MARLOE WATCH COMPANY & ARDNAMURCHAN DISTILLERY
A SPECIAL COLLABORATION BETWEEN MARLOE WATCH COMPANY AND ARDNAMURCHAN DISTILLERY
THE TENSION OF TIME
Welcome to The Glenbeg White, a very special partnership with Ardnamurchan Distillery.
Time, in this context, is being stretched in two directions. At Marloe we talk about spending our time well. About using it wisely because it slips through our fingers all too quickly. We want to slow time down, it’s our enemy. The obverse of that time coin is whisky, where time is our friend. We want it to speed up. The longer whisky matures in cask, the more remarkable it gets. So that tension of time is a really interesting perspective to design from, and why we were so chuffed that Ardnamurchan Distillery felt the same way.
This is a special collaboration between Marloe Watch Company and Ardnamurchan Distillery and is a big moment in Ardnamurchan’s journey. Our task was simply to design something that encapsulates everything that happens here, from the mechanical precision and alchemy of production, through to the casks maturing in the dusty dunnage warehouses. The Glenbeg White is the Core Range watch to the Single Cask Glenbeg Blue.
What better way to celebrate the coming together of two like-minded companies than a very special watch. We hope you love it, because as you’ll see, it’s the product of doing things as expertly as possible, not as fast as possible.
To the future, and whatever it may hold.
OLIVER GOFFE - OPERATIONS & MARKETING
There’s a reason that Marloe is regarded as the most customer-loyal and friendly watch company around. It’s because of Oliver’s unwavering commitment to doing things the right way; he could be called a perfectionist, but we prefer to call him immensely pernickety.
GORDON FRASER - CREATIVE & PRODUCTION
Design through immersion is what makes each Marloe watch unique. A professional empathiser, Gordon highlights the spirit of pioneering, human endeavour and love of discovery in everything we do. A patriotic Scotsman, lover of pretzels and whisky. Maybe jazz too.
10 years of distilling
“ONCE THIS IS GONE, IT’S GONE FOREVER”
“This special project has been a joy from start to finish.
It has been a true collaboration. I have been fully immersed into “watch land”. Both Gordon & Oliver have included Ardnamurchan in every step of the design process - from materials, dials, hands and colours to the extensive packaging and copy that accompanies this unique project. I am very proud with how it has turned out.”
Connal Mackenzie - Sales Director for Ardnamurchan Distillery
TRADITION MEETS SUSTAINABILITY
Ardnamurchan Distillery, nestled on Scotland’s remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula, is dedicated to making single malt Scotch whisky using the lightest-touch approach to distilling in a remote location, including adding value to co-products and empowering a realistic and tangible circular economy. Established in 2014 by independent bottler Adelphi, the distillery blends traditional methods with innovative eco-friendly practices, utilising local renewable energy sources. With a focus on authenticity and traceability, Ardnamurchan offers both peated and unpeated whiskies that reflect the rugged beauty and rich heritage of the region.
Its award-winning expressions showcase a balance of complexity, character, and purity, making Ardnamurchan a standout in the world of artisanal whisky production.
The Glenbeg Spirit Still
THE GLENBEG WHITE
BACKGROUND
As far as partnerships go, watches and whisky seems like a pretty obvious one.
This, coupled with the clear and resonant frequency to which both Marloe and Ardnamurchan Distillery operate and conduct themselves, meant that the suggestion of a collaboration by Sales Director of Ardnamurchan Distillery, Connal Mackenzie, was met with much enthusiasm.
Since that meeting at Glenbeg in early 2023, the two teams have worked simultaneously to manifest a collaborative design that celebrates Ardnamurchan Distillery, their approach to whisky making, their ethos and values, as well as the beauty of the distillation process.
Knowing that Ardnamurchan Distillery were celebrating their decade of distilling in 2024, it felt like the perfect time to launch a watch and whisky project, where we’d select together a single cask of whisky to sit alongside the watches, in a stunning collaborative package. The Glenbeg Blue is a fitting tribute to the alchemy of whisky, and the sustainable and modern approach to the tradition of whisky production that Ardnamurchan Distillery deliver.
This is the follow-up to the Single Cask version of the Glenbeg Blue, where we’ve taken the exact same case, dial, hands and crystals, but modified the movement and the dial colour to match the Ardnamurchan Core Range AD/ whisky.
SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL
As hard as diamonds. That's all you really need to know about Sapphire crystal. Tough, clear and undeniably supreme when it comes to transparent materials, the crystal that covers the dial of the Glenbeg is coated in 3 layers of Anti-reflective coating on the both sides of the crystal, to minimise reflections.
COPPER APPLIQUE
Taking inspiration from the cask ends at Ardnamurchan, where the wooden staves meet against the cask end, forming the sealed vessel that matures their whisky.
