Marloe Solent Timer Rescue Watch Review

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Marloe Solent Timer Rescue

Does anything say summer more than a creamsicle? Creamsicle pops, creamsicle cake, and a creamsicle watch. Well, Marloe isn’t marketing this watch at all in that way, but it is the first thing I thought of when I saw the dial of the Marloe Solent Timer Rescue. The cream dial with an orange timing track just reminds me of that delicious snack, and with this teal strap, it also looks perfect for summer. But make no mistake, this is a serious watch. Orange is the international color for emergency and this 42mm stainless steel case has dual crowns, one for the inner timing bezel, 100m of water resistance, sapphire crystals, a subtly patterned dial, and a Miyota 9039 automatic movement, with a starting price of around $460. 

Specifications

• 42mm diameter Polished Stainless Steel
• 12mm Thick
• 22mm lugs
• 48mm Lug to Lug
• Natulite lume on hands, indices, and bezel
• Internal rotating bezel
• Sapphire crystal with dual-side AR coating
• Miyota 9039 automatic movement
• 40+ hour power reserve
• Hacking function, Parashock anti-shock
• 100 Metre / 10ATM water resistance
• 72g

Price $460 (As Reviewed)

https://www.marloewatchcompany.com/collections/solent-timer

I reviewed a Marloe Solent a few years ago, and that watch was similar to this as it had the same case design and dimensions, but a very different dial and only one crown. The Marloe Solent Timer changes up a few things, by adding the internal bezel and the crown to control it, and this patterned dial with round applied indices. Now only 2 versions of this Solent Timer have the patterned dial, the Rescue (orange), and the Oceanic (blue). Two other models are available, the Cardinal (black and yellow) and the one simply dubbed the black edition, which yes, you guessed it, is an all-black dial.

And I love this dial. The pattern is light, you have to get close or see it in the right light. From further away, it just looks like a white or cream-colored dial, but once you get up close, you see those diagonal lines, of alternating hues of cream and white, and add in the orange accents around the round domed indices and the orange inner bezel, and this is just an easy to read, vibrant dial. The hour and minute hands are partially skeletonized, and kind of unique, and they work here with this style of watch. And you will notice, this dial is pretty symmetrical and there is no date, and while I know many love to have a date on a watch, I appreciate that this one does not, as it would have ruined the dial by getting rid of one of the indices or making a mark in this pattern. 

While many watches with this dual crown setup are diving watches, the Marloe Solent Timer Rescue is a nautical watch as the British brand dubs it, so think of watches that can be used on a boat, while sailing, or just out on your favorite picnic table this summer and timing your steaks on the grill. Whatever you are using it for, both crowns do screw down, and with that, I did find the internal bezel crown on this one to be a touch finicky. It only takes a few turns to unscrew, but when you do, the bezel easily moves in either direction, but you need a light hand to screw it back down and have that bezel stay where you want it. Check out the video above to see what I mean. 

Unlike the previous version, this Marloe Solent Timer Rescue is all highly polished, and while I love the look of highly polished watches, especially ones that are finished very nicely like this one, I am just not a fan of them on pieces meant for the outdoors. A brushed or blasted finish would be better in my opinion, but this is also a relatively thin round case, with thin lugs, and even at 42mm, I don’t think it will get banged into a lot of things, so it should hold up fine over time. 

On the case back, we have an open window to see the Miyota 9039 movement, and I like that they chose this movement, as it doesn’t have the date complication, so no worry about phantom date positions on the crown. And while I would have liked a nice case back engraving, the ring around the movement does have a nice little proverb from Franklin D. Roosevelt. The case back screws down and is also pretty much almost perfectly flat, which ends up being very comfortable on the wrist.

And speaking of on the wrist, this 42mm case fits me perfectly. While to some a 42mm is a large watch these days, this one doesn’t wear large, as the case is thin, and tucked in if you will, and even with the 48mm lug to lug, it fits well on my 7 1/2 inch (19.05cm) wrist. Now there are a few caveats, which is the silicone straps. Yes, the rubber straps they offer in many different colors are silicone, not FKM or natural rubber, and I was very hesitant about this. I will say they don’t catch lint and dirt like I thought they would, and though I only wore it on this strap a few hours at a time, it didn’t seem to make me sweat like I thought it would. These straps are a little on the short side as well in my opinion, especially for a watch that is 42mm. All that said, you have a large choice of other straps on the Marloe website, including leather, horween leather, and some metal bracelet options (without fitted ends though). These are 22mm lugs, so if you like none of the straps, choose the cheapest option and put on your favorite 22mm.

Lastly, we get to the lume, and the compound used here is Natulite, when I looked it up, I found this is a proprietary lume compound that Citizen uses, and I assume licensed to be used by others. For a watch with relatively small indices, it glows well and is easy to see in the dark, but don’t expect a lume monster here either.

I have reviewed quite a few Marloe pieces over the years, and the one thing I appreciate about them is they are different. They don’t produce dive watches, which of course saturates the market, and they did not go the cookie-cutter homage route either like so many other brands do. Their watches are distinct, well-made, and finished, with a lot of good details. The Marloe Solent Timer Rescue is another example of that. The timing crown is a little finicky on my example, but still very usable, and I am in love with this colorway with the patterned dial, of course with either the orange strap or this teal strap, a perfect summer watch. And if you want to grab one even cheaper, well they have a 10% pop-up on their website which would bring this watch down to around $414, (depending on strap choice) and I would say that is a good bargain for all it offers.