“Wow, that’s pretty.” —  said my wife when I opened the box. After a few weeks on the wrist, I have to concede that yeah, pretty is the adjective here. We’ve reviewed other Marvins here on the site, but this one, it’s a different beast. This is from their Origin collection, the M125 series. Rose gold PVD over stainless steel, galvanized blue dial with sunray finish, applied gold markers, painted minute markers, crocodile-patterned calfskin strap.

It’s pretty. Let’s look closer.

As the light changes, the mirror-polished hands go from standout to nearly invisible, and the dial from black to mid-blues.

Note the tiny bit of red on the eight o’clock marker – that’s a Marvin quirk, a subtle brand signature.

Limited text, logo and branding on the dial, this is a classic dress watch.

I quite like what they did with the case design. They could have gone with a simple polished case, and no one would have complained. Instead they have a complex mix of polished, brushed etchings and a milled mid-case groove. There’s some confidence and panache going on here, and I like it.

The other side has the milled groove and a heritage mark.

The case back is windowed to show the Sellita SW200 movement. It’s a functional replacement for the ETA 2824, nearly identical and keeping excellent time here. Custom rotor – note the whimsical arrow and ‘the swing’ text. Undecorated movement beneath.

A bit closer.

You can see that the case is much larger than the movement. Thankfully, they omitted a date window so from the dial side you can’t tell.

The style is definitely classic dress watch with an echo of the recent IWC Portofino line. Sizing is excellent for the task at 40.9mm by 10.1mm thick, 47.8mm lug to lug. A mere 66g on the strap. It has an anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal, non-screwdown, 6.0mm crown and is rated to 50m of water resistance.

Very slim, goes easily under a cuff.

The croc-patterned strap and gold case are definitely attention getters. It looks out of place with jeans and t-shirt, but fantastic with a blazer or suit.

The preceding picture best captures how the dial looks indoors – deep blue, which appears black most of the time. The side detailing likewise hides, and you just see a classic dress watch.