Ardnamurchan paint their cask ends, and so we've used those shapes and colours to represent the casks lying in stow, sleeping soundly until the whisky inside is ready to be released.
THE PERSUADER
The hour and minute hands are a reference to the tool used to extract the bungs from the casks - small wooden plugs that keep the whisky inside, whilst allowing access to the whisky for checking and quality control.
This quite intimidating tool has a large screw tip which, when turned into the softer oak plug, grips the wood tightly. With the hammer side, the screw is bashed into the plug further and, with a quick whip of the wrist, removes the bung from the cask.
Ardnamurchan call their bung extractor tool "The Persuader", and its hexagonal form served as perfect shape for our hands.
INTERNAL PRINTING
The Glenbeg White features an internally printed Ardnamurchan motif on the case back, beautifully encapsulating the resonant partnership between Marloe and Ardnamurchan Distillery. Beneath this printed design you can see the immensely reliable Miyota 9039 Japanese automatic mechanical movement, whirring away.
9039 MOVEMENT
When we were considering what movement to deploy for the Glenbeg White we knew we had to choose with absolute confidence, a calibre that would deliver for us on all fronts.
Accuracy and reliability are a fundamental for us and there’s only one movement in our almost 10 years of watch manufacture that can deliver what we need: the 9039.
We also wanted a movement that was high-beat 28,000bph and featured all the standard stuff we expect from a modern mechanical movement - hacking and shock protection.
Of all the movements that we could use for this Core Range version of the Glenbeg, the Miyota 9039 was the only choice.
CASE DESIGN
This is the most challenging part of watch design, for it’s the biggest and most obvious part of the watch, and also the most important to get right. If the case is designed in a way that is uncomfortable to wear or really bulky and awkward, you won’t want to wear it at all!
The Glenbeg also has to feel like it belongs inside the production house of Ardnamurchan Distillery, and so we spent a lot of time crafting the form of the case to look and feel like a piece of distilling equipment, with gently barrelled sides, multiple step changes and beautiful, sculptural lugs. The 9 o’clock side of the case features a deeply etched motto found on the bottom of Ardnamurchan’s bottles: “Headland of the Great Seas", and reinforces the coastal character of Ardnamurchan’s whisky.
The case back is inspired by the still door hatches, iconic in design and highlighting the red paint fill of the copper rotor, so that the case back looks like the still within which the whisky is brought up to cask filling strength.
Wearing the Glenbeg is a joy, with the watch sitting low and slim on the wrist, yet still grabbing your attention through beautiful wrist presence. It’s all working together with the crown design, the dial design and colour palette, to make the Glenbeg a striking watch.
OPERATING THE GLENBEG
WINDING THE MOVEMENT
POWERING YOUR GLENBEG
Your Glenbeg Blue can be hand-wound to introduce power into the mainspring. Because the 9039 is an automatic movement, you needn’t worry about over-winding or breaking the movement from manually winding it up, so give it a good 40-50 full turns to make sure your mainspring is fully tightened, giving you the 42+ hours of power reserve.
As this is an automatic movement, so as long as you are wearing the Glenbeg and active, the oscillating weight attached to the back will swing back and forth, injecting little pops of energy back into the mainspring, keeping your watch running for as long as you keep wearing it.
Modern micro engineering at its finest!
CHANGING ThE TIME & DATE
A SIMPLE PROCESS
The 9039 is an automatic movement with 3 hands.
Operating the watch is a very simple process. Pull the crown out all the way and progress the hour and minute hand around the dial clockwise until the hour and minute are set. Note that the seconds hand stops when the crown is pulled out - this is called “Hacking”, a feature developed during the war to allow all the wristwatches to be synchronised to the second.
Once happy, push the crown all the way in again. This will kick the seconds hand into life again, showing that your watch is now accurate, on-time, under power and showing the correct date.
SPECIFICATIONS
SWISS ASSEMBLY x BRITISH DESIGN
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Swiss Assembled
41.2mm diameter x 11.0mm depth
20mm strap width
Glenbeg Distillery inspired case
Sapphire crystal with dual side AR coating
Still hatch door exhibition caseback
Glenbeg Paper White dial with copper applique
Persuader bung extractor hand design
Valinch counterweight second hand
Luminous hands and cask-end applique
10 ATM
68g
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Miyota 9039
Japan Made
28,800 bph
19 jewels
40+ hour power reserve
Accuracy of -15 ~ + 20 sec/day
Hacking function
Incabloc anti-shock
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A mechanical movement, like a car engine, uses oils to lubricate the moving parts. Over time this fine grade of oil can become gloopy, causing your movement to lose accuracy. Every 4-5 years, think about having your watch cleaned and re-oiled by a professional - it’ll keep everything ticking along nicely.
The Glenbeg enjoys a 2-year limited warranty which covers manufacturing defects. T&C - see our website.
