We met Edouard Meylan, owner and CEO of H. Moser & Cie during Dubai Watch Week. Moser’s booth was noticeably busy, the kind of steady flow that suggests loyalty rather than curiosity. It made the conversation feel like a window into a brand whose momentum has been quietly compounding for over a decade.
“2025 has been a great year for Moser,” Meylan said. “It started amazingly well at Watches & Wonders with the Pop collection. It gained a lot of traction, a lot of visibility. People loved the fun aspect.”
Fun is not a word most Swiss manufactures use lightly. But Moser has always been an outlier. Even making fun of the, sometimes, overly Swiss marketing plays.
The Meylan family took over the brand in 2012, at a time when Moser was respected but far from thriving. What followed was not a classic revival, but a recalibration. The brand leaned into minimalism, irreverence and a willingness to question the traditional Swiss playbook. It was not shock value. It was identity.
“We are independent from a shareholding perspective,” Meylan said. “But also in our mindset and the way we create and communicate. Independence is really a culture.”
Minimalism, Color and the Moser Contradiction
Moser’s modern DNA sits between two opposing forces: purity and provocation. Meylan frames it less as a contradiction, more as a natural outcome of how the brand thinks.
“We are minimalistic in design and in function,” he said. “We try to reduce to the essence of any complication. How do we get rid of anything unnecessary? This is really at the core of Moser.”
Then there is the color. The fume dials. The willingness to be monochromatic one year and electric the next.
“We are known for minimalism, yes, and colors, but not always. But it made this combination that is very recognizable. People now recognize a Streamliner. They recognize an Endeavor and a Pioneer. It shows that we made some good choices.”
That recognition was not automatic. It took years of quiet consistency, and a refusal to dress their watches in anything that didn’t feel honest to the brand.
A Golden Era for the Independents
Many brands claim independence. Few embody it. Moser sits among the handful that are both financially independent and creatively autonomous. It is a distinction Meylan takes seriously.
“There is so much innovation today,” he said. “Design-wise, mechanical-wise, functionally. It is a golden era for watchmaking.”
His tone isn’t celebratory. It is observational, as if he is witnessing a shift that he knew was coming long before the rest of the world caught on.
Pierre Gasly and the Precision of Intent
One of Moser’s defining releases this year came from a collaboration with Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly.
“We launched the Pierre Gasly Streamliner rose gold tourbillon in Singapore,” Meylan said. “His design… I love it. The reaction of the market was amazing.”
Gasly’s involvement surprised even him.
“He was very active in the beginning. He defined clearly what he wanted. The mood boards, the references. The first drawing I showed him was the one we worked with.”
Meylan noticed the racing mentality immediately.
“You need to be extremely precise when you talk to your mechanics,” he said. “And he was precise with us. This line, this shade, this color. Easy to work with.”
It is one of the watches that has spent the most time on his wrist this year.
You can read more about the watch in our previous article here.
Meteorite, Gold and Decisions Made in Real Time
Another standout release, the Streamliner Perpetual Moon with a gold-toned meteorite dial, came together faster than anyone expected.
“We made a gray dial, natural meteorite, and I said, ‘It doesn’t work.’ So we changed everything within three weeks. I love the result.”
Meylan is not dramatic in the telling. The story is emblematic of how Moser operates: small team, short lines of communication, decisions guided by instinct rather than committees.
Movement Craft and the Evolution of Finishing
While Moser is often associated with design, Meylan insists the mechanics remain the spine.
“We master movements. We develop all our movements. We even make the hairsprings,” he said. “Finishing has evolved. We moved toward something more modern, darker finishing, anthracite, rose gold. Not easy, but the right decision.”
This shift mirrors the broader independent rise. Risk-taking is rarely cosmetic. It is structural.
“It is important to always be curious,” he said. “To see what others are doing. To evolve. To show more of the gearing, more skeletonized. The perceived value is very different.”
Looking Ahead: The Five- and Ten-Year Horizon
Meylan approaches the future with the confidence of someone who has seen the brand move from survival to strength.
“We are a little above four thousand watches today,” he said. “We might reach five thousand within three years. Not much more until our new manufacture is ready.”
The longer-term path is clearer than ever.
“We are working on things now for three or four years that we will launch in 2028. I never thought ten years ago that we would have the possibility to do that. Back then we thought twelve months ahead. Now we can think ten years ahead.”
What This Era Will Mean
Asked what he hopes collectors will one day say about this period, his answer was immediate.
“I hope they see it as the start of the golden years of independent brands. More creativity, more support, more recognition of the work behind each piece.”
Support fuels ambition. Ambition fuels evolution.
“If we can do fifty to seventy percent of what we plan for 2026,” Meylan said, “it will be an amazing year.”
And with the way the brand’s trajectory is compounding, that feels less like ambition and more like projection.
Read more stories from Dubai Watch Week here.
