Fast Company: The Moser Streamliner Flyback Chronograph Funky Blue 2.0
A rhapsody in blue.
Moser launched the Streamliner flyback chronograph back in 2020, as a limited edition of 100 pieces and the design – by industrial designer Marcus Eilinger, who has also designed for Zenith and other watch clients – sold out quickly. The original Streamliner chronograph was a success, I think, for a couple of reasons, all of which demonstrate just how hard it is to design a real hit in watchmaking.
First of all, it was technically a distinctive watch, using the famous Agengraphe caliber from Jean-Marc Wiederrecht’s workshop – a movement which has been used by other forward thinking watch brands (one of my personal favorites is the MING 20.01 Mosaic) and it’s one of the two or three most innovative chronograph movements in production (another contender of course, with a movement at least as ingenious, is the MB&F LM Sequential EVO).
Secondly, the design was of a genre that’s become almost obligatory for any luxury watch brand (and some non-luxury brands as well) – the integrated bracelet stainless steel sports watch. However, this was not a me-too, Genta-adjacent design. Instead, Eilinger and Moser came up with something genuinely original (or as original as anything can be in the watch design world) – a watch and bracelet with smoothly rounded lines and forms, inspired by the Streamliner design movement from the 1920s and 1930s.
The original Streamliner chrono was followed by the Funky Blue model in 2021 (WatchesBySJX commented that ” … Streamliner is one of the few integrated-bracelet sports watches that isn’t derivative, which is a feat in itself.”) The original model’s vertically brushed grey gradient dial was updated to a blue fumé dial. Moser has just announced a new version of the Streamliner Chrono Funky Blue, which has a retweaked dial and a movement with updated finishing as well.
On the dial side, version 2.0 is identical to what I guess we can now call version 1.0, with one major difference – the Moser logo is now in transparent lacquer instead of the white lacquer used for the earlier version. I think it’s a solid decision – the Moser logo is in a fairly ornate cursive script and while it integrates well with the dial of 1.0, it’s nonetheless a highly specific design and making it present but unobtrusive serves the Streamliner design very well. (Logo design for watches is a whole ‘nother subject – you need something distinctive and instantly recognizable but you also need something versatile enough to pair with potentially very different designs).
The other major change is in the movement finishing.
Machine Art Moderne
Version 1.0’s finishing of the Agengraphe automatic chronograph caliber (here designated Moser caliber HMC 907) was more or less traditional, with rhodium plating on plates and bridges, polished steelwork, and diagonally oriented “Moser stripes” which were the only noticeable departure from a traditional movement finishing vocabulary.
It’s not a dramatic change but it does give the movement a more contemporary feel, which aligns well with the overall design of the rest of the watch, and it also bumps up the visibility of the diagonal Moser stripes. You get a better sense of overall depth as well and the gold-colored driving wheel for the chronograph seconds stands out even more than in version 1.0.
The 1.0 to 2.0 naming convention originates as far as I know, in software versioning and in the case of the Funky Blue Streamliner, I’m reminded of how the tech press reports things like product upgrades to, say, the Apple Watch – the question is always is it a must-have or can you still be happy with the model you own. The 1.0 Streamliner will never not be what it is – a version of a watch which took a very fast track indeed to becoming a modern classic and which stands on its own. Version 2.0 is not a necessary fix of a flawed design; it is rather in the nature of a refinement of something already successful.
It certainly wasn’t necessary to update the design – the Streamliner Flyback Chronograph Funky Blue was already successful. But the fact that Moser went ahead and did so is a symptom of the presence of something we all hope for from a luxury brand – that someone is paying attention to, and thinking carefully about, the devilish and divine details.