ReviewThe Ripple Effect: Speake-Marin’s Ripples Integrated Steel Sport Watch
A distinctive interpretation of an archetypal style, the Speake-Marin Ripples is your answer for a sporty-chic watch with its sharp, minimalistic dial, in-house movement, edgy 'La City' case, and integrated steel bracelet
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Ingenuity has been at the heart of Speake-Marin, and testifying to this claim are their ‘belle horlogerie’ (‘beautiful timepieces’) as the brand terms it. Be it their partially open-worked tourbillon iterations, trademark Piccadilly case or heart-shaped hands, small seconds sub-dial at 1:30; and in-house calibres created at the SMA (Speake-Marin Atelier) in Switzerland. As a departure from this trademark design palette, the manufacturer created waves in March this year when they launched their Ripples stainless steel watch. This sport-chic timepiece in steel is their first entrant in the luxury sport watch segment.
The Ripples On Speake-Marin’s Integrated Sport Watch
The watch gets its name from the grey brushed dial that is given a ‘ripple’ effect. The parallel horizontal lines cascade down the dial to create that visual effect of ripples on the dial, complementing the edges and angular construction of the case and the bracelet. A sharp contrast against the textured ripple dial is a small seconds sub-dial with a smooth, matt black finish, positioned between one and two o’clock. This is Speake-Marin’s signature placement of the running seconds—not a position you see in a lot of watches. Slim indices on the sub-dial match the baton hour markers of the main dial. And in contrast to that are rhodium-plated hands, which are more classical in nature, as they are inspired by the clock on London’s Elizabeth Tower or the Big Ben, as it’s popularly known, after the chiming bell. Lending a more refined touch to the dial, these hands mirror the brand’s signature style, which is also seen in their other collections.
A Custom Structure For The Ripples
For the Ripples watch, Speake-Marin has let go of their signature Piccadilly case. What you have instead is a rounded-square case, 40.3mm in width. Called ‘La City’, this case is named after London—not LA for Los Angeles—and pays an ode to the city’s contemporary infrastructure in steel and glass. This case is water-resistant up to 50m.
Housed within the case is the automatic calibre SMA03-T-where ‘T’ stands for ‘tradition’—which offers a power reserve of up to 52 hours. Anti-reflective sapphire crystal covers the front and back of the case, which allows you a view of the movement within.
The polished, satin-brushed integrated bracelet in steel ends in a double-folding clasp. This model is limited in production, with 100 pieces made per year.
The Ripples Anniversary Edition
Speake-Marin was founded in 2002 by London-based watchmaker Peter Speake. The Geneva-based brand, now headed by Christelle Rosnoblet, has crafted numerous iconic timepieces since 2012. To celebrate 20 years of incredible watchmaking, in 2022, an anniversary edition of the Ripples watch was released. In this version, you see a solid satin-brushed golden rendition of the dial that is in grey for the regular Ripples. This robust timepiece with a champagne-yellow dial in horizontal stripes is a limited edition of 50 pieces. The dial is signed with 2002/2022 to mark the brand’s anniversary. While the earlier version was powered by the in-house movement SMA03-T, the anniversary edition finds its extraordinary power in the SMA03-T20 engine, which comes equipped with an integrated micro-rotor, achieving a power reserve of around 52 hours. The self-winding micro-rotor is bead-blasted, circular satin-finished, chamfered, and rhodium-plated.
This collection is an evolution in progress, as it hopes to create a dent among upcoming interpretations of archetypal luxury sport watches that rely on robust style and radical watchmaking. An edgy amalgamation of tradition and inventiveness, Ripples appeals to those living life in the fast lane, without a doubt.
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