Marine watches

Breguet, Ulysse Nardin, Steinhart and Bell & Ross all call a line of watches Marine, and the four have little in common beyond the sea.

Breguet's Marine goes back to 1815, when Abraham-Louis Breguet was appointed chronometer-maker to the French Navy. The first modern Marine collection appeared in the 1990s, and in 2018 Breguet presented a third generation. Its crown sits between wave-shaped guards, the dial is engraved on a rose engine with a wave pattern, and the counterweight of the seconds hand is modelled on naval signal flags. The 5517 is the 40 mm three-hander and the 5527 the 42.3 mm chronograph. The 40 mm 5547 Alarme Musicale is an automatic whose alarm hammer strikes a gong rather than the case; its second crown sets both the alarm and a second time zone. All three come in rose gold, white gold or titanium. The Marine Tourbillon Equation of Time 5887 is the 43.9 mm high complication.

Ulysse Nardin, founded in Le Locle in 1846, built its name on marine chronometers, supplied to more than 50 navies and shipping companies, and put the idea on the wrist in 1996 with the Marine Chronometer 1846. The Marine Torpilleur, named after the French word for a small, agile warship, is the less formal 42 mm alternative in steel or rose gold. It runs on the automatic UN-118 calibre with a silicon hairspring, a 60-hour power reserve and COSC certification, and shows the power reserve at 12 and a sub-dial at 6. It also comes with enamel dials, as a Monaco edition of 100, and with a moonphase or a tourbillon.

Steinhart's Marine watches are steel or bronze: the 38 mm Marine 38, the 44 mm Marine Chronometer, the Marine Chronograph and the Marine-Officer chronograph with a tachymeter bezel, and the 47 mm Marine Timer. Bell & Ross divides its watches into Aviation, Marine and Vintage; its BR 02-92 and BR 02-94 are 44 mm, in steel, carbon or rose gold.