Heinrich Moser, craftsman of his region's development

In 1828, Heinrich Moser founded his eponymous company in Saint Petersburg. This visionary, who came from a family of watchmakers, started with one ambition: to create exceptional watches by showcasing high-quality craftsmanship and premium components.

This formula proved successful and, with his initiative, he developed the traditional form of watchmaking as practised by his family for generations and modernised it, creating a production facility, as well as an international service and retailer network. Heinrich Moser was an innovator whose business model is implemented on a global level by the large watchmaking groups of today.

In late 1848, Heinrich Moser returned to Schaffhausen as a successful watchmaker and entrepreneur. A true industrial pioneer, he committed himself to transforming his home city, a sleepy town in days of old, into a cutting-edge industrial location, thanks to partnerships in hydro-mechanical power, train wagon production, railway line and Swiss watchmaking industries. And so he was the man behind Switzerland’s largest hydro-mechanical dam in this era, which provided industries in the town with energy and which took three winters to build, under the direction of Heinrich Moser himself. H. Moser & Cie celebrates the 150th anniversary of this construction and masterpiece, which remained in operation until 1959, when it was replaced by a hydropower plant.

April 28, 2016