Deployant
Peter Speake-Marin: A True Modern Classic
Before he cut a trailblazing path as an independent watchmaker, Peter Speake-Marin was a man other independents depended on to get their watches launched.
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Deployant
Before he cut a trailblazing path as an independent watchmaker, Peter Speake-Marin was a man other independents depended on to get their watches launched.
Deployant
In this week's Throwback Sundays article, we feature six Speake-Marin watches from our archives, ranging from the Piccadilly to the Double Tourbillon.
Deployant
We review the intriguing Speake-Marin Blue & White Spirit Seafire, with hands-on analysis, pricing and full specifications.
Deployant
A novelty from AHCI: the Speake-Marin Diamond Magister Dong Son Tourbillon. Click here to find out more!
Deployant
Review of the Peter Speake-Marin Magister Double Tourbillon with full hands-on and live photographs and specifications and price.
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Deployant
Speake-Marin may be a relatively new independent watchmaking brand, but its impact has been tremendous. And with the new Magister Tourbillon, it just gets better. The folks at Deployant has been fans of Speake-Marin since its inception. Personally, I have a soft spot for the brand. One of the most distinct features of the watch would be theRead More
Deployant
Speake-Marin watches are aching beautiful. I have featured this watch before, but I cannot help but to show it again…so photogenic. Achingly beautiful. No other words needed.
Deployant
The Vietnamese market is a slippery one, for many foreign businesses. I have personal experiences of mis-adventures, but particularly so for the high end horology business. One of the few independent watchmakers who have made inroads into this former Communist market is Peter Speake-Marin. I continue focussing on Peter today, with his interesting, and quiteRead More
Deployant
Peter Speake-Marin…one of the few English watchmakers living and working in Switzerland. I have known Peter for perhaps 10 years, since he was starting out as an independent watchmaker. He cut his teeth in Renaud et Papi and at one of the great London vintage retailer’s restoration atelier. He was recently in Singapore to showcaseRead More
Revolution
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Hodinkee
A titanium flying tourbillon in two sizes.
Monochrome
The Ripples Collection was presented as Speake-Marin‘s vision of a luxury sports watch with an integrated design, blending the brand’s signature aesthetic with a modern case and a distinctive dial, standing apart with its unique visual identity and refined details. When Speake-Marin celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2022, it marked the occasion with a special […]
Worn & Wound
Last week, Peter Speake returned to the independent watchmaking scene when he unveiled the first pieces from his new brand, PS Horology. Peter is something of a legendary figure in the indie watchmaking world. He is the co-founder of Speake-Marin, which launched in 2002 after Peter spent a period of time working as a watchmaker for Renaud & Papi in Le Locle, Switzerland. Speake-Marin is perhaps best known for the Piccadilly case design, named for the London district where Peter spent the early part of his career restoring vintage watches. The Piccadilly case, I’ve always felt, is something of an acquired taste. I’ve come to really love it, and see it as a symbol of an earlier era of independent watchmaking when these artisanal, handcrafted watches made in very small batches were not at the front of anyone’s mind. Times, of course, have changed for the better, and indies are currently having the quite the moment, but it’s worth remembering that a line can be drawn from any of the buzzy new indie watchmakers to surface in the last few years all the way back to Peter and his early 2000s contemporaries. To put it plainly, it’s great that he’s back. Peter founded PS Horology back in 2022 and has been working on the first collection ever since. The Tsuba watches seen here are expected to be the first of several projects for PS Horology in 2025. While it might not look like it on an initial glance, there’s actually connective tissue between the Piccadilly cases of...
SJX Watches
I was happy to see Peter Speake return with PS Horology and the Tsuba. Peter was one of the first independent watchmakers I got to know well on a personal basis, and I have followed his career for almost two decades now. I first met Peter sometime in 2005, either at Baselworld (it was my first time there) or in Singapore during his regular round-the-world tours. He was then a fresh face in independent watchmaking, having just founded his brand Speake-Marin in 2002. In the context of the period, when independent watchmaking was a truly niche segment, Peter was a star (although he is modest enough he might disagree). Founded by Peter and Daniela Marin, who were then married, Speake-Marin was a promising brand with many of the ingredients for success, including a strong aesthetic (thick, chunky, and ETA-based but I liked it), good watchmaking and quality thanks to Peter’s own skill, and of course Peter himself – the personality is as important as the product in independent watchmaking. The unique Majestic Monkey of 2008, one of the first custom Speake-Marin watches I saw in person Peter was not the only watchmaker I met around that time, but I got to know him better than most other indie watchmakers, as a result of an annual watch fair that took place in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. Known as A Journey Through Time (AJTT), the watch fair was staged by YTL Corporation, a Malaysian conglomerate with diversified interests ranging from power generation to luxury shoppi...
SJX Watches
Peter Speake has introduced the first watches under his new brand, PS Horology. Long separated from the eponymous brand Speake-Marin, Mr Speake has launched the Tsuba. A significant departure from his earlier designs, the Tsuba’s case and bracelet features flowing, organic lines inspired by tsuba, guards found on traditional Japanese swords that were functional but often exquisitely decorated. The debut of PS Horology, just six days into the new year, is the first significant relaunch of 2025 but probably not the last. Initial thoughts Mr Speake is a significant figure in the early history of independent watchmaking, so the launch of his new brand attracted my attention. While the designs are a departure from what I’m used to seeing from the projects he’s been involved with in the past, they are nonetheless executed with an eye for the details. The Tsuba is all about its case and bracelet design, which is almost organic in feel, calling to mind watches like the Patek Philippe Nautilus. But the Tsuba’s design has an altogether different influence, and the similarity is incidental. The unusual shape of the case means it’s difficult to manufacture and finish, with dramatic transitions between brushed convex surfaces and polished concave surfaces. The watch is powered by the well-known Vaucher cal. 5401, a thin, sophisticated calibre that helps the Tsuba achieve its appealing slimness of just under 9 mm. The multi-part dials are also worth close examination. The stan...
