H. Moser is a Swiss watch manufacturer with a deeply strange sense of humor.
In 2015, when the Apple Watch was launched, Moser launched the “Endeavor Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue”, a traditional fully mechanical automatic watch – which was promoted with a cheeky video mocking the very idea of smartwatches, including several flexible cables from the ergonomics of the old school wristwatch. (“CLEAN INTERFACE”, the video boasted: “No finger zoom to check the date”). It was sold for about $ 60,000 when released.
Moser continued to produce watches that mock the Apple Watch, including this new one: the “Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade”. It has a Vantablack-coated dial and a rotating mechanism that mimics the appearance of an Apple “charging” animation.
As they describe on their website:
The final edition of the paradoxical, satirical and whimsical Swiss Alp Watch by H. Moser & Cie., A watch that mimics the appearance of a “smart watch” with the tried and tested ingenuity of a traditional mechanical movement. The final update of the Swiss Alp Watch is manufactured in a DLC steel case and paired with a Vantablack® dial. Instead of a second hand, a running indicator that resembles the “charging” symbol rotates continuously at 6 o’clock.
Technically speaking, the joke is impressive. It is not easy to replicate that digital animation with purely analog means, and this turns the entire clock into an intriguing illusion. From a distance, it looks eerily like an ordinary computerized Apple Watch that simply displays a pair of digitized hands. But if you look at the underside, you will see that the insides of the mechanical watch are churning.
But man I can’t imagine spending $ 30,800 on what is, as Verge says, an Apple “next level” troll. Perhaps there are people out there with money to burn, for whom this kind of thing is intended?