What do you want from a holiday watch? That’s not a rhetorical question. Have a think about the various features you need and I’d argue that your average beater doesn’t quite fit the bill. Especially as I write this on a rainy afternoon in the Big Smoke of London, my idea of going anywhere and doing anything is a remote island a fair few timezones into warmer weather. I can imagine it now: just me, a cocktail (or three) and the Horage Molokini.
Molokini, as you might have guessed from the Polynesian name, is a crescent-shaped island in Hawaii, specifically located in the channel between Maui and Kahoʻolawe. You probably already have an image of it in your head right now: crystal clear waters, tropical fish and turtles, pristine sand, the lot. So, what do you need while you’re there?
Well, if you want to keep an eye on goings on back home, a dual time function’s always useful. Nobody likes a 3am phone call. You want something suitable for the beach that can handle a bit of snorkelling; let’s say 200m water resistance. To round things off, how about a bit of holiday colour? Well, the Moloniki has all that and more.
At 38mm across, it’s a relatively small watch for Horage, nestled in the perfect goldilocks zone, and relatively slim at 9.65mm thick – and boy does it make the most of that space. Along with a GMT function (a true GMT mind you, leave the office at home) readable on the half-lumed hand, there’s a day/night indicator at nine o’clock. Given there’s no 24-hour scale, it’s a nice quality-of-life extra. Right above that at 10 o’clock is a power reserve indicator adding a tricolore of red, white and blue and a large date window at six.
It’s definitely an interesting layout, though for the sake of symmetry I’d much prefer the reserve at three o’clock instead. Or, even better, dropping both that and the date, leaving just the day/night indicator. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not necessarily complaining that this watch is too feature-rich, just that I like a bit of aesthetic balance on my dials. If you care more about functionality, it’s hard to complain.
The dial’s available in three colours: a bright, ocean blue, a dark purple coral and this golden sand number with a lovely, thematic grain to it. It’s a nice trio and the exact shades aren’t ones that have been overdone. They also come with some complimentary fabric straps to switch from the bracelet. Though for a holiday watch I’d have liked a bit more brightness across the board. At least the red seconds hand adds a nice pop of beach spade red to the ensemble.
That said, I wouldn’t add colour the way most dive-adjacent watches to with the bezel – not because it wouldn’t work, but because I love the Moloniki’s unidirectional bezel as is. It’s relatively slim and entirely steel, with the diving scale in relief. It’s less practical as a proper diving instrument, but then this isn’t a serious diving watch, and the mix of polished and brushed finishing looks fantastic here. It works double well alongside the oversized crown.
Said crown of course links to Horage’s latest K2 movement, a 72-hour power reserve, COSC-certified number with -4/+6 seconds a day accuracy. If you notice it gaining or losing time on a secluded tropical island, you should probably take a good, hard look at yourself.
Perhaps as importantly, the K2 is an absolute stunner. If the front of the watch is unfussed fun, the reverse is serious business, with Horage’s signature quadratic, grid-shaped finishing, anthracite bridges and a gold-plated tungsten micro-rotor. I honestly think Horage make some of the coolest looking movements around. I wouldn’t stack them against a Vacheron in terms of artisanal metiers d’art, but the anthracite-gold combo is fantastic.
Wrap all of that in 200m water resistance and you have a watch that’s begging harder for a holiday than I am. In fact, the only downside is that the Moloniki has expensive tastes – that is to say, it’ll set you back CHF 6,490, round about £6,000. Or, if you grab one soon, you can knock CHF 500 off that for the pre-order price of CHF 5,990, (approx. £5,630).
In a vacuum I’d say that’s a solid price. The Moloniki is a good-looking watch with a lot of practical functionality in there. It’s got a stunning movement, it feels solid and well worth the money. But it’s not in a vacuum, and given how many cool, colourful GMTs and diver-GMTs there are out there, it has some stiff competition. In nearly all instances, the Moloniki is a better watch, but when the difference can be a few thousand pounds, it becomes tempting to pump that money into the holiday instead.
I still reckon it would look great with a cocktail and some palm trees, though.
Price and Specs:
More details at Horage.
