Maen, and the Manhattan

— If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

- — text and photos by Zen Love —

But any watch brand that seems to get everything right, at least on paper, probably at least deserves a closer look. That was more or less the thought process when Maen first really grabbed my attention.

It was 2019, and the then young startup had just launched the Skymaster, a Swiss automatic chronograph that looked impressively on point with nearly every listed spec. It stood out at the time for also being small, at only 38 mm, as well as rather thin for an automatic chronograph. Stylistically, each variant was conservative but pretty unassailably handsome. But here's the kicker: It was around only ₹64,000 (approx.)—nearly unheard of for what it seemed to be offering.

Today, the brand is still strong on specs and value. As it's matured, however, Maen has grown its range of vintage-inspired collections and upped its game in quality and execution. "It's like a big jungle out there," says Sebastiaan Cortjeans who co-founded Maen with Jules van Helvoort, "It has taken us a long time to find good suppliers."

The brand's current products speak for themselves. They're impressive for what you pay, even if Maen has had to bring prices closer to what's average within their space. The Skymaster is around two grand, though the majority of Maen products hover around ₹91,500 (approx.). Cortjeans echoes a sentiment you hear from many of the best microbrands: "We still want to overdeliver," he says, "so that when people get the watch, they say 'Wow, I didn't expect this for a thousand bucks'."