The kind chaps over at Marloe Watch Company were kind enough to send us a Cherwell model to review. We’ve actually been following them for quite some time since they did a Kickstarter campaign, I was thinking of doing one with some pals at the time,to the point we had some Swiss samples in our hands but life got in the way and we never followed through on it.
I was delighted to stumble upon Marloe Watch Company again and see how well they’ve done with a full range of stunning watches. Haskall, Lomdard etc.
What I love about the Marloe Watch Company is the obvious love they have for their craft and the inspiration behind the watches and what makes them tick (sorry!)
The Marlow Cherwell is a rather large watch by modern minimalist standards coming in at 43.4mm. It has a stunning layered dial, unique case and novel crown (perfect for winding,I found the crown to be very well designed with a knurled grip and deep “M” engraved at the end. .) and an exhibition case back to show off the inner workings of the manual movement. The movement in the Cherwell is the SeaGull ST36 which is a popular Chinese movement. It beats at 21,606bph and has an impressive power reserve of 50 hours. You can lose a few minutes of your day watching it do it’s thing!
The Specs:
- 4mm diameter x 12mm high x 48mm lug to lug
- 20mm lug width
- Hand-wind only Sea-Gull ST36 mechanical movement with 21,600bph
- Power reserve of over 50 hours when fully wound
- Double-domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
- Exhibition case-back
- Multi-layered dial
- 3ATM water resistance
- Weight: 72g including strap
The wide diameter crystal of the case back gives you the full view of the intricacies of the Sea-Gull movement. The movement has a nice vintage look which is suitably rustic and ties in really well with the vibe of the watch, I really like the modern design married with the more vintage aspects of the Cherwell. There’s a nice quite from C.S Lewis ethed around the crystal here: “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour”. A very nice quote indeed.
Just a quick note here on Chinese movements, I’ve had several conversations recently talking about watches and when those made in China are mentioned, people assume them to be sub-par. This could not be further from the truth, I visited a factory in Shenzen when we were looking at the VSN Watches and was bowled over by the quality of the assembly, the quality control and the high standard of the factories. Some are like our tech offices over here! The workmanship on the Marloe Cherwell is second to none and is testament to the high standards by the founders.
The case itself is large, 43mm x 12mm but it sits really well on the wrist, I was surprised to be honest how comfortable it is. I’ve been wearing a 40mm x 6mm W&W watch for the most part or a vintage Omega which is 33mm so I thought the increase in size would put me off – it didn’t. I grew really fond of this watch whilst wearing it. Yes it’s a big watch but the watch strap size is 20mm which makes it very wearable. I’m a fan of a domed crystal and the sapphire one here is stunning, catching the light beautifully.
Catches the light beautifully.
It’s a layered dial in white, black or gray (not pictured) with a sub dial at 6 and a large 12 hour marker. The second dial has a lovely, smooth sweeping movement. The sense of height and depth of the dial is very nice and certainly give the Marloe Cherwell an extra element, giving the dial an almost diorama feel. The surface of the sub-dial has a concentric pattern which really draws the eye in, it has no numbers which ties in with the minimalist feel.
That said, in stark contrast, the sub-dial at 6 is a work of art. It’s cut straight through the plateau, giving it sharp walls, really making it stand out. The surface of the sub-dial has concentric graining, giving it a nicely finished feel. It also has no markers or numerals, a touch I like. The best part really is the proportioning to the rest of the dial. It’s just the right size.
As mentioned, on the wrist the Cherwell is big not not uncomfortable and feels great on the wrist. The dial is absolutely stunning, I’d love to see the darker version of this watch. I would say the watch is a more casual day to day watch due to it’s size, the light catches this watch beautifully.
The Cherwell is available from the Marloe Watch Company for £249. The other watches in their range are the Haskell and Lomond.
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