Speake Marin starts a new, state-of-the-art movement in a steel sports watch that captures the spirit of our times
Speake Marin introduced its first sport-chic timepiece, the Ripples, in 2022, just as steel sports watches with integrated bracelets were about to emerge as what has since become the hottest segment of the watch industry. The brand was ahead of its time then, and now it’s taking the concept a step further with the new Ripple Skeleton, a unique design in the steel/integrated bracelet sports watch category.
The star of the Ripples Skeleton is the movement, made in-house at Le Cercle des Horlogers, the brand’s movement maker and R&D headquarters near Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The culmination of several years of development, the SMA07 is a precision powerhouse: it runs at a high frequency of 36,000 vph or 5 Hz. As we know, the higher the frequency of the escapement the more reliable the timekeeping. Back in the 1940s, Observatory Chronometer competitions in Switzerland awarded prizes to the most accurate watch movements, and the winners were inevitably the movements with the highest frequencies.
The SMA07 caliber delivers a chronometric performance of accuracy within -/+ 5 seconds per day. It drives hours, minutes and Speake Marin’s customary small seconds positioned at 1:30 on the dial. The winding system is bi-directional, which means the micro-rotor swings in two directions, optimized with special reverser components that ensure energy is generated immediately in the other direction whenever the rotor reverses its rotation. The power reserve comes in at 52 hours.
The SMA 07’s other great quality is its compactness. It’s an automatic movement with a fully integrated tungsten micro-rotor. For those who count every millimeter, here are the stats: All 182 components of the movement occupy a space of 35.75 mm diameter x 3.25 mm thickness. The case of the Ripple Skeleton is 40.3 mm and a mere 6.30 mm thick, compared to cases in the current collection of 9.20 mm thickness. This is a significant reduction of 30%, which makes for a sleeker, more elegant option that is just as robust as much larger sports watches. Even the subdial plate for the small seconds has been engineered for size reduction, at a mere 0.30 mm thick. The applied indexes are 0.12 mm wide, except for those at the four cardinal points, which are 0.14 mm. All are diamond-polished and have opaline flanks – not an easy finish for such small dimensions!
The dial is openworked, an unusual element in the sports/chic category, giving Speake Marin artisans an opportunity to demonstrate their finishing skills, an art form usually reserved for classic dress watches or high complications. The rhodium-plated mainplate is skeletonized, with a vertical satin finish with bevelled and microbeaded profiles and polished angles. The signature Ripples small seconds subdial at 1:30 is newly finished to capture a bit of the wave-like pattern that adorns the dials of the Ripples collection. Here it gets a black PVD finish, a striking variation on the theme.
The case and bracelet are made of 904L steel instead of the conventional 316L, because 904L contains a higher percentage of nickel and chromium in addition to copper, it has a greater resistance to corrosion and acids, and as a bonus, it takes a higher polish. The case – designed in the model’s signature “La City” style – is a complex construction of 40 components, including the iconic square bezel with rounded corners, and water tight to 50 meters.
The Speake Marin Ripples Skeleton is a watch for our time. The high-beat movement with optimized winding makes it a model of chronometry. The slim profile gives it form as a modern example of micro-watchmaking, and the skeletonization showcases the standard of finish that we now automatically expect from high watchmaking.