The Stowa Marine Original Arabic is Fit for a Life at Sea (Incl. Video)

German watchmaking company Stowa has been around for more than a century, and throughout that time, it became primarily known for two things: pilots’ watches and marine chronometers. These instruments were crucial in the early days of navigating the seas, as they were vital instruments in pinpointing where you were on your journey and where you were heading. Historically, they were often mounted on a gimbal in the captain’s quarters and had crisp white dials with black numerals and blued hands to prevent oxidation. In modern times, the need for such instruments dwindled, but watches like the Stowa Marine Original Arabic keep the spirit alive and kicking! 

The Stowa Marine Original Arabic might be a tad surprising to most, as generally marine chronometers tend to have Roman numerals instead of Arabic ones, but there’s a perfectly logical explanation. The watch actually takes after a 1942 pocket watch by Stowa, with this very dial layout. What immediately stands out with the Marine Original Arabic is the ease with which you can tell time. That’s down to the pristine white dial, with only the bare necessities printed on it, a common trait for this category of watches.

The design is simple yet extremely effective. A white lacquered base is printed with large Arabic numerals in black. To complement, the railroad-style minutes track and the scale for the recessed small seconds are also finished in black. The steel hands are blued by heat, in keeping with the historical inspiration. There’s really not much else to it, although Stowa does offer a cream-coloured solid 925 silver dial as an alternative.

All is set in a stout 41mm wide by 12.10mm tall stainless steel case, with a fully polished finish. The lug-to-lug size comes down to 50.2mm, which is quite substantial but a direct result of the movement that is fitted inside it. Of course, a sapphire crystal on both sides keeps things nice and safe to depths of 50m. Winding of the movement is done with a knurled onion-style crown.

Speaking of the movement, the Stowa Marine Original Arabic comes equipped with a manually wound Unitas 6498-1. With pocket watch origins, the top-grade 6498-1 movement fills almost the entire case thanks to its diameter of 36.6mm! Beating away at a leisurely pace of 18,000vph, it provides a running time of 46 hours when fully wound. The movement also comes with a swan-neck fine adjustment system and a screwed balance wheel. Looking at it through the back reveals visual treats such as horizontal ribbing, heat-blued screws, crisp engravings and so on. All in all, it’s a rather appealing rendition of what is a genuinely iconic movement.

Stowa puts the Marine Original Arabic on a calfskin leather strap with a folding clasp, or an alligator leather strap with a pin buckle. It retails for EUR 1,750 or EUR 1,850, depending on the type of strap. For a small premium, you can also add an engraving, or opt for the 925 silver dial with a cream-coloured finish. This will push the price to just above the EUR 2,000 mark, which is still quite fair for a watch with such historical relevance. It’s humble in its looks, but an ultra-legible and reliable watch fit for pretty much any circumstance in everyday life.

For more information, please visit Stowa.de.