This will be my first of several reviews on watches from the Marvin watch brand. In addition to sharing with you these interesting and attractive timepieces, I have an ulterior motive. You see, Marvin watches are not currently sold in the US. There is really no good reason for this, and I am trying to determine whether or not these watches would be in demand here in the States. I for one think that they would have a lot of appeal given their styling, construction quality, and fair prices. So, what do you think? Please comment and share your thoughts.

This Marvin M104 model watch is among my favorites in the brand’s current lineup. The design smoothly transitions between modern and classic styling in such a satisfying manner. Better yet, the watch has a high grade Swiss ETA 2897 automatic movement in it. This is like the 2892, but has a power reserve indicator as well – and 42 hours of power reserve. No specific statement can be made to sum up the design of the watch. Like I said it has bits and pieces of various styles in it. This includes aviator watches, dressy watches, and of course Marvin brand identity. One of the things I appreciate about all Marvin watches, is that although they are all different, there are common visual cues that tie them together. One example is the red color as part of 8 o’clock hour marker. Look closely, and most every Marvin watch has red in this place in one way or another.

The case of the watch is in steel and 41mm wide. It is actually a bit smaller than some of the other Marvin watches that are 44mm wide, but I like the size. Sometimes you don’t want something as large on your wrist – and the 41mm size feels friendly and familiar. Most of the case is brushed, while little elements (such as parts of the lugs and around the bezel) are polished. Marvin applies the sapphire crystal on their watches in a unique fashion. The crystal itself is flat, but around the edges it is faceted before it goes into the case. It creates and additional point for light to refract off the watch and is a good character element for the brand. The rear of the watch has a K1 mineral crystal on the caseback window looking into the movement. Another interesting feature the seal of the Marvin company founders that is engraved on the bottom left hand side of the watch case. It reads “M & E D.” This stands for Marc & Emmanuel Didisheim, who are the people responsible for Marvin’s original beginning a quite long time ago (circa 1850). I’ve never seen a watch company place just such an engraving on the case, and I quite like it. You’ll find this engraving on most all of their watches in the current brand lineup.

A great way of summing of the design of the dial is being “functionally simple.” Everything you need to use the functions, with some design elements subtly built in. Nothing looks cluttered and I like the ring in the center of the dial that wraps around the power reserve indicator and date window. Plus I like that the date window is circular and not square. The hour indicators are applied and I like the thin hash marks around the periphery of the dial that add to the classic, instrumental feel of the timepiece. There is SuperLumiNova applied on most of the hour markers and the hands. You’ll need a rich amount of sunlight to charge them. The M104 is not the best watch for night viewing, but at least it does have some lume. Luminant is tricky in that you really need to have a wide application of it for it to be remarkable. You can also see the hallmark red applied on the 8 o’clock hour marker. The Arabic numerals that are present on the dial are in a font that is being used on a number of watches today. Such as on the Bell & Ross BR01 watches. This is a good thing and Marvin has successfully keyed into a noteworthy facet of popular watches. This font is used on many of their current watches and help them feel more familiar to those of us who are not familiar with the brand.

The watch case feels solid and I like the Marvin crown logo done in relief on the watch crown. Sorry for using the term “crown” twice, so do get confused. We are talking about two different types of crowns. The crown is not screwed in, which may have something to do with this only 50 meters of water resistance to the watch. It feels like there should be more, but then again, this is more of an urban warrior watch rather than a sport watch. The caseback is screwed down, and you have a view through a K1 mineral crystal glass to the movement (the crystal over the dial is sapphire and it looks as though AR is applied on the rear of the dial crystal). You will appreciate that the ETA 2897-2 automatic movement has been decorated with a style of sunburst polish, and some blued steel screws. Enough decoration to make you feel happy about your investment.

I was further impressed with the watch strap and buckle. You tend to see watch makers just forget about the buckle or pay minimal attention to it a lot of the time, unless you spend $20,000 on a watch. I a was pleasantly surprised to see a simple, but nicely crafted steel buckle on this Marvin watch – as is the face with all Marvin watches. It is a nice solid and well polished piece of metal, with the Marvin crown logo on it in relief (this is more expensive to do than engraving). The strap is in a more or less matte black toned, thick leather. The underside is done in a bold red that has a wealth of positive brand character to the watch line. I also really like the quick release pins on the strap. They are done so that you can change straps easily and without using any tools. I am always happy to see these on watch straps.

Price for the Marvin M104 watch in US dollars is $2,200 retail. A reasonable price given all that you get. My feeling that has been supported by a few other people is that the Marvin watches would be best suited to the jewelry store and department store watch sections. They have an eye-catching look, and enough positive qualities to compete well with what is out there. Plus, the watches have a polished, mainstream look to them that you find on other watches in these more mainstream environments. Getting the watch in the US right now is a matter of importing them from overseas most of the time. Again, with enough positive response we can see Marvin watches officially in the US. So make your opinions known.

Learn more about Marvin watches here.