Setting out to create accessible mechanical watches, the Marloe Watch Company has turned to handwound movements while the rest of the market wants automatics.

by James Buttery

Take a quick look at the image above showing Oxfordshire brand Marloe?s current three-watch offering; the Cherwell, Derwent and the new Lomond chronograph. Each features a mechanical movement and all three can be purchased for a total a hair?s breadth over £1,000.
While it?s not a sum to be sniffed at, £1,000 isn?t a huge budget when shopping for mechanical watches, especially if you?re after a chronograph. Of course there are sub-£1,000 bargains to be had from the likes of Tissot, Hamilton and Seiko and, with a bit of careful shopping, it is possible to put together a trio of three-handers from the aforementioned brands for around the £1,000 mark, but it certainly won?t stretch to a more complicated chronograph. Marloe was initially founded as a Kickstarter campaign after Oliver Goff replaced the battery in a one of his fashion watches and was disappointed by the quality of the components. Goff and industrial designer Gordon Fraser, set out to do better and produce a mechanical watch at an accessible price. Which soon led them to the doors of Tianjin Sea-Gull, China?s largest producer of watch movements.
With two models currently available to buy, Marloe is about to deliver its most ambitious watch to date the Lomond Chronoscope, a handwound chronograph for £449.
Lomond

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