For those who don’t know what Vantablack® is, here’s a quick guide. Developed in 2014 by UK’s Surrey Nanosystems, Vantablack® is the blackest man-made material. ‘Vanta’ in the name stands for ‘Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Array’, and it is made up of millions of carbon nanotubes, which capture 99.965% of light photons and keep them from reflecting back. It is used in astrophysics to minimise reflections in telescopes, and artist Anish Kapoor has used the Vantablack® pigment for his works. At H. Moser & Cie., the material has been used to create deeply dark dials, like in the Venturer Concept Vantablack®, Venturer XL Concept Vantablack®, and Endeavour Tourbillon Vantablack®. The newest iteration is Endeavour Small Seconds Total Eclipse, the result of a collaboration between H. Moser & Cie. and menswear brand The Armoury.

The 38mm Endeavour Small Seconds Total Eclipse features a dial made of Vantablack®, with the inner bezel either in steel or red gold, which makes the face look much like the Ring of Fire in an eclipse. The bezel is steel, and keen care has been taken to incorporate striking details in the elegant timepiece. First is the indices, marked as dots on the dial, a first for H. Moser & Cie., and of importance, because Vantablack® can be damaged by a simple touch; the same has been followed for the off-centre small seconds hand, which is reminiscent of pocketwatches. The steel or red gold hands have circles at the tips, the crown has an engraved ‘M’, and the case is flanked by black calf leather straps in a two-tone effect with two different textures, designed and created by The Armoury. The steel pin buckle is engraved with the Moser logo.

“When Edouard and I first started talking about the idea of making a watch together, my main requirement was that it was small. I like watches that are discreet but reveal a deeper complexity if you pay them some attention. To me, H. Moser & Cie.'s fumé dial and Vantablack® dial are iconic and I wanted to work with one of them as a starting point for the design," says Mark Cho, Co-founder of The Armoury. "Quickly, I started to favour the Vantablack® and I had the idea to add markings to the dial somehow. My design partner, Elliot Hammer, suggested that we imagine the design with the theme of a total solar eclipse. Thus, the Endeavour Small Seconds Total Eclipse was born’’. Adds Edouard Meylan, CEO of H. Moser & Cie," Absolutely everything in this model links back to this quest for ultimate elegance, combining classicism with a contemporary feel.”

Turn the watch over and the sapphire crystal allows a view of the hand-wound HMC 327 calibre, which beats at 18,000 Vph, and has a power reserve of a minimum of three days, also indicated at the back. The movement has been used in several small seconds watches by H. Moser & Cie., including the Venturer Small Seconds, Venturer Big Date, and Venturer Small Seconds XL Funky. The movement and components are hand-finished and decorated Moser balance wheel and original Straumann® Hairspring.

The watch has two iterations - Ref. 1327-1200 which is a steel model, and Ref. 1327-1201, which is a steel and red gold model. Both are limited editions to 28 pieces each. The watches are available in The Armoury stores in New York and Hong Kong, as well as on the e-commerce platforms for The Armoury and H. Moser & Cie, and the watch will be accompanied by a pocket-handkerchief developed by The Armoury for H. Moser & Cie.

All images: Courtesy H. Moser & Cie.