Speake-Marin is currently strongly promoting the development and in-house production of movements. In the eight years since the new CEO took over in 2012, the results of this initiative are steadily taking root. The company is also expanding its One & Two lineup, aimed at younger collectors, and is steadily preparing for a rebranding in preparation for 2020.
Text by Hiroyuki Suzuki
The brand's first travel watch. The "New Piccadilly Case" combines a cylindrical case with Empire-style lugs, inheriting the Speake-Marin identity. Automatic (Cal. SMA02). 33 jewels. 28,800 vph. Power reserve approximately 52 hours. Ti (diameter 42mm, thickness 10.5mm). Water resistant to 3 bar. Price: 284 million yen.
Since Christelle Neubrell took over as CEO in 2012, Speake-Marin has been actively promoting in-house movement production. The focus of her reforms has been on in-house production via her family's movement supplier, but with the departure of founder Peter Speake-Marin, the company appears to be at a crossroads for further change. In fact, the company is reportedly planning a major rebranding project by 2020.
However, as Nurble is known as an avid watch collector, it appears that the British-style Piccadilly case and spade-shaped hour and minute hands that have become part of Speake-Marin's identity will remain. The main focus of the reforms will be to further in-house production of movements and to polarize the lineup to meet new customer needs. Of course, the high-end will continue to feature unique pieces and high complications as before.
Meanwhile, Speake-Marin's current focus is on appealing to a younger demographic of collectors. The spearhead of this trend is the "One & Two" collection. In 2019, the company introduced its first travel watch, a dual-time model that could be called a petite complication. Despite its avant-garde openworked movement design, the mechanism itself is robust. It features a 24-hour display at 9 o'clock, and the 12-hour sub-hour hand can be independently adjusted using the crown. The quick correct date display surrounding the small seconds is retrograde. The sub-hour hand is independently adjusted by pulling the crown out two notches, but the hour hand seems to have a tendency to jump slightly when returning the crown. Now that they've achieved in-house movement production, we can expect further improvements in the operational feel.
This model has a smaller 38mm case. The sense of compactness from the bezel to the side of the case is further emphasized. The corrector at 8 o'clock is for fast-forwarding the retrograde date. Automatic winding (Cal. SMA02). 33 jewels. 28,800 vph. Power reserve approximately 52 hours. Ti (diameter 38mm, thickness 10.5mm). Water resistant to 3 bar. Price: 4.3 million yen.
