Less than twelve months ago, I was completely unfamiliar with Marloe watches. Then, I started writing for the Watch Gecko Magazine, and it quickly became apparent to me that I was missing out on something rather extraordinary.
The British watchmaker has quite effortlessly filled a space in the watch market for beautiful British made watches that neatly straddle the line between quality and affordability. My first hands-on experience with a Marloe watch was with the Marloe Tay Itten, a design that feels very much tailored to my demographic. It’s a 35mm unisex watch with a playful dial, compact case size and a Japanese automatic winding movement. It’s brilliantly executed and to find a women’s automatic watch under £500 is no easy feat. You can read more about my experience testing out the Marloe Tay in the review here.
Marloe Pacific 76 - Credit WatchGecko
So, as you can imagine, after enjoying my time with the Marloe Tay, I found myself excited to get more hands-on time with other designs in Marloe’s portfolio. The Marloe Coniston was very tempting, especially the model with the crisp white dial. It is beautifully simple yet up close there’s an impressive amount of design complexity. The thin bezel, two-piece dial and uniquely styled skeletonised hands are masterfully done. Then there’s the Marloe Pacific, another effortlessly timeless piece inspired by the dawn of the jet age.
Inspired the Dawn of the Jet Age
For Marloe co-founders Oliver Goffe and Gordon Fraser, the brief for the Marloe Pacific was simple. They wanted to create a beautiful, high-quality design inspired by the dawn of the jet age. We’re talking about the golden era of air travel, the early 1950’s and 60’s when aircrafts like the De Havilland Comet and the Concord were dominating our skies. This era brought new possibilities to civilian travel, and drastically changed the way people viewed the world. People could now explore exotic places across the globe, and not in small, cramped propeller planes, but smooth and dignified jets.
Marloe Pacific 76 - Credit Guest Author
The idea behind the Marloe Pacific watch was to create a timepiece that embodied the jet age in its story and design. Its construction was to be complex yet appear straight-forward while the fluid contours of the case needed to embody the organic shapes of the aircrafts of the era. In fact, one look at the Marloe Pacific 76 on my wrist, and I can see how the continuous curvature that flows from the lugs, over the dial and around the case back could easily be translated to the sinuous movement of air over a plane’s wing.
Hands-on with the Marloe Pacific 76
When I first unboxed the Marloe Pacific 76, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s bigger in diameter to what I’d usually wear, measuring to 40mm wide (I usually stick to cases below 38mm), but strapping it onto my wrist made me realise I need to stop limiting myself when it comes to mere millimetres, especially with watches like the Marloe Pacific that are dedicated to easy wear. It’s height of only 12mm certainly helps its case too.
Other than the size, the first thing I noticed about the Marloe Pacific 76 was the combination of finishings included on the case. Bear in mind this watch retails from just £945, so to find attention to detail like this was surprising. After looking into it a bit more, it seems the Marloe Pacific was the first watch from the British manufacturer to have a tri-finish case. It has a brightly polished upper and lower case which contrasts to the vertically-brushed sides and frosted surfaces added into each side aperture.
Marloe Pacific 76 - Credit WatchGecko
The domed sapphire crystal glass of the Marloe Pacific 76 watch adds to its retro personality, reaching to the very edges of the case and leaving little room for much of a bezel. The glass has anti-reflective coating for unprecedented legibility of the dial and is matched by a second layer of sapphire crystal on the case back which reveals the manual winding movement inside. We’re also warranted a handy 100 metre water resistance.
As for the dial, the Marloe Pacific 76 is done in a bright blue hue which reminds me personally of the Pan Am logo – an airline very much famed for its involvement in the golden era of air travel. Whether this was intentional from Marloe or not, I can’t say, but it certainly builds upon the watch’s jet-inspired design. It’s a beautiful colour and feels very quintessentially British, especially when combined with the raised applied white numerals and red small seconds hand.
Like the case, the dial is not short of design complexity. It has a pillow cross-section which rises up subtly to the central plateau. The numerals themselves, while raised, are also entirely machined from Superluminova BG-W9 so you can feel assured legibility is ascertained. The dial completes its classic colouring with a printed white railroad minutes track and a sunken small seconds dial at 6 o’clock with snailed decoration and a polished silver border.
Marloe Pacific 76 - Credit WatchGecko
Dedicated to the hours, minutes and small seconds function is the Sellita SW216-1 manual winding movement. After you’ve turned the crown and fully wound the mainspring, you’ll be warranted a 40-hour power reserve. It also boasts 24 jewels, runs at a frequency of 28,800vph and ensures an accuracy of -8 to +15 seconds a day.
Completing the Marloe Pacific 76 watch I wore this week was handsome Italian leather grey-brown strap with a vertically brushed stainless steel pin buckle, matching cleverly with the finishing on the case’s sides. It’s a lovely strap, but one I think would be better suited to the white-dialled Pacific in the collection. If it was me, I’d swap this strap out for one of brown leather like our Vintage Highley or maybe even our Simple Handmade Italian Leather strap.
As you can probably tell, I’m very impressed with the Marloe Pacific 76. It’s beautifully executed and has so much going for it at its price point. It’s one of those designs that the more you wear and look at it, the more tiny details you notice. I also love a watch with a story behind it, and as a homage to the jet age, the Marloe Pacific ticks that box too. It’s made me all the more excited to see what will come from the British watchmaker next.
Marloe Pacific 76 - Credit Guest Author
Specifications:
- Case Diameter: 40mm
- Case Thickness: 12mm
- Case Material: Stainless steel
- Glass: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
- Water Resistance: 100 metres
- Case Back: Exhibition
- Dial: Blue with Superluminova BG-W9 hands and numerals
- Movement: Sellita SW216-1, manual winding
- Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds
- Power Reserve: 40 hours
- Jewels: 24
- Frequency: 28,800vph
- Limited: 125 pieces
- RRP: From £945
