One of the things I love about micros is that they are often willing to
try out ideas that more established companies wouldn't touch. Case in
point, the Maranez Undercover. Maranez
is best known for their stable of automatic dive watches. They are well
made, well priced, and can be a tad offbeat, like the brass and stone
Layan, or the mighty 1000 meter Bagala 47 Bronze. Now, they have
released their first quartz model and in true Maranez fashion, it is not
something you see every day.
The Undercover is a Miyota quartz in a massive hexagonal case. It
measures a whopping 50mm wide to the crown, 48mm lug-to-lug, and 16.5mm
thick. At first blush, it would appear to have a crown on either side
like the Jean Richard Diverscope but there is only one. The other
protuberance hides a hinge. "What for?" you ask. Why, to access the
secret compartment, of course.
Yes, along with more common features like the AR-coated sapphire
crystal, 120-click dive bezel, and C3 SuperLuminova, you get a hidden
34x8mm storage area behind the dial. Maranez suggests it might be useful
for "some [medicine] tablets, folded bank notes, small USB sticks, sim
cards or micro SD cards." the watch is rated for 100 meters water
resistance, but I suspect that only applies to the watch movement case,
not the stash box.
The dial is conservative, just unadorned black with stick markers and
baton hands, although it does boast the tiniest little nub of a second
have ever seen. It does not seem particularly useful, but there must be a
story behind that.
For the life of me, I don't know what to make of this watch, or how I
would possibly use it, but I am delighted that Maranez was willing to
give it a go. The Undercover is available at maranez.com in blasted stainless steel ($179) or IP black ($199), on a 22mm rubber strap.
Photos courtesy of Maranez
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