The Baltic Watches MR Roulette Launch has landed. Discover the four new designs here.
If you like retro watches and haven’t explored the Baltic yet, I recommend you do. The French brand has been around since 2016 and specializes in affordable mechanical watches infused with a dose of vintage.
These values appeal to collectors interested in the four new Baltic MR Roulette watches. Each has a classic, vintage-esque vibe that nods to the 1950s.
More specifically, Baltic takes inspiration from the Calatrava watch, designed by Patek Philippe. The prestigious Swiss watchmaker holds a reputation for crafting investment-worthy collectibles, but they’re also costly.
Baltic watches are a more affordable alternative and come in various designs. These include the new salmon, blue, black, and silver MR Roulette watches.
Table of Contents
Baltic’s Portfolio of Affordable Watch Designs
I mentioned earlier that Baltic specializes in affordable vintage-inspired timepieces. Most of the company’s designs fall into this category, though there is one exception to the rule: the Aquascaphe.
The Aquascaphe is a relatively modern-looking timepiece compared to the rest of the brand’s lineup. Even so, it’s one of the brand’s most collectible designs.
Price-wise, the most affordable options are those from the HMS line. These watches cost around $450 and feature a central hour, minute, and second hand. One particularly attractive version dropped in 2024, the HMS 002 Gold, retailing for $385.
The MR01 is the middle ground. These watches, along with the Bathyscaphe, cost between $650 and $850. They feature a small second sub-dial, which it shares with the new MR Roulette.
Then, there’s a bit of a jump. GMT versions of the Aquascaphe cost around $1,000, while chronographs cost around $2,000.
As you’ll gather from that quick pricing review, the brand categorizes its watches into dive models, dress watches, and chronographs.
I also like that Baltic is exclusively mechanical. I don’t have anything against quartz watches, as such. But you know where you stand with Baltic, both price-wise and performance-wise.
Before we discuss the new Baltic Watches MR Roulette launch, let’s examine the story behind the brand.
The Story Behind Baltic Watches
When you speak to most watch enthusiasts, they often say their passion for timepieces originated from their father or grandfather. Something is endearing about that.
These interests are not naturally engrained in our DNA at birth. Moreover, we adopt them and acquire them as we grow.
Valuable heirlooms and timepieces that travel down the family line become special if they carry a story. When they land on the wrists of the younger generation, they take on an even deeper meaning and presence.
Something about the Baltic Watch company’s background resonates on a profound emotional level. The brand’s origins didn’t form until founder Etienne Malec’s father passed away.
Upon reading his diary, Malec discovered his father’s innate love of classic timepieces, which sparked his passion for horology. The brand, which arrived in 2016, takes its name from the northern coast of Poland, where his father originated.
Malec takes influences from his father’s love of classic timepieces when crafting his designs, many of them taking on a vintage look. This is how Baltic watches gained their recognizable look.
The Baltic MR01 Watch Collection
The MR01 belongs to the Classic series and, as one would expect, looks “classic.” By this, I mean that its finishes are of a level you seldom see elsewhere for the same price.
Collectors especially like their slim cases and easy-wearing nature. As far as 36mm watches go, MR01 designs bridge the gap between “modern” and “classic” perfectly.
Another feature enthusiasts like about the MR01 is Baltic’s entrancing mix of textures and meticulous finishes on the dial.
When light hits the surface of these dials, brushed and guilloche finishes interact with one another. Light shifts between polished surfaces and shadows, playfully bouncing off facets and angles.
This type of execution creates a high-end feel despite Baltic’s very reasonable prices.
Above all, MR01 watches are incredibly elegant and incorporate classic elements like Breguet hands and wonderland-like Arabic numerals. Together, these features make for a great daily companion for all occasions.
The collection’s design language expands into the MR Roulette design, including the four latest models.
We’re going to look at them in a little more detail now.
The Baltic Watches MR Roulette Launch
One of the new Baltic MR Roulette watches’ winning features is its sector dials. I’m a huge fan.
The sector dial is easy to identify when you know how.
Firstly, two concentric circles overlap one another. You can see this in the MR Roulette design; the small seconds sub-counter interferes with the hour track.
Another sign is the minute scale on the outer edge of the dial and the hours on the inner section.
Baltic experts chose a grained background (except the black iteration) and two brushed scales for the railroad and hour markers. As you’ll appreciate, the small seconds sub-dial is off-center — a signature design element of the MR01 collection.
The dauphine hands tastefully taper to a fine point and bear beautiful facets that catch even the smallest amount of light.
The dial is abundant in textures and tones. Pockets of light and shadows cast by the textural differences between the sectors are special. They promote a fun and exciting way to read the time.
Baltic offers the new MR Roulette watches in salmon, silver, blue, and black. The latter, however, features a glossy background and looks resolutely dressy on the grey Italian leather strap.
The 36 mm case makes for a great unisex watch and boasts a vertically brushed finish. The tops of the lugs have a circular brush finish for added contrast, while the bezel edge bears an attractive polish.
The pleasingly thin case adds to the wearability factor for those in search of a watch for small wrists.
A depth of 9.9mm seems nearly impossible to house a mechanical movement, but this is a micro-rotor. The CAL5000a micro-rotor is an automatic winding engine that integrates the micro-rotor into its construction, making for a compact profile.
The movement sits inside a 30-meter water-resistant housing with an exhibition window. It also provides an impressive 46-hour power reserve.
Why Are the New Baltic MR Roulette Watches So Affordable?
The Baltic watch company sources parts from Hong Kong but assembles them in France. If this puts you off, it shouldn’t do, especially if you’re shopping for a watch on a budget.
For its price bracket, Baltic does a decent job of delivering timepieces with that desirable high-end feel.
The company may not garner the same respect as some of the world’s best Japanese watch brands. But it isn’t the only brand sourcing cheap parts from third parties.
For example, Shinola’s story is a sore point for some. This brand sources parts from China and “other third parties” and then whacks the “Made in Detroit” lettering on its dial.
While they aren’t the ugliest of watches, the company’s ethos doesn’t exactly feel genuine. Shinola, after all, claims to be boosting Detroit’s economy by putting its “manufacturing facilities” in the heart of the city.
Anyway, I digress. But my point is that Baltic is quite transparent about sourcing its watch components. Despite this, the level of finishing in the new MR Roulette dial is hugely impressive.
Baltic watches don’t look cheap because the company doesn’t skimp on its materials or attention to detail. For me, these are all huge tick-box requirements.
The Takeaway
Baltic watches are for people who want the look of a vintage watch but with modern movements and materials. No watch better perpetuates this than these new releases.
The new Baltic MR Roulette watches’ tangible and visceral beauty is hard to comprehend unless you spend time handling them. You have to wear and observe them yourself to appreciate their palpable beauty.
I can imagine that even after wearing this watch for some weeks, new details will reveal themselves. Shards of light, for example, as they hit the domed sapphire top, create a sense of great visual depth. This is a design that, in so many ways, keeps on giving.
Even more exciting is that Baltic is numbering the first 100 models. I wonder if these numbered editions will hold a higher value in the pre-owned market.
I usually have reservations when it comes to brands that sit just below the Oris mark. That’s normally my cut-off point. But the level of finishes in this watch blows me away.
Compare it to an $8k Grand Seiko, for example. Three-dimensional-looking dials and refined cases are apparent in both. Upon comparison, however, you begin to realize what’s really out there on the market when you look for it.
I give the Baltic Watches MR Roulette Launch the thumbs up, but what do you think? Leave your comments below!
Leave a Reply