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Quill & Pad
In the 7 years since Peter Speake parted with the Speake-Marin brand he has been collaborating with other brands and watchmakers. Now he is back with a new brand PS Horology and two new models: the Tsuba Blue and Tsuba Dong Son.
SJX Watches
Antoine Simonin (1938-2024), who died on May 20 at the age of 84, left his mark on generations of watchmakers and watchmaking enthusiasts. He will be best remembered as the director of WOSTEP (Watches Of Switzerland Training Educational Program) from 1976 to 2003. Simonin was a person obsessed with the transmission of watchmaking knowledge, and sought to make WOSTEP an instrument for the international dissemination of watchmaking mastery. Founded in 1966, WOSTEP sought to train watchmakers capable of maintaining and repairing Swiss-made watches according to the standards laid out by their makers, the Swiss watch industry. Over time, its courses have been taught in English, French, German, Japanese, Swedish, and Mandarin. “I studied at WOSTEP under Antoine Simonin in 1987 and 1991,” says Peter Speake, the watchmaker best known for founding Speake-Marin, “He was instrumental in keeping WOSTEP going during that difficult industry period, subsequently influencing the careers and friendships of many watchmakers, directly and indirectly, playing a significant role in the lives of many crossing multiple generations.” Recounts another student, Paul Francis Madden, now himself an instructor at WOSTEP, “I was a student in 1987, back when the staff at WOSTEP was only Mr Simonin and his wife Josiane… It came to showing him my first hairspring… He slowly spun my balance wheel in his callipers, scrutinising it for what seemed like an eternity, and all without saying a sing...
Worn & Wound
Don’t look now, but it appears that one of the great names of early 2000s independent watchmaking is back with their feet under them, fully invested in making interesting and beautiful watches. Speake Marin, founded by Peter Speake-Marin in 2002, was one of those gateway brands for many collectors coming of age at around the time the brand got its start, thanks in no small part to the founder being one of the most well liked and enthusiastic spokespeople not only for their own brand, but for indie watchmaking in general, of that era. Speake Marin (the brand) has had some ups and downs since the departure of its founder in 2017, but recent efforts like the Dual Time (in a host of festive colors) and the Ripples (their oddly named but quite striking entry in the integrated bracelet sports watch genre) have garnered more attention than the brand has seen in quite some time. Their most recent release, the Openworked Sandblasted Ti. The One & Two Openworked line has become a signature in the larger Speake Marin catalog, consisting of, well, evocatively openworked dials that show off some seriously high level manufacturing. They also do a great job of calling attention to the intricately finished movements and the unusual geometry and layout of Speake Marin watches, which is the underlying factor in what makes this watch so striking. The running seconds between 1:00 and 2:00 is, of course, deeply unusual, as is the visible barrel from the dial side with an engraving of the bra...
Quill & Pad
Pierce Brosnan’s personal and professional timepieces have included big names like Rolex, Cartier, Omega, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Panerai, but also intriguingly Speake-Marin. What influence do the roles he plays have on his personal watch taste? Martin Green provides the answer.
Previously, the Speake-Marin catalogue was limited to dressier timepieces outfitted on straps. Recently, however, Speake-Marin unveiled their first foray into the immensely popular integrated stainless-steel sports category with their new Ripples design. The 50 metre water-resistant stainless-steel case effectively presents a large circular dial within a cushion format. While 40.3mm in diameter, because the dial … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: Speake Marin makes waves with new Ripples watch appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Time+Tide
Watchmaking can often seem like an intimidating world that’s inaccessible to all but the most tech-savvy. But Peter Speake-Marin is striving to change that with his fascinating website, The Naked Watchmaker. After exiting his eponymous haute horlogerie watch brand, Speake-Marin has worked as a consultant and started his site with a desire to demystify and … ContinuedThe post RECOMMENDED READING: Enter the secret labs of COSC and learn their secrets appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
The Naked Watchmaker (TNW), aka Peter Speake-Marin, does a series of deconstructions of a broad selection of modern Breguet watches and movements, starting with the Classique 5177, a relatively simple (for Breguet) three-hand dress watch with date. Here Ian shares a few details that The Naked Watchmaker didn't reveal.
Quill & Pad
Ian Skellern still remembers the sense of awe he felt when he had the opportunity to watch and listen to a recently restored centuries-old Jaquet Droz singing bird. The animation was compelling, and the quality of the birdsong sound was incredible. But as impressive a feat he thought that full-sized eighteenth-century Jaquet Droz singing bird clock was, shrinking that mechanical technology to wristwatch size is just mind-blowing. As The Naked Watchmaker, Peter Speake-Marin, highlights here.
Time+Tide
We have recommended taking a look at the master watchmaker Peter Speake-Marin deconstructing various watches in the past, and that’s because how interesting it is to get a proper look into some of the most popular watches out there. What makes this deconstruction by Peter interesting is that it is with the Grand Seiko Hi-Beat … ContinuedThe post RECOMMENDED READING: Exploding a Grand Seiko Hi-Beat GMT appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
Ever wondered what the inside of a Rolex Submariner looks like, then (sensibly) thought better of trying to find out? Well, wonder no more. The Watches TV has teamed up with The Naked Watchmaker, Peter Speake-Marin, to take a modern Rolex Submariner completely apart – diving right into the heart of this famous diver’s watch.
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