Just fondue it
As a country, Switzerland is known for producing watches, cheese and cuckoo clocks. “Swiss made” is a badge that the Alpine country’s manufacturers wear with pride, and this year young, energetic Swiss watchmaker H. Moser & Cie is mashing two of those Swiss staples together in the Swiss Mad watch, made with actual Swiss cheese.
No. We’re not kidding. Actual Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese – made in the same village that H. Moser & Cie head Edouard Meylan is from – is combined with resin and composite itr2 material made with carbon nanotubes to create the watch case. Looking curiously mottled, almost like variegated marble or jade, the idea behind the Swiss Mad actually comes from a serious place: a cheeky protest behind changes to the government’s regulations that meant watchmakers could still bear the ‘Swiss made’ mark while increasing outsourcing to cheaper labour centres.
But besides the dairy-based case, the Swiss Mad maintains the high standards expected of a Swiss watch. It would have to, to justify the price tag of CHF1,081,291 (RM4.76 million) for the single example produced. Even that price is a sly reference, this time the date that the country was founded: 1-Aug-1291. Pricey, but this is a piece for posterity, not profit; proceeds from the sale will go to a fund supporting independent Swiss watchmaking. Powered by the in-house HMC 327 calibre, the Swiss theme hasn’t ended yet – on the rich red fumé dial, the white lacquered double indexes and hands recall the cross of the Swiss flag.
It would be easy to call the Swiss Mad a cheesy idea, but we shall refrain. Instead we applaud the imagination of H. Moser & Cie, and their mischievous way of tackling grave issues. Now all they need to do is throw a cuckoo clock into the mix.
