A Perfect 10: Pierre Gasly’s Chocolate Fumé Masterpiece with H. Moser & Cie.

Edouard, you’ve been really clear that this is a watch “by” Pierre and not just about him. What’s the difference?

I’ve done a few collaborations over the years and it can go in all directions. People often want to say something, but wrap it up in so much fluff that the message is hard to interpret. It was the opposite with Pierre – he was so direct and precise. I think it’s because in his world, when you drive an F1 car during a test, you must give the engineers exact feedback, like this is oversteering or understeering… He’s learned this skill of communicating with extreme clarity and that’s how he worked with us. Every detail was crystal clear, which made our lives incredibly easy. My team now jokes that when I give feedback, they wish I’d do it the way Pierre did!

Walk us through your creative vision, Pierre, what were the non-negotiables when designing this watch?

The tourbillon was a non-negotiable. Many of my own watches have one; the mechanism just speaks to me. Rose gold was equally essential – it’s a colour I love, both in watchmaking and my personal life. And the chocolate fumé dial felt natural to me because I often gravitate to those tones in my day-to-day life. I wanted the dial to look fresh, powerful and bright – not too dark – and we achieved that. The Streamliner case was also a must. We explored other options, but I like its shape. In the end, the watch is everything I wanted and I’m very pleased with the result.

Before we dive into the design process, Edouard – Pierre is H. Moser & Cie.’s first individual ambassador in almost 200 years. What made you break that tradition?

I was always against ambassadors. I used to say, why pay someone to wear your watches when they should be paying to wear ours? Then I met Pierre. He’s genuinely passionate and knowledgeable. I like how he dresses – sometimes I’m even jealous of his outfits – and he embodies the kind of person I imagine wearing a Moser: young, successful, a bit of a daredevil, great taste, classy and not over-branded. We already knew each other through Alpine, so collaborating felt natural. It was a perfect match. When I picture the brand’s persona, that’s who I see – people like Pierre, who understand what true luxury and understated elegance mean.

There’s an interesting story about how you arrived at this specific design. Edouard, can you share that?

We met at Silverstone about 18 months ago and I told Pierre we should do a collaboration. He said, “Let me tell you what my dream watch would be,” and just laid it out: brown, rose gold, Streamliner case and 40mm in size. In my head, I was thinking he’s going to want a chronograph, skeleton, something big and sporty, maybe steel. But no, it was the complete opposite. And I think that’s brilliant because with Alpine, we work on the motorsport side but here, we’re working with the other side of Pierre – the cool guy who lives in Milano and was at Fashion Week recently.

Three months later, we met at the Moser manufacture and I had five drawings. The first one I showed him is basically 99% the watch we’re presenting today. We had other options – a skeleton with brown finishing, some Pioneer variations and a retrograde – but he kept coming back to this first one.

That level of clarity is unusual, especially for a watch design. Where does it come from, Pierre?

I think it comes from my mum. She was a textile designer, who worked with different fabrics to create new pieces. I grew up around that creative process. Watching her work gave me an early appreciation for craft and a different perspective on creativity. I’m also naturally curious and I like to pull inspiration from different worlds and industries. When we began discussing this watch, I had a clear picture of what I wanted and I told Edouard and his team exactly that. We reviewed around a hundred variations, but one of the very first was essentially the watch I had envisioned. People can interpret a brief in so many ways, yet the Moser team understood precisely what I meant and translated it as I’d imagined. That was remarkable.

Moser’s partnership with Alpine has been innovative too. You even developed a smartwatch – the world’s first Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition – specifically for the F1 team. Did that raise eyebrows within Moser?

Oh, definitely. From day one, we said this collaboration couldn’t just be about money and logos; it had to be real partnership – how do we learn from Alpine and how do we bring value? Otherwise, it’s just transactional and I wasn’t interested in that. In the paddock, I’d noticed most mechanics and engineers were wearing a Garmin or Apple Watch. I wondered, why not Moser and more importantly, what did they actually need from their watch? We asked them and the answer was clear: messaging and communication. So we set out to create a dedicated tool for them.

