This Affordable Patek Alternative Nails the Trend Currently Driving Watchmaking

It’s never been easier to start a watch brand or harder to stand out as a new brand.

Old gatekeeping has given way to a fully accessible infrastructure of movements, parts and materials. A clearly trodden path exists for aspiring horologists to establish their brands.

Maen

But good luck once the metaphorical doors open for business, cause the competition has never been fiercer, especially in the “affordable” luxury alternative range of $750-$1,500.

Maen is one of the few brands that started from scratch not too long ago and has established a name for itself. No watch has better demonstrated the Dutch-Swiss watchmaker’s prowess than the new Manhattan 37 Ultra Thin.

Maen

Sure, marketing and business practices matter, but design is nine-tenths of the battle for young watch brands, and Maen designs with a masterful touch.

The newest addition to the Manhattan collection is a culmination, accumulating the best aspects of all previous designs into a perfect representation of the current mood in the watch world.

Steeling the show

For those who recognize the resemblance to the Pattek Philippe Cubitus, it is important to acknowledge that Maen debuted the Manhattan in 2022, nearly two years earlier.

Maen

Receiving the sincerest form of flattery from one of the biggest names in the industry is a badge of honor for a young watch brand. Considering Maen specializes in integrated steel sports watches, the compliment, of sorts, means even more coming from that brand that defines the genre.

Rather than resting on those laurels, Maen is progressing the Manhattan collection further by blending the 37mm width of the original design with the height of the 2024 Ultra Thin.

Maen

The new Manhattan 37 Ultra Thin refreshes the steel integrated sports watch genre, established in the 1970s and blowing up in the 2020s, with the wrist-friendly sizing currently driving watch design.

This one is just right

Like the larger 39mm Manhattan Ultra Thin, the 37mm runs on the ETA Peseux caliber 7001 hand-wound movement with a 42-hour power reserve. Aside from going quartz, it is one of the thinnest third-party movements available to brands that don’t produce them in-house.

Maen

Unlike its two-handed older brother, the new Manhattan 37 Ultra Thin is outfitted with a small seconds complication. The inset sub-dial has the same elongated octagonal shape as the full dial and has a railroad seconds track.

Maen

The rest of the dial matches previous references, with rectangular applied indices fitted around the outside edge and the same angular, tiered hands. The hour hand, minute hand, and hour marks are fitted with lume inserts.

Along with the new small seconds, this downsized Manhattan introduces a new dial texture to the collection. Known as a “Tuscan” dial, it is stamped to resemble pebble grain leather, and comes in blue, green, gray and salmon.

Maen

Maen doesn’t make a far more affordable alternative to the Patek Philippe Cubitus; it makes an original design that may or may not have inspired a luxury alternative.

Better still, the Manhattan 37mm Ultra Thin nails the current ideal sizing, dictated by the watch zeitgeist, better than any other affordable integrated steel sports watch.

Availability and pricing

The Maen Manhattan 37 Ultra Thin is available from Maen on June 23 for $1,294.

All four dial colors are only available on the integrated three-flat-link tread-style bracelet with a three-part center folding clasp.

Maen

Maen Manhattan 37 Ultra Thin

Specs

Case Size	37mm
Movement	ETA Peseux caliber 7001 manual
Water Resistance	100m

• $1,294 at Maen

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