MARVIN SMALL SECOND
Movement : Marvin Manual Wound
Case : app. 35mm w/o Crown, Rose Gold Capped
Dial : Convex Dial with Arabic Marker
Hands : Daphine Hands with Sub/ Small Second
Circa 1960s
Lugs : Semi Fixed Fancy Lugs
Tidak banyak yang mengenal Marvin sebagai salah satu produsen Jam Tangan Swiss. Memang Rolex & Omega lebih banyak dikenal dikalangan kolektor untuk Mid-End Watch. Dan Marvin juga mungkin tidak memiliki Lini Legendaris seperti Rolex Submariner atau Omega Seamaster.
Termasuk sayapun demikian, kalau disebutkan kata MARVIN, maka yang terlintas pertama di kepala adalah judul sebuah album music dari Duo Australia "Frente !" yang berjudul "Marvin"The Album.
Namun, siapa pula yang tak kenal Marylin Monroe atau Che Guavara ???, dua nama tersebut adalah pemuka yang mengenakan Marvin sebagai Jam resminya CMIIW.
Dalam menggilai Jenis (jam tangan), tentu saja saya sangat menghindari hubungan sejenis :), lebih baik menyukai beragam jenis IMO. Karena terkadang bertemu dengan Kolektor yang hanya mempunyai hubungan sejenis, bicaranya menjadi kurang asyik. Kalau Monogami dalam pernikahan, mungkin bisa lebih baik daripada berpoligami, nah kalau di jam tangan, kebanyakan orang menjadi Fanboy-hardcore. Ngomongnya pake kacamata kuda, tidak bisa menikmati keindahan jam brand lain selain kecintaannya itu. So...HINDARILAH HUBUNGAN SEJENIS...!!!
Meskipun tidak ada yang sangat menonjol dari Marvin tua ini, namun aura vintage nya sangat mengena dan seakan membawa romansa saat bapak dan ibu saya masih remaja dulu.
Berikut saya copas sejarah singkatnya dari sebuah web :
Marvin didn’t begin as “Marvin”. It was founded in 1850 in Berne,
Switzerland by the brothers Marc and Emmanuel Didisheim as a small
watchmaking operation that finished watches using parts from outside
suppliers. The first factory proper was opened in 1891 under the name
Albert Didisheim et Freres, referring to Marc Didisheim’s sons who took
over the operation. In 1893 the Marvin name was registered.
The name “Marvin” came about when the Didisheims began to introduce
their products into the American market, starting in 1893 in New York.
The name “Albert Didisheim et Freres” didn’t quite have the marketing
punch needed in the US market, so the company took the name of their US
distributor – Marvin. By 1905 Marvin was the principal name of the
company but it was still run by the Didisheim family, who had now moved
operations from Berne to La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Marvin quickly established itself as a brand that provided good
design and quality finishing for reasonable money. In 1912 it became a
true “manufacture” producing all of its components in-house. It had a
state-of-the-art facility and a reputation for excellent treatment of
its employees. Through the middle of the 20th century Marvin
expanded and made a name for itself through motorsports sponsorship,
international distribution, celebrity “endorsements” (Marilyn Monroe and
Che Guevera both wore Marvins), and producing high quality movements
for other brands.
The success of Marvin peaked in the 1950s and 60s, by which point the
company had produced nearly 7 million watches. The 1970s, however, were
a different story. The introduction of the quartz movement in the late
60s by the Swiss industry was heralded as a breakthrough in
high-technology timekeeping. Ironically, it would result in the near
total destruction of the Swiss watch industry. While the first quartz
movements were very expensive and occupied the upper end of the market,
the second generation produced by Asian manufacturers were very
inexpensive and still highly accurate and reliable.
The influx of cheap Asian quartz watches effectively killed the
traditional mechanical watch industry. Hundreds of brands and suppliers
folded, were liquidated, or were consolidated into larger groups of
companies. Very few brands survived unscathed. Marvin was a victim of
the “Quartz Crisis” and was absorbed into the Manufactures d’Horlogerie
Suisses Reunies (MSR) conglomerate in 1970. The brand subsequently
disappeared, aside from a few offerings during the 1980s and 1990s,
after MSR absorbed the manufacturing facilities.
In 2002 the Marvin brand was purchased from MSR by Cecile and
Jean-Daniel Maye, who had previously run Time Avenue and Nina Ricci. The
story goes that the Mayes were interested in the history and strength
of the Marvin name, and approached the descendants of the Didisheims
about purchasing the rights to restart the brand. After much back and
forth, they finally agreed over a bottle of wine and Marvin was reborn.
By 2007 the new Marvin lineup was introduced through a clever “New
Times, New Codes” advertising campaign that created a unique, playful
identity around the brand. Clients became “Transumers” and were invited
to fill out an quirky “Mood Generator” survey on the brand website to
help choose the perfect Marvin for their personality. The brand made use
of the emergence of social media online to create awareness and promote
the watches. Facebook and various blogs became avenues of advertising.
It was clear from the beginning that Marvin was not going to be a
stodgy, traditional brand. It was going to be a young, hip and
distinctive brand that would take advantage of the internet to spread
awareness of the products.
The new Marvin lineup is geared towards affordable luxury. The Marvin
philosophy has always been to provide quality and fine finishing for
reasonable prices. There was a concise summary posted on the brand’s
blog : “…the ‘democratization’ of fine Swiss watch ownership was always a
value dear to Marvin since 1850. Our founders embraced a non-elitist
vision of watchmaking. To them, artful design, unquestionable quality,
and obsession with detail were not incompatible with affordability.
Quite the contrary. Why? Because the message behind Marvin ownership is
one of trust and dependability. The exclusivity is in being part of the
Marvin family. And the price of belonging should never be prohibitive,
or it would defeat the brand’s original values.” (original post
here)
Since 2007
Marvin has developed into an interesting brand that is offering exceptional watches for very fair prices. In 2010 they released the
Malton 160 and
Sebastien Loeb collections to celebrate the 160
th anniversary of the company; in keeping with the brand philosophy, these
new timepieces
offer very good quality, design and finishing for very reasonable
prices. As always Marvin has stayed true to its roots as a provider of a
good product that is accessible to all, a refreshing alternative
perspective in the Swiss luxury watch market.
Sumber :
http://www.mattbaily.ca/en/blog/2011/04/18/brief-history-marvin-watches/
