When Etienne Malec started the Baltic watch company in France in 2016, it was an ode to his father, who was a photographer, as well as a watch collector and enthusiast. Malec admits that he did not know his dad very well, but in 2005, he did read his dad’s diary, detailing his interest in horology and was very enthusiastic with his dad’s watch collection. That is when Malec’s passion was born for fine watches.
The result has been a value proposition for the watch collector; a watch that offers fine details, a respectable movement and a beautiful presentation case back. The Baltic name comes from the fact that Malec’s father was born on the northern coast of Poland. The Baltic Sea has coastlines that include Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Russia and northern Poland.
The Baltic MR01, already a watch that had garnered a following of fans when it was first introduced, is a thing of beauty. The salmon-dial version was the one I had to own, although the blue dial is also very good looking. Not a fan of large watch case sizes, I was attracted to the MR01 because it has a 36mm case, a nod to the retro vibes of the watch and still a couple of millimeters larger than what I consider ideal.
Still, in a marketplace of giant watches, with 39, 40 and 42mm being the norm, my feeling has always been that these watches that cover a person’s entire wrist look like a caricature of a watch. They are simply too big.
The Baltic MR01 isn’t only 36mm, but it is also fairly thin relative to most watches with a thickness of 9.9mm. That includes the domed hesalite crystal. The case is made from 316L stainless steel. The movement is an automatic Hangzhou CAL5000a Micro-rotor. The watch is water-resistant to 30 meters. Many of the parts are manufactured in Hong Kong with final assembly in France. Accessories come from Italy.
My favorite watches have always been dress watches, ever since I started collecting watches more than 4 decades ago. Although I like field and aviator watches also, the dress watch remains the pinnacle of wrist ornamentation. The MR01 does a wonderful job fulfilling many of the requirements of a spectacular dress watch; it has Breguet numerals, a grainy finish on the dial, silver leaf-shaped hour and minute hands and an off-center seconds counter, sitting at the 7 o’clock position with a guilloche finish. An art piece in every respect.
I ordered mine with the blue Italian calf leather strap. A very nice contrast with the salmon dial color. Baltic makes many other beautiful watches, including many that are collaborations with other watch makers. Mine is scheduled to arrive the end of June. Will it end up on my wrist or prove to be worth enough in the secondary market for resale? That is yet to be seen.
UPDATE: I received the watch today (6/28/23) and created an unboxing video. The watch isn’t too large on my wrist, but I have to say I’m a bit put off by the thickness of the case, which I had perceived to be thinner. I was going to resell it on ebay, which might have, at one time, brought a profit, but the sold listings I found did not provide much profit for sellers…..and some lost money. Combine that with the Democrat’s new tax and lower threshold on items sold on ebay, and it is not worth trying to re-sell. May just keep it, but I would have to say that I am somewhat underwhelmed. Beside the thick case, the crystal reflects too much light, so the great views of the dial that you see in pictures, must use very controlled lighting.
Unboxing video: here
