A brand started in 2007, and I feel a bit left out that I never heard about them until recently. Looking at their timepieces, the engravings on them are not only incredible but also have a lot rich history attached behind them. A brand that was started by Dion Wynyard McAsey and then teamed up with an incredible engraver Andrew Biggs to further elevate this brand to provide unique watches that will be almost impossible to replicate. This is not a sponsored post, I just had to talk about them due to how incredible it looked.
While there is such a rich history in New Zealand, more often than not it remains unknown to the majority of the world, so it is nice to see a watch brand that brings some of that rich history into the world and also into the world of watches. Magrette Timepieces seem to have taken this and not only implemented into the case but also sometimes the rotor of the movement and even the dial. The watches are priced anywhere between $300 to $5,200 although the higher end watches have the case engravings and are also limited-edition pieces. Just looking at the pictures you can see the potentially hundreds of hours of work maybe even more that has been put into each watch, and paired with the excellent diver design it is hard to look past them if you are in the market for a great diver.
The range of watches reminds me a lot from Panerai especially the case and the dial numerals, sadly I would much prefer picking one of these watches over Panerai. Picking a favourite from their current line-up of watches posed a much bigger challenge than I would have thought as I was stuck between the Kupe, Leoncino Ranginui Edition and the Tamanuitera. I am glad that I only get to write out the names as pronouncing it would be a completely different challenge. However, despite that I would have to pick the Tamanuitera as my favourite.
It is a limited-edition and even more sadly they will only make 10 of these watches. Looking at the amount of detail and work that has been put into the watch, it makes sense as to why there will only be 10 made. The name itself has a lot of history as it follows the story behind Maui and his brothers and the battle to keep Tamanuitera (the sun) in the sky longer as it used to quickly swift across the sky and not give enough daylight finish the day’s tasks.
The watch has hand engravings on the case, as well as the rotor of the 9015 Miyota automatic movement that can be viewed through the sapphire case back. It has a power reserve of 42 hours and the watch is water resistant to 200m and features Super Luminova C3 on the dial and hands. It is on the bigger side with a case size of 42mm and is made out of stainless steel. While it does not necessarily have a unidrectional bezel, it is still an incredible piece and more than makes up for it with the big numeral display and lume as an excellent choice for a dive watch. I possibly cannot explain the engravings and the attention to detail by words alone so the pictures will have to do.
It is incredible that even with the huge amount of watch brands available, there is still a huge array of watches that a lot of people would never hear about in their lifetime. I am glad I got to find out a lot of new watch brands in the past few days such as MAS watches and now Magrette Timepieces. If you are not looking forward to purchasing a watch, you can purchase a hand engraved watch buckle as well from their store if you want a small taste as to what they have to offer. You can check out Magrette Timepieces through here.
The Watchlist 