This $30,800 watch would annoy the hell out of me
Swiss luxury watch maker H. Moser & Cie knows how to rustle some feathers. In 2019, for example, the company launched a mechanical watch that looks like the Apple Watch but has no hands, with the only way to tell the time being listening to the sounds it makes.
Now, the company has a new watch, and it's perhaps even more infuriating than the hands-less one. The new Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade does have hands (phew) and sports a similar Apple Watch-esque aesthetic, but its seconds display — consisting of a shaded disc made up of openings in the dial — resembles Apple's "loading" icon.
That's right, the watch looks like it's permanently loading something.
You May Also Like
As an Apple user, I rank this watch high on my top list of worst nightmares. I loathe the loading icon, which I've come to equate with a feeling of frustration over the years. It's something I never want to see, and yet this watch would place it as a permanent fixture on my wrist.
According to the company CEO Edouard Meylan, "This idea was conceived by a customer and friend of the brand, a true enthusiast and fan of the Swiss Alp Watch collection. He came to visit us with an extremely precise design and we immediately wanted to create this model, perfectly in line with our philosophy, with a touch of humour and a hint of provocation."
The watch, like other watches coming from H. Moser & Cie, isn't just a bad joke — it's a top-notch luxury smartwatch, with a Swiss, HMC 324 hand-wound movement that has a minimum power reserve of 96 hours. The mechanism can partially be observed through the watch's glass back. The watch also has a super-black, Vantablack dial (Vantablack is the darkest man-made material ever made, and captures 99.965 percent of light photons according to the company), and comes with a black alligator leather strap.
The price, as is customary for this brand's watches, is pretty steep: $30,800. I hate to be the one to point it out, but if I wanted to see the loading icon all the time, I could get a very old iPhone for a lot less.
H. Moser & Cie says the Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade is a concept watch that symbolizes the end of the Swiss Alp Watch collection, which will now cease production. We'll let you decide whether that's good or bad.
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
