My Marloe Solent Timer has arrived

My new Solent Timer by Marloe arrived today and I promised to tell you my initial thoughts:

Unboxing is a special moment for me and Marloe seem to have made sure I was well catered for. After opening the outer box, I found a Newspaper giving the company story and details of their watches. Then on to the inner presentation box - beautifully made with a manual that I actually want to read rather than throw in a drawer, a fact sheet for the watch and a soft cushion for the watch itself.

 The Solent timer is made in batches of 250 only and mine is number 21. First impressions are that it’s a beast: the 22mm lug width certainly makes it feel a chunk. Lug to lug is 49mm. Diameter 42mm and 12mm width. Anyone who’s had a Miyota watch knows how lovely it feels to wind and this 9039 is no exception. The finish is lovely and the exhibition back shows the Miyota off well.  

The strap is a generous length and for my 6 ¾” wrist, I had to remove 6 links (stabbing myself badly in the process - my own fault) and move the micro adjusters in one. I usually go for smaller watches than this but I figured I could get away with it as my one big watch: a 42mm Speedy looks fine. To me the Solent Timer wears bigger than the Speedmaster. This might be due to the striking colours or the extra 1.5mm lug to lug, I don’t know. I'd be interested to know what you think.

After wiping the blood off the watch I was struck how expensive it feels. The AR coated sapphire crystal is very clear with no edge distortion. The orange internal bezel is a lovely touch and feels gorgeous to turn – though it is a bit of a faff to zero it before screwing the crown down. The lume hands unusual and maybe even unique (certainly I’ve never seen that style before) and face is clean with a slight diagonal stripe. Hour markers just lume circles outlined in thin orange.

I feel it’s a bargain at £399 (though I paid £30 extra to get the high-quality steel strap) And I bet it looks a million dollars on a grey and orange NATO.