Throughout Imperial-era Russia, the watchmaking industry consisted only of several small workshops and enterprises, usually assembling watches using parts made abroad. Due to a lack of technology and equipment, it was more affordable and efficient to import unfinished Swiss and German ebauchés, then compete the assembly in local Russian workshops. This assembly was undertaken by specialized independent watchmakers appointed by the Imperial Court, such as Pavel Buhre, George Favre-Jacot, and of course, Heinrich Moser. 

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Hy Moser & Cie was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland, and opened its workshop in St. Petersburg in 1826. Moser was one of the most prolific independent watchmakers in Imperial-era Russia, producing a wide variety of pocket- and wristwatches for men and women.

In 1918, a year after the Bolshevik Revolution, the entire Soviet industrial infrastructure was nationalized. All independent watchmaking workshops were confiscated by the State, and the original owners were eventually forced to withdraw from the market. ​By 1922, the entire watchmaking industry had become part of the State Trust of Precision Mechanics, also known as Gostrest Tochmeh.