The Art in Deco: Maen Manhattan 37 review

The Moment this watch popped up on Caseback Watches' Insta, I was intrigued. As the previews and first looks at the prototypes started trickling in, I knew that I would get one, making this my second micro brand purchase (after Vario's Trench Watch).

Design and lineage

Coming up with an integrated bracelet-style watch in 2022 is hardly a move of boldness: The market has been flooded with watches heavily inspired (in many cases: "iNsPiReD") by the RO, the Nautilus, the 222 or Tissot's own predecessor to the PRX, which over the course of the past couple of years lead to eye-fatigue for most of us. 
The overall case shape of the Manhattan 37 is also homaging a vintage design, but this is where it starts to deviate from the norm. Instead of mimicking one of social media's highly influential cover girls, this watch pays tribute to a somewhat lesser known example of first-wave luxury sports watches with an integrated bracelet: VC's Royal Chronometer.
Its strong, yet fluent, almost "heraldic"-looking silhouette pairs beautifully with Maen's signature hands, which in return are inspired by Art Deco architecture. It seems as if the guys behind the brand were not aiming for a cheap cash grab by homaging any Vacheron, but rather for finding a design that would organically fit in with their established design language. In my eyes, the handset and indices work even better than the ones on Vacheron's original design.

Fit and finish

I like smaller watches and I love it when watches "melt" around the wrist an into the bracelet/strap. I consider a 38mm non-diver to be full-sized. That's why I wasn't concerned by the "mere" 37mm diameter. On the contrary: A lug-to-lug of 47mm and the square-ish case (which always wear bigger) made me slightly nervous. Would it flare out like the 40mm PRX did when trying it on? Would it be too imposing for my vintage-focused eyes?
In reality, while it doesn't wear small, it still wears quite discreetly. When looked at from above, there's still plenty of bracelet visible. On my 18cm (~7 inches) wrist, the angled downturn of the lugs provides for an almost gapless wearing experience, as does the height of merely 9.9mm (not quite the 9.3mm advertised, but still pretty slim).

The finishing has been executed to a high standard with the chamfers on the case and bracelet being polished nicely and consistently. Both the handling and the wearing experience are crisp, without bordering on feeling sharp. The work that's flown into designing the bracelet commands an extra round of applause, just because it's much (!) more fluent, articulating and unobtrusive on the wrist than it should be at this price point.
However, the watch does feature a butterfly clasp and all the caviats that naturally come with it: The triggers can dig into the wrist when worn on or below the bone. And sadly, no Overseas-like engeneering magic has been worked on this one - no micro-adjust whatsoever. With that being said, the links are small enough (comparable to the length of Rolex' Jubilee links) to guarantee an at least satisfactory fit and the tolerances on the clasp are tight and reassuring.

The dial (oh, the dial!)

Adding Geneva striping to the dial was a genius move by Maen, period. It's a gift that keeps on giving. Having handled a number of Grand Seikos with breathtaking dials, this one easily measures up: I simply couldn't stop gazing at the abundance of light play and color gradients that radiate vividly from this dial. From a pale gold tone over matte, aged bronze all the way to coffee and (almost) black, a slight change of angle, intensity and color temperature of the ambient lighting results in near infinite eye candy.

I haven't yet inspected the hands and indices under marco, but to the naked eye they seem to be executed flawlessly. Did I mention that I love the way they communicate aesthetically with the watch's overall shape? Oh, nevermind. The lume is applied evenly and glows rather strongly (albeit slightly... it's not "patchy" per se, but rather a little cloudy after dark and not 100% uniform). No-one would - or rather: should - expect a dressified sports watch to double as a torch, but the Manhattan 37 stays legible throughout the night. It's not its job to save your life while exploring a ship wreck, but it tells you that it's 3AM when the neighbor's car alarm goes off for no reason. That's more than enough.

Gripes and nitpicks

No watch is perfect and the Manhattan is, of course, no exception. So here's some suggestions for a V2:
The lack of a screw-down crown is an objective flaw on any automatic watch that's even remotely sporty. And even if it's just psychology at work (though I believe it's not only that): I do trust a 50m rating with a screw-down crown more than a 100m rating with a push-pull crown. And the Manhattan is only 50m WR to begin with. I don't like that.
The recently introduced Ronda 150 automatic movement is a welcome addition to a market in which competition between swiss manufacturers is lukewarm and choices are limited for third-party customers. And it's a fine movement: nice winding action, 4hz, ~40hrs, probably a bit cheaper than comparable swiss movements - pretty good, pretty Sellita. I can't fault the beat error, either; the movement doesn't seem to have suffered any major shocks during shipping, but it's running FAST! Between +18s/d and +24s/d across all cardinal orientations! I'm not TOO bummed out by that, since I've had the experience that most of my watches slowed down considerably after a few weeks of use and I'd rather have it run fast than slow, but this is still remarkable. @sebastiaan Do you generally regulate your watches before shipping or does Ronda usually provide a specific grade of 150s for you (similar to the way ETA or Sellita grade their movements)? Not an outright complaint, just a nudge.

Oh, and just in case anyone with a bigger wrist considers this watch: I had to take out two links, so 7,5 to 8 inches might be the upper limit.

Maen's Manhattan 37 is exactly the watch that I hoped it would be. The negatives don't outweigh the positives; not even remotely. If you like the looks and wondered whether this young company could offer substance underneath the stunning facade, I'd advice you to not worry. It's a very good watch!