Speake-Marin Ripples 40.5mm Mens Watch Gold

Ref. 624015050

Peter Speake-Marin's "La City" case has always been the house's most distinctive argument: a square bezel with its corners softened into curves, sitting somewhere between a cushion and a tonneau without being either. The Ripples takes that geometry and uses the dial to answer it — twelve hand-satin-finished wave engravings cut in horizontal bands across a rhodium-plated brass base, giving the surface a restless quality that shifts visibly as the light moves across it. The small seconds sits off-centre at 1:30 rather than the conventional 6 o'clock, which is an idiosyncratic choice and a deliberate one, and the hour hand carries the brand's heart-shaped tip that functions as a quiet signature once you know to look for it. The movement behind the dial is worth the attention it rewards. The SMA03-T is an in-house calibre — 144 components, 31 rubies — built around a tungsten micro-rotor rather than a full-sized oscillating weight, which is the reason a rose gold case this substantial comes in at 9.20mm. That slimness is the micro-rotor's whole purpose, and it works. The bridges carry Côtes de Genève stripes and hand-polished bevelled edges visible through the anti-reflective sapphire caseback, finishing that belongs to a different category from what most watches at this proportion offer. The mocha calf leather strap carries an embossed denim motif with tone-on-tone stitching — tactile without announcing itself — and the folding clasp is rose gold and titanium rather than gold alone, which keeps the wrist end of the watch from feeling front-heavy.

Reference

624015050

Brand

Speake-Marin

Case size

40.5mm

Case thickness

9.20mm

Case material

Rose gold

Case shape

Square

Dial

Brown

Crystal

Sapphire

Movement

Automatic

Calibre

SMA03-T

Functions

Small seconds

Water resistance

50m

Bracelet / strap

Leather strap

Strap colour

Brown

Clasp

Buckle

Retailer

Goldsmiths