08/11/2026
Johann Heinrich Moser, the founder, was born in the Swiss city of Schaffhausen, to the family of a watchmaker. He and his father later moved to Le Locle, where he perfected his watchmaking skills. Moser then moved to Russia in the 1820’s, and in 1826 in St. Petersburg he set up a watch workshop, changing his name slightly to the English version – Henry Moser. By 1828, Moser had opened a trade office in St. Petersburg, and another one in Moscow in 1831. Finally, in addition to the Moscow and St. Petersburg addresses, he also gained a residence permit for Nizhny Novgorod. Through the fair at Nizhny Novgorod Moser’s watches made their way from Russia to India and China, with all the watch parts ordered from the Le Locle workshops and assembled in St. Petersburg. Some cases and dials were also made in Moscow, as evidenced by the Russian inscriptions found on some copies that reads “H. MOSER IN MOSCOW”.
