There are a million and one reasons to start a watch brand. For the founders of American microbrand Matthew Mercury, it’s all about paying homage to the simple pleasures of watch design and Swiss-made movements. During their research, they came across the story of a hobbyist watchmaker called Matthew from the French town of Mercury just south of the Swiss border near Geneva. Having served in WWI, he established a workshop as a means to express himself with personal designs and movements he brought in from the nearby Swiss horological heartland. Unfortunately, WWII forced him to close his workshop for good. It’s that legacy of original design and Swiss movements that the modern Matthew Mercury brand is dedicated to.
What that means for Matthew Mercury the modern brand is that Swiss-made movements are the foundation of everything they create. Each watch is handcrafted around a Swiss movement from household name manufacturers such as Ronda and Sellita with a commitment to never compromise on quality. Aesthetically, Matthew Mercury aims to avoid homage and imitations with their watches and instead focus on developing watches that combine Swiss precision with a unique identity. Every collection is created with the belief that a watch should become part of a person’s story, something which is most clearly expressed through creations like the Anniversary Collection.
The Anniversary Collection
One of the core collections within the Matthew Mercury stable is the Anniversary Collection. It’s not dedicated to a specific anniversary but rather it’s a collection that’s designed to allow you to celebrate any personal anniversary such as a notable birthday, wedding, promotion, graduation or any other meaningful life milestone. To that end, it features a clean 42mm steel case with options for 18k gold plating for a more luxurious finish.
It pairs that case with a relatively minimalist chronograph display that adds the utility of a stopwatch complication without suddenly turning the watch into a sports timepiece (if you prefer a sportier interpretation, the standard Chronograph model offers that). It preserves the formal, dressy nature of the piece well. There are a few variations of the dial layout with both sector dial and non-sector variants. Although all of them use a vertical tricompax chronograph display with 10-hour, 30-minute and small seconds subdials.
Powering the collection is the Swiss Ronda 3540.D quartz movement from the Startech line. Quartz has always been the go to option for balancing practicality and accessibility with the Matthew Mercury Anniversary line sitting at £395 – £479 depending on which options you pick.
Matthew Mercury Aeternum Automatic
More prestigious than quartz is a Swiss-made automatic movement, which introduces the capital ‘R’ Romance of a mechanical mechanism. For the Aeternum Automatic the movement in question is the Sellita SW220-1 with 41-hour power reserve and day-date functions. Sellita is a stalwart of the Swiss watchmaking industry and their movements are popular for their combination of accessibility and reliability thanks in large part because every service centre worth their salt knows how to care for and repair them.
That movement is housed in a 41mm case that’s even dressier than the Anniversary collection. Available in the same choice of steel or gold plating, it has a brushed, circular bezel that sits above a round case with polished edges. The brushed and polished lugs lead into a choice of perforated or crocodile style leather strap that enhances the dressy vibe further.
For the dial, there’s a strong early 20th century influence with a railway track minute scale and Roman numerals. These are classic Art Deco design elements, but the use of a 12/3/6/9 layout keeps it feeling reserved rather than ostentatious like many 1920s styles. Depending on case and strap options, the Matthew Mercury Aeternum Automatic is £595 – £699. You can be sure that you’ll be getting the best value as well because Matthew Mercury has committed to having no random discounts or seasonal sales to ensure every customer receives equal treatment.
More details at Matthew Mercury.
