LumiNova, and luminous sword-shaped hands echo it.

A transparent lacquer logo keeps the branding understated. Through the sapphire caseback the automatic HMC 200 caliber is visible, finished with Moser double stripes and fitted with an original Straumann hairspring, which gives a reserve of at least three days.

A brown kudu leather strap with white stitching completes the watch. The Centre Seconds is limited to 200 pieces and costs $18,300, so it has twice the run of the chronograph at a lower price.

The two watches mark distinct moments in one history: the mid-century explorer's chronograph and the converted pocket watch. Both use the fumé dial finishing for which the maison is known, and both share the same case diameter, so the choice comes down to thickness, complications and price.

Within our coverage of watches jewelry, the Heritage line stands apart from Moser's minimalist fumé dress watches. The chronograph's blue-printed tachymeter and 45-minute counter give it a more instrumental feel, closer to the pieces in our guide to the best field watches.

Limited runs are common this season. Arnold & Son recently put stop-seconds into two 18-piece DSTB editions, and Glashütte Original moved its Senator Aventurine into red gold and platinum. Moser's pair is in steel, with production figures of 100 and 200 pieces.

What the maison has not said is how the pieces will be allocated across its boutiques. Availability was left to the official website, the physical boutiques and authorized dealers, with no detail on how the 100 chronographs in particular will be split among regions.