Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
H. Moser & Cie. · Heritage
H. Moser & Cie. Heritage 38 mm Ice Quartz
Reference 54291OR.78
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- H. Moser & Cie.
- Collection
- Heritage
- Model
- H. Moser & Cie. Heritage 38 mm Ice Quartz
- Reference number
- 54291OR.78
- Year / era
- 1971 · 1970s — quartz-crisis era
- Complication
- Time and date
- Movement
- Manual-winding, hand-finished
- Case material
- Quartz TPT
- Dial type
- Ice blue
- Strap / bracelet
- White rubber velcro strap
- Water resistance
- 300 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 38 mm
- Case thickness
- 12.6 mm
- Case material
- Quartz TPT
- Bezel
- Fixed brushed titanium
- Crystal
- Anti-reflective sapphire, double-domed
- Dial
- Ice blue
- Hands
- Faceted dauphine hands, polished by hand
- Indexes
- Applied faceted white-gold indexes
- Bracelet / strap
- White rubber velcro strap
- Clasp / buckle
- Folding clasp in matching case metal
- Water resistance
- 300 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 35B — Manual-winding, hand-finished
- Movement type
- Automatic, self-winding
- Frequency
- 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 38 hours
- Number of jewels
- 27 jewels
- Complications
- Time and date
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, small seconds
- Watchmaker
- Assembled and regulated by a single watchmaker, who signs off the piece before casing.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1971 – 1981
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Consistently trades above retail; waiting lists at authorised dealers remain long.
Designer
Marc Newson
Marc Newson is an Australian industrial designer whose work spans Qantas cabins, Apple hardware and Jaeger-LeCoultre's Atmos clocks; his watch design reduces the object to pure geometry and legibility.
Historical significance
H. Moser & Cie. Heritage 38 mm Ice Quartz sits within H. Moser & Cie.'s Heritage line, introduced in 1971. It carries the house codes established since 1828 — quartz tpt case, ice blue dial and manual-winding, hand-finished — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The case is finished by hand, alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces in a single pass so the edges stay razor sharp.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
The House
H. Moser & Cie.
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1828
- Founder
- Heinrich Moser
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Swiss & Independent
- Major collections
- Streamliner, Endeavour, Pioneer, Heritage
- Signature technologies
- In-house hairspring production · Proprietary case-hardening and polishing
- Famous movements
- Micro-rotor automatic · In-house automatic · Manual-winding, hand-finished · Satellite-hour automatic
- Notable watches
- H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner 43 mm Salmon Platinum (1958) · H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner 41 mm Salmon 18k (1974) · H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner 37 mm Ice Quartz (1961) · H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner 43 mm Green Carbon (1954)
Brand history
H. Moser & Cie. has spent more than 198 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Streamliner, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Heinrich Moser established H. Moser & Cie. in 1828, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every H. Moser & Cie. calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1828
Heinrich Moser founds H. Moser & Cie. in Switzerland.
1868
H. Moser & Cie. earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces H. Moser & Cie. to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
H. Moser & Cie. enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
H. Moser & Cie. continues to produce Streamliner, Endeavour, Pioneer and other icons in limited numbers.