This Deliciously Retro Automatic Sports Watch Is Shockingly Affordable

I have to say thank you for this one.

Close-up of a silver watch with a blue dial featuring star-shaped hour markers and a black leather strap on a brown surface.

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By Brad Lanphear

Published March 26, 2026

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Updated March 26, 2026

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Merci is a concept store located on Boulevard Beaumarchais, a Paris street known for upscale shopping. Founder Arthur Gerbi operates an in-house watch brand, Merci Instruments, which is something of a hidden gem in the crowded indie watch scene.

In celebration of the store’s tenth anniversary, Merci Instruments debuts a six-piece collection of angular steel sports watches awash in 1970s swagger. Best of all, the aptly named Beaumarchais collection maintains the brand’s noteworthy affordability.

Silver octagonal wristwatch with black star-marked dial and black leather strap on a wooden surface. — The Beaumarchais collection features an angular 36mm steel case with a fixed octagonal bezel.

Merci has a reputation for offering faithful mid-century-inspired designs with deep-cut references, and the Beaumarchais jumps out to me for its resemblance to Zenith Defy watches from the 1960s and 1970s, a personal favorite.

The luxury Swiss watchmaker has mined its own catalog from that period recently with great success, and Merci has borrowed a thing or two while developing a distinct look. And, of course, the Beaumarchais is available for a small fraction of the price.

Seeing all the angles

Previous Merci Instruments releases have featured a simple, somewhat bland field watch case, but the Beaumarchais shakes things up with an angular, industrial look inspired by 1970s steel sports watches.

Close-up of a silver octagonal wristwatch with a textured green dial and dark green leather strap on a paper with sketches. — Each Beumarchais dial has a sector format and ruler-style minutes track, but distinct hour markers.

The faceted 36mm stainless steel case blends vertical brushing on the top and sides with polished chamfered edges. The lugs are squared off on the inside, and the narrow crown is unsigned with a coin-edge grip and a polished domed surface.

The prominent fixed steel bezel features a brushed octagonal upper portion atop a polished, rounded lower portion, resembling a nut stacked on a washer. It holds a flat sapphire crystal.

Silver wristwatch with white dial, blue Roman numerals, and black leather strap resting in a wooden dish. — The Beaumarchais comes on a simple leather pin buckle strap.

Each Beaumarchais reference comes on a shell cordovan leather pin buckle strap, colored to complement the dial.

Shoot for the stars

The Beaumarchais has a sector dial with a raised circular center differentiated from the hour track ring by color, texture or both. Every dial is ringed by a ruler-style minute track and features polished, stamped metallic syringe hands.

Each dial in the collection not only offers a distinct color but also features a unique arrangement of hour markers. The lone exception, which is used on two models, happens to be my favorite.

Close-up of a silver watch with a blue dial featuring star-shaped hour markers and white hands. — The only hour marker arrangement featured twice has eight stars, three arrow heads and a Merci logo.

The blue Aether and black Singularis models have metallic applied hour markers comprised of the Merci logo icon at 12 and faceted arrowheads at 3, 6 and 9, with the remaining spaces filled by stars.

The blue dial and stars drive home the Zenith connection for me, since the Swiss brand uses a similar star logo. However, it’s also a unique design that is both playful and elevated.

Close-up of a silver Merci Instruments Beaumarchais watch face with blue second hand and geometric hour markers. — The fully metallic Horae model is another standout.

The green Cosmora blends a grainy center with a glossy hour ring and uses a combination of polished hemispherical and faceted arrowhead markers, while the fully metallic Horae has a polished center and a brushed hour ring with arrowhead and keystone markers. The latter is also distinguished by a blue seconds hand.

The Auguste is the only model with a printed hour track, featuring glossy black Roman numerals on a silvery ring. It is also the only other dial with a blue seconds hand.

All aglow

The Aeon Blue stands out as the only Beaumarchais dial with lume and the only one with an octagonal central dial sector. The white Arabic numeral hour markers are made of 3D block Super-LumiNova, and the hands are coated in matching white Super-LumiNova.

Wristwatch with a blue dial, white numerals, and a black leather strap worn on a wrist with a denim jacket. — The Aeon Blue is the only Beaumatchais reference with lume on the dial.

The light blue octagonal center sector is raised and has a coarse texture, surrounded by a flat, matte navy blue hour ring. It is matched by a blue cordovan leather strap.

Availability and pricing

Merci keeps the Beaumarchais affordable by powering it with a workhorse Miyota Caliber 9039 automatic movement, which offers a 42-hour power reserve. It’s nothing fancy, but well respected and easy to service.

The Merci Instruments Beaumarchais collection is available now from Merci for €470 (~$542), which is an incredible bargain for an automatic watch with 100m water resistance that looks this good.

Silver octagonal watch with a blue dial featuring star-shaped hour markers and a matching blue leather strap.

Merci Instruments Beaumarchais

Specs

Case Size	36mm
Movement	Miyota Caliber 9039 automatic
Water Resistance	100m

$542 at Merci Paris

About the Author: Brad Lanphear is an associate editor at Gear Patrol covering watches and style. Before joining the publication, he previously wrote for Heddels and Men’s Health. Now, he’s on a never-ending quest to find the perfect pair of Japanese denim.

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