Maen

Maen is a Stockholm-based watch brand founded in 2017 by two Dutchmen, Sebastiaan Cortjaens and Jules van Helvoort, that sells direct to collectors worldwide. Its stated aim is to offer the best quality for reasonable prices, and its watches pair Swiss movements with steel cases, sapphire crystals and designs that mix vintage inspiration with current technology, from about USD 850 to 1,750. The name is the old Dutch spelling of "moon", which the brand calls the ultimate symbol of time. It says it has released more than six collections since 2017 and has customers in more than 90 countries.

According to the brand, Cortjaens and van Helvoort met while living abroad and shared a passion for watches and collecting; each had been thinking separately about starting a brand, and they teamed up after Cortjaens asked van Helvoort for his thoughts on an idea. Maen works with industry partners to find suitable materials, solutions and constructions, and sells directly, which it says gives it more control over its products and fairer prices. Watches carry a two-year warranty and ship free worldwide above €150. The brand's pages do not say where the watches are made, and its press mentions include Time+Tide, Hodinkee, Monochrome, Gear Patrol and Worn & Wound.

The website sorts the current watches into automatic and hand-wound groups of four models each. The automatics are the Hudson 38 MK5, the Hudson 38 GMT MKII, the Manhattan 37 and the Manhattan 40. The Hudson 38 MK5, at USD 847, is a redesigned dive-style watch with a 38 mm, 11 mm-thick 316L steel case, a 120-click ceramic bezel, a box-domed sapphire crystal, 30 ATM water resistance, a sandblasted jet black or midnight blue dial and a La Joux-Perret G100 automatic with a power reserve of about 68 hours. The Hudson 38 GMT MKII, at USD 1,235, has a 60-click two-tone 24-hour bezel and a Sellita SW330-2 with an independent GMT hand and a power reserve of about 50 hours.

The Manhattan family is a modern reinterpretation of landmark 1970s watches, with a steel case, a vertically elongated octagonal bezel, a Côtes de Genève dial and an integrated bracelet. The brand presents five interpretations, in 37, 39 and 40 mm sizes with three La Joux-Perret calibres. The automatic Manhattan 37 is 9.3 mm thick, with a G100 and a power reserve of about 65 hours, in midnight blue, ice grey, anthracite black or salmon, at about USD 915; a Top Grade option, listed at USD 1,372, adds a rhodium-plated, fully decorated movement with blued screws and a gold-plated rotor, regulated in five positions, visible through an open caseback. The Manhattan 40, at USD 916, is the larger sibling in midnight blue and marsh green. Both are rated to 10 ATM.

The hand-wound watches are thinner. The Manhattan 37 Ultra-Thin, at USD 1,382, is 7.1 mm thick with a La Joux-Perret D100 and a hammered dial the brand says was inspired by 1990s Tuscan dials, and the Manhattan 39 Ultra-Thin, at USD 1,384, is 6.9 mm thick with a D101 and no date. The Manhattan 37 Ultra-Thin Stone, at USD 1,578, is the brand's first permanent collection with natural stone dials, in black onyx, golden swan and snowflake obsidian, each different, with the first batch in stock and further orders shipping by the end of April 2027. The Grand Tonneau Ultra-Thin, at USD 1,741 and made in collaboration with Nico Leonard, is a 34 mm, 6.4 mm-thick tonneau watch in gold-plated steel with a D101 and fumé dials of brass under a transparent enamel glaze in black, turquoise, yellow and lava red, which the brand calls the thinnest it has made.

Maen's archive lists 34 retired references, most of them limited editions made with retailers and publications: Horoverse, Chronosport (the Manhattan 三七 Qian and Kun editions, 150 pieces each), Worn & Wound (75 pieces each), seconde/seconde/ (37 pieces), IFL Watches and SangHwal Watches (the Hudson 38 MK4, 75 pieces each). It also runs Boutique Exclusives, limited releases available on its website for 24 hours and then only through its retail network. The movements are bought in from La Joux-Perret and Sellita rather than made by the brand. Prices differ between pages of the site, and this listing uses those on the individual collection pages; the Manhattan 40's thickness is given as both 10.2 and 9.6 mm. This listing draws on the brand's own website.