Swiss watchmaker H. Moser returned with another sassy version of the iconic Apple Watch design with the Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade. It’s a $ 30,800 Vantablack creation that mocks not just Apple’s design, but the loading wheel found on Apple’s macOS, iOS and watchOS products, via Hodinkee.
“No updates needed, no bad autonomy, no unnecessary features, no annoying notifications, just the only reminder you really need: disconnect from all the noise and enjoy every moment,” says Moser.
Moser has been making his Alp Watch series of Apple Watch-style watches for years, returning to the original model (which was launched a few months after Apple’s original smartwatch). The company is known for its bold design choices in the watchmaking world: at one point, it created a watch made from real Swiss cheese in protest of watchmaking standards, for example.
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Image: H. Moser
Since 2016, Moser has launched several variants on his Alp Watch in a variety of colors and materials. But the final upgrade model for the Swiss Alp Watch (as the name implies) is apparently the last time the company will mock Cupertino’s people.
The final upgrade model may be the most fun of all pastiches, however, with a Vantablack face (which absorbs 99.965 percent of visible light) that promises to be an even darker black than even the “real black” panels Apple OLED. The hands of the clock are also black; they just don’t look like it in comparison.
But the smartest aspect is the “charging wheel” at the 6 o’clock position that mimics Apple’s startup indicator. The wheel is actually a fully functional second-hand mechanical indicator. It consists of cutouts on the Vantablack face, behind which the second-hand rotating gradient wheel creates the loading effect.
Despite all the lightness, however, the Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade is a serious piece of hardware: Moser is still a top-notch watchmaker, and the hand-wound HMC 324 Manufacture movement is an incredible piece of machinery.
The final update of the H. Moser Swiss Alp watch is a limited edition model, with only 50 pieces planned – What if you can pay the price of $ 30,800.