Pioneer Centre Seconds Swiss Mad Red: A hot summer watch from H. Moser & Cie

H. Moser & Cie, the indie brand from Schaffhausen, has introduced the sporty Pioneer Centre Seconds watch with a striking red vignette dial. The watch is called the Pioneer Centre Seconds Swiss Mad Red and its name is a hat-tip to a protest watch the brand produced in 2017.

Those familiar with that protest watch will find this red vignette dial familiar. Back in 2017, in a satirical move to throw shade at how loosely the norms for “Swiss-Made” watches were regulated, Moser created a watch with a case that was made entirely of Swiss cheese.

Yes, Swiss cheese – a Vacherin Mont d’Or médaille d’or – was mixed with a composite material, machined and polished to create a unique case. The ‘Swiss Mad watch’ was paired with a strap made from Swiss cowhide and sported a striking red fumé dial and doubled indices at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, subtly reminiscent of the Swiss flag.

The Pioneer Centre Seconds was introduced in 2019 as a watch that was fit for everyday wear. The 42.8 mm wide stainless steel case with a curved sapphire crystal over the red fumé dial. The case is water-resistant to 120 meters and is 10.6 mm thick and sports those distinct lugs.

The watch runs Caliber HMC 200, visible through another sapphire window in the back. It bears the style codes of Moser movements, including the emblematic double stripes on the bridges and mainplate. An engraved bidirectional rotor transfers energy to the barrel through a pawl winding system, reducing the amount of time required to wind the movement up to its full three days’ worth of power reserve. The Pioneer Centre Seconds comes on a sporty, perforated black rubber strap with a pin buckle, and retails for CHF12,900.