Andrew Morgan reviews the Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel

Moser Chronicles—Watches—Streamliner— Andrew Morgan reviews the Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel

14 二月 2024

Andrew Morgan reviews the Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel

You’re here because you’re wondering if the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel is worth a look. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Andrew Morgan, aka ‘The Talking Hands’ and creator of the AMW YouTube channel, is here to tell you everything you need to know about it.

The Streamliner collection was introduced in 2020 because who even were you if you didn’t have a watch whose bracelet blended into the case? As the name suggests, its smooth lines and fluid curves were inspired by the Art Deco-era of aerodynamic intent — and also a snake-wearing armour.

Unlike those stunning yet often impractical Art Deco designs, the Streamliner has been a rich playground for remarkable technical achievements, including the flyback chronograph, perpetual calendar, double hairspring tourbillon, and a minute repeater starring a charming disc-jockeying panda.

The Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel, which I will refer to as ‘Streamy Blue’ from now on, is the smallest member of the Streamliner collection. And as you’ll soon discover, it’s a timepiece that’s far from ordinary.

The design:
thalassophobia on
command

We’re already familiar with the Art Deco-inspired Streamliner case, but for the Streamy Blue, it’s been lightly re-profiled to make the smaller case wear bigger. Now, that sounds like exactly the opposite of what you’d want. But its 39mm steel case makes this watch the slimmest and most compact Streamliner of them all. It’s all about the blend. How case blends into bracelet. How brushed steel blends into polished. How curves blend into lines. Its sleek angles offer a unique and gratifying tactile experience, enhancing the watch’s overall appeal.

Take the bracelet, for example. Link by link, it appears simple in photos, but in person you’ll see that the curves meander across several planes. That gives it a sheen and a shimmer that does the opposite of what you expect it to. This captivating optical illusion on the watch is enough to keep you entertained in your downtime.

A thickness of just 10.9mm is achieved with the calibre HMC 500, a micro-rotor movement that takes advantage of the density of platinum, to keep the watch wound. Usually sporty watches host movements that belong behind a solid caseback, but for the HMC 500, there’s a whole lot worth ogling over.

As well as the micro-rotor, there’s a skeletonised portion that reveals the going train taking power to the mainspring where it’s stored, all the way down to the escapement. But where the party’s at is on the front, which answers the question, ‘What’s it like to have thalassophobia on command?’

With a textured enamel fumé dial in a deep aqua blue, not only is it reminiscent of those terrifying marine sinkholes that make my skin go cold, it also packs in enough technical achievement to rival a Formula 1 team.

The techniques:
nothing short
of mesmerising

The textured fumé enamel dial is incredibly challenging (but rewarding) to create. Let’s break the intricate process down. First, take a white gold plate, which will serve as your base. Then blast it until the surface is uneven, like freshly laid snow, or tarmac. Then, if you have somehow made it through this part, without ruining a very expensive piece of metal, add the enamelling. Well steady on there, because you can’t just go and add it all at once! The glass powder gets applied a little at a time, fired in an oven hotter than Hades over and over again until it’s done, or until it breaks. (And they do break in the oven. A lot.) Every time the dial is fired, there’s a high chance that it will crack. The survivors are few and far between and make up the watches you see before you today.

But wait. There’s a bonus super-hard level here. This is the soufflé of dial-making, because not only is the Streamy Blue’s dial enamel, but fumé as well. Where traditional fumé dials receive a feathered coating that blends from the inner lighter colour to the outer darker one, with enamel, that gradient has to be achieved manually.

So the glass powder is laid out from light to dark on the dial very painstakingly, and then fired. Imagine going through all that just to see it crack on the last firing. Because of this incredibly intricate and laborious process, no two dials are exactly the same.

The end result, set with the Streamliner’s distinct handset and matching oversized small-seconds, is nothing short of mesmerising. The translucency of the enamel provides depth, the gradient fumé provides dimension and the harrowing manufacturing process provides traumatic flashbacks for the craftspeople.

The specs: an art piece you can wear in anger

This all sounds quite lovely I’m sure, but if this art piece can only be worn in a humidity-controlled room with absolutely nothing said above a whisper, it’s not all that useful. Except, with this being a Streamliner, it can indeed be worn in anger. It’s got 120m of water resistance and will run without a wind for 74 hours, so you can enjoy a leisurely weekend without interruption, and it will be ready to wear come Monday morning.

The verdict

The Streamy Blue may indeed be the Streamliner’s smallest entry, but H. Moser & Cie. has still found a way to pack it full of watchmaking goodness. From the beguiling calibre HMC 500 to the striking textured fumé enamel dial, the Streamy Blue is no less distressing for the watchmakers than any other Streamliner. And really, it begs the question: why wear something boring when you could be wearing this instead?

Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel

A new expression of sporty-chic with an emphasis on craftsmanship and proportions. The H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Small Seconds features a translucent Aqua Blue fumé Grand Feu enamel dial, housed in a new slim 39mm steel case with integrated bracelet. Equipped with the contemporarily finished HMC 500 automatic micro-rotor manufacture movement.

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