Marloe’s new Astro watch line celebrates “One small step”
Stellar-inspired timepiece touches down on the 53rd anniversary of the Moon landing
British watch brand Marloe is aiming for the stars with its latest line of classic timepieces. The new Astro collection is comprised of four bespoke designs which all celebrate space travel – and make their debut on the 53rd anniversary of the first Moon landing.
Marloe designer Gordon Fraser picked the square shape as a nod to the cathode-ray TVs the world tuned in to in order to see Neil Armstrong become the first human to step foot on the lunar surface.
The watchmaker has never produced a square-faced watch before, and has gone all out for its debut effort. Aside from the Miyota 9039 automatic mechanical watch movement, every component is bespoke, with a stainless steel case and sapphire crystal glass. Worn daily the movement will keep itself ticking, but can also be wound manually.
The four models are all distinct, and each take design elements from various space missions. The Eagle, named after Apollo 11’s lunar lander, has a jet black inner face and radially textured outer, offset by an orange chapter ring. The Valentina, named after the first woman to travel into space in 1963, has an off-white dial and textured outer face, accented in brass.
The number eleven appears in orange on the Futura and Hadfield models, to celebrate the Apollo 11 landing. The former has a white inner face and subtle honeycomb outer, inspired by one of 2001: A Space Odyssey’s most iconic scenes, which is offset by polished steel hands. The latter was named after Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield – arguably as famous for covering covering David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ on his floating guitar as for his contribution to educating a new generation about space travel. It has a navy watchface and stainless steel hands.
All four have a lunar lander graphic on the underside of the watch, and have crosshairs on the front meant to mimic the photographs snapped on the moon.
Buyers can mix and match from a selection of different straps. The rubber and velcro materials are no stranger to space travel, and can be had in multiple colours, plus a choice of smooth or diamond textures.
The Marloe Astro watch is going on sale today in Futura and Hadfield designs, directly from the firm’s website. The Valentina and Eagle styles are up for pre-order, and will ship from mid-August. Prices start at £349.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 