Categories
Speake-Marin Replica

Speake-Marin Serpent Calendar – hands-on with the 2015 collection

Speake-Marin remains one of our favorite manufactures here at Monochrome-Watches. Since the inception of the brand, Peter Speak-Marin (founder and master replica watchmaker) had created iconic details and shapes that are so easily recognizable now. Almost all of the replica watches made by Speake-Marin share this unusual English feeling, combined with high-end replica watchmaking clues. For this year, he has decided to update one of his best-sellers, the Speake-Marin Serpent Calendar, with new dials, new colours and a new movement. 

Speake-Marin-Serpent-Calendar-2015-4

Until now, the Speake-Marin Serpent Calendar was available in 2 editions – a steel edition with white dial and blued hands and a 18k red gold edition with white dial and blued hands – and two sizes – 42mm and 38mm. For 2015, the collection sees 3 additions:

  • a titanium edition with black center dial (with a concentric pattern) and silver hands
  • a titanium edition with blue center dial (with a concentric pattern) and silver hands
  • a 18k red gold edition with white dial and snailing on the date track

On the top of that, the stainless steel edition have been replaced with a titanium version, always with a white lacquered dial and some blued hands.

Speake-Marin-Serpent-Calendar-2015-2

The dials are still multi-layered and painted a glossy white-lacquer. It features 4 indications – hours, minutes, central second and date via a central hand. Both the case and the hands are similar to the previous edition, with their iconic shapes. The 38mm or 42mm case, finished with both mirror polished surfaces and brushed casebands, uses the same typically PSM lugs and bezel (a.k.a the Piccadilly case) as the rest of the collection, such as the sporty Spirit Mk2 or the complicated Magister Tourbillon. Same goes for the hands that uses the classical Foundation style of Speake-Marin.

Speake-Marin-Serpent-Calendar-2015-2

Compared to the very first edition of the Serpent Calendar with enamel dial, the date indication had been moved to the center of the dial on a separated date track, allowing for an improved legibility and a nicer balance of the face. However, the date hand keeps its serpent shape so nice to look at.

Inside the Speake-Marin Serpent Calendar ticks a Vaucher 3002 movement, a hand finished mechanical movement with self-winding mechanism and 50 hours of power reserve. Speake-Marin no longer uses the Eros movement with its 5 days of power reserve (that was sourced from Technotime) but instead uses this new, more refined movement. The power reserve may be shorter, the movement is now coming with a proper refined finish (beveled angles, finished screws, Geneva stripes) that will complement the rest of this superb replica watch. It also features a double barrel, not to improve the power reserve but for a more stable accuracy over the full range of power.

Speake-Marin-Serpent-Calendar-2015-3

More details on Speake-Marin.com

Categories
Speake-Marin Replica

The Replica Speake-Marin Original Piccadilly Collection with Enamel Dial

Peter Speake-Marin’s first wristwatch was the Piccadilly and he produced several series and many unique pieces, always featuring the typical Speake-Marin style. These first series, called the Original Piccadilly Collection with Enamel Dial and the Original Picadilly Serpent have now come to an end.

Some designs are so strong and coherent that they will leave a indelible impression. The stylish replica Speake-Marin Piccadilly made such an impression on me. When I saw another typical Speake-Marin replica watch for sale, the Shimoda, I realized the era of the original Piccadilly has come to an end. Although sad, it’s good to know it will be replaced by the new collection featuring Speake-Marin’s own movement also featuring the typical Speake-Marin style.

I saw this particular Shimoda at the Timezone sales corner. This is a very special Peter Speake-Marin replica watch – the 38mm Shimoda in Rose Gold, Number 1. In addition to being the first of the Shimoda series in this metal, other features include a hand-engraved plate under the trademark PSM winding rotor and a violet hand, specially re-finished by Peter in order to match the hands on his Foundation Replica Watch. A beautiful fired enamel dial and one relatively stealthy fun feature: a small diamond mounted on the “seconds hand” shaft so that it rotates once per minute.

Besides models available on the second hand market, there are only a few of the Original Piccadilly Serpent collection (with date) and of the Original Piccadilly Collection in steel available.

The Enamel Dial Series of the Original Piccadilly Collection are probably the most simple and sober of all Speake-Marin’s timepieces. The beauty of the enamelling, wether on a clock, an anique pocket replica watch or a modern wristwatch is clean and simple, classical and elegant in the mean time. Enamel dials have been used in replica watchmaking for several hundred years. They will always retain the same beauty from the first day they are munfactured, never tarnishing with age.

Enamel dials are being repeatedly fired in an oven in excess of 800 degrees Celsius. An additional layer of enamel is applied ar each of the six baking stages, including numerals, markers and logo application, prior to a final polishing stage.

The Serpent was the first calendar replica watch designed by Speake-Marin. The idea goes back over a century, to early pocket replica watches that used the outside diameter of the dial and an extended hand to indicate the date, also called pointer-date. Peter Speake-Marin loves the combination of four hands that indicate the time and date from the center of the replica watch.

The hour, minute and seconds hands of both the Original Piccadilly Collection Enamel Dial Series and the Piccadilly Serpent Collection are designed in the same style as Speake-Marin’s Foundation replica watch. This is one of the Speake-Marin style elements, you will see in all his replica watches and this is what makes a Speake-Marin replica watch so recognizable.

Both the Piccadilly and the Piccadilly Serpent feature a hybrid  automatic movement based on a modern ETA 2834, originally designed in 1971. Calibre FW2012 features a large balance for precision in timekeeping as well as a solid overall construction. The in-house custom-designed rotor wheel is inspired by the replica watchmaker’s topping tool and this has become one of Speake-Marin’s original signatures.

The bridges, motion gears, setting lever spring, mainplate and rotor wheel have been replaced and/or redesigned, oversizedm circled, spotted, straight grained and polished by hand.

The last three Speake-Marin replica watches with calibre FW2010 were recently delivered to the Grönefeld Boutique in the Netherlands. The Piccadilly in steel with enamel dial is priced at € 11,500 euro (tax included), the Serpent Calendar in rose gold (2 available) is priced at € 24,950 euro (tax included).

Tim Jackson of Passion Fine Jewelry has 3 Piccadillys available (a 42mm cream enamel dial and black roman numerals, same dial in 38mm and a 38mm white enamel dial with black roman numerals) and one Serpent Calendar in steel (38mm).

More information can be found at the Speake-Marin website, the website of the Grönefeld Boutique and the official Speake-Marin Facebook page.