We’re huge fans of classically inspired watches, but we enjoy a decent amount of heft in modern timepieces, as well. Aside from beefy Panerais, we can grow weary of the manhole-sized watches that seem to pervade ignorant male youth today. But it is hard to survive out there with a thin dress watch, alone. The Marvin M120 ($1,260) meets dress and casual requirements perfectly, taking cues from the 1950s and stepping up the style quotient with a tastefully thick high-relief case that is like nothing you’ve seen at this price point. You may not have heard of Marvin outside of horological circles, but they’ve been producing high quality timepieces since 1850, and pride themselves on innovative designs with echoes of vintage timepieces that stand the test of time.
The M120 houses a Swiss automatic Sellita SW200 movement (the Swiss ETA-2824’s twin brother), 26 jewels and 38 hours of power reserve. Together, they provide the watch with accuracy, durability and long-term reliability. The beautiful case itself is a perfect 42 x 42mm with a sophisticated relief design around the edges and sets it apart from many other watches in this genre. We tested the M120.13.31.64 with Black Jack strap and radiant silver dial and found it was the most classic iteration of the M120. The face has simple hands and the markers have small but useful lume strips that hold up well under dark conditions. An anti-reflective coating on the sapphire crystal lends to good legibility in all lighting conditions. The crown, though not screw-down, is more than adequately flanked by two crown guards on the case. We especially liked the extremely comfortable leather strap that’s highlighted by a bright red backing that matches the red hash at the eight o’clock marker, a special detail that was well thought out and enhances the beautiful view of the case display back. Compliments abounded, having worn the watch to business meetings, dinner out on the town and everywhere in between. It was thick and broad enough to work well with jeans and boots and still a good size to fit under a French cuff dress shirt. We thoroughly enjoyed wearing this classy and comfortable piece of wrist candy, and we think it’s up there with watches like the Tag Heuer Monaco in terms of style and distinctiveness. Grab this limited edition watch before Marvin runs out of ’em.
Price: $1,260.00 (limited to 888 pieces)
Photos by Amos Kwon