There was serious internal resistance: “A smartwatch by Moser? Is that good for the brand?” I understood the concern, but this wasn’t a commercial launch. It was a purpose-built instrument for Alpine’s crew, with a small run offered to clients, who purchased the Streamliner Alpine Drivers Edition watch. In the end, what do we have to lose? People will talk about it, we learn and the team will be better equipped. We’re not “becoming” a smartwatch company… we’re entrepreneurs – we take calculated risks and push boundaries. That’s what we do.

It sounds like the Moser and Alpine partnership goes beyond just the smartwatch and Pierre’s timepiece.

Exactly, we’re working on several fronts. We’re involved with the World Endurance Championship (WEC), but we’re also working with the engineers who are developing the actual Alpine cars that will go on the roads.

This is still confidential, but we’re working on instruments to integrate into the Alpine cars. I can’t say more than that, but it’s not watches. It’s something really cool. In a few months, you’ll discover what we’ve been working on in the background. We always said we want this to be a two-way partnership, where we bring real value to Alpine, just as they bring value to us.

Pierre, you’ve talked about parallels between Formula 1 and watchmaking. What do you see?

Yes, there are many parallels between F1 and watchmaking. If you look at 10 cars on the grid, they seem similar or identical from a distance, yet every component is designed and manufactured differently. The scales are larger in racing, of course, but the underlying idea is the same – precision in every layer of carbon, every degree of angle. Gains measured in milliseconds or hundredths can transform performance.

When I visited the H. Moser & Cie. manufacture in Switzerland, I was blown away. They let us try our hand at some processes and handle materials, and it was unreal how much work goes into a single movement. My respect for the craft skyrocketed that day – seeing the people, the time put in, the relentless pursuit of creating the “perfect” mechanism and then the perfectly finished watch… It reminded me of F1 in the best way. It’s all about the details and it’s amazing how the smallest adjustments make the biggest difference – on the track for us, and on the wrist for them.

Pierre, tell us about your earliest memory involving watches?

My mum had a beautiful Chanel watch – it was the Première, I think. It always stuck with me because I knew it was her favourite timepiece. Whenever she wore that watch, it meant something special was happening, so it’s pretty memorable for me.

How has your relationship with time changed as your racing career has progressed?

I have less and less of it, in every way. As an F1 driver, time is everything. Since I started go-karting, I’ve been racing against time. On track, we’re talking milliseconds, hundredths of a second. Hopefully not seconds because if we have seconds between us and the competition, that’s a problem! In life generally, it’s different too. As a kid, 24 hours felt like forever. I could do so many things. Now, with my schedule and the travelling, the pace of life feels completely different. Your appreciation of time evolves as you get older and go through different life stages.

Looking ahead, is this the end of the collaboration – or just the beginning?

Edouard: It’s very much the beginning, we’re only warming up. Moser has big plans: we’re heading to Watches and Wonders next year, we’ve a major manufacture project underway and we’ll celebrate our 200th anniversary in 2028. Launching this timepiece with Pierre is a fantastic milestone, and this F1 weekend in Singapore – hosting VIPs and showing the watch for the first time – feels like the perfect springboard.

Pierre: I feel the same. This partnership is close and natural, which is why I was eager to create something together. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and I’m genuinely excited about what’s next.

Last question for Pierre: If you could freeze one moment in time and live in it for an extra hour, what would it be?

That would be when I was on the podium in Monza after my victory at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. I remember trying to take it all in because I’d worked my whole life to reach that moment, to become a Formula 1 race winner. Podium celebrations really fly by: you go up, lift the trophy, take a few photos and it’s over. I didn’t want 18 years of hard work to be over in two minutes, so if you gave me an extra hour, that’s where I’d use it.

Discover more H. Moser & Cie. timepieces at our boutiques, or online.