Persons are all the time asking us, “Why are watch critiques all the time so optimistic?” It’s a good query, and undoubtedly a nicer approach of claiming what I feel is definitely beneath it, which is “Are you a shill?” Whereas I definitely wouldn’t dream of talking for any web site apart from this one, I can say that at Worn & Wound, we evaluation watches which can be of curiosity to us, that we’re seemingly pre-disposed to liking. Optimistic critiques come from our enthusiasm not only for a particular watch, however for watches basically. We need to see what’s greatest within the pastime, and search to raise manufacturers and watches that we predict are doing fascinating work, and that our readers will discover of curiosity. I’d argue that’s not the posture of the typical nameless Instagram commenter, who could be extra inclined to tear one thing down than elevate it up.
However typically a watch comes throughout our desk from a model we like that simply doesn’t work, or that appeared extra fascinating in renders despatched by way of e-mail or DM than within the steel. And that brings us to the Maen Grand Tonneau Extremely-Skinny, a watch that on its floor looks as if one thing that I must be actually into, however leaves me just a little chilly after I maintain it in hand and strap it on my wrist.
I’ll be upfront right here and say on the outset that this isn’t a unhealthy watch, objectively talking. It’s not a failure in execution, or the product of shoddy workmanship. I feel Maen in all probability wound up precisely the place they wished to be with the Grand Tonneau, and like different Maen watches I’ve dealt with, the match and end is nice for the value. However it feels just a little like they’re dipping too deep into a lot of traits all of sudden with this one, and the product itself reads just a little cynical to me, like its checking a sequence of bins we’ve been made to grasp will create one thing that fans gained’t find a way to withstand: formed case, an “ultra-thin” moniker, a fumé textured dial, and a unfastened collaboration with a bigtime watch YouTuber. When you requested ChatGPT to provide you with a brand new watch that will be more likely to promote primarily based on each present market development, it would spit one thing again at you just like the Grand Tonneau Extremely-Skinny.
What is going to make or break this look ahead to anybody who experiences it’s the case form. I like a formed case and am consistently drawn to uncommon, offbeat designs. The tonneau form is definitely not that uncommon, it’s probably the most classically oriented watch case shapes, lengthy related to high quality gown watches. I simply don’t know why it needs to be “grand” on this occasion. It feels fairly massive to me, seemingly a results of the comparatively small dial opening, framed by a refined polished ring, then brushed metal, and at last polished case bands which can be brushed alongside the facet. Like all Maen watches, the ending could be very properly accomplished, however the shapes simply don’t enchantment to me right here. I don’t endure from trypophobiahowever the Grand Tonneau could be giving me the watch equal.
The case measures 34mm throughout and 45mm from lug to lug. It’s impressively skinny, coming in at 6.4mm tall, however the case is slab-like and never very refined. It presents from the facet as a non-descript, flat disc-like object. If there’s a watch from my very own life that it jogs my memory of, it could be my previous Zenith Port Royalwhich has an analogous cuff-like sporting expertise, and, regardless of a dramatic and virtually theatrical presentation from the dial facet, revealed itself to be sort of boring from each different angle. Which may not be of a lot significance to most, however I feel as fans we frequently anticipate small particulars to face out the place we wouldn’t in any other case anticipate them. It exhibits a stage of consideration within the design that units the watches we love aside from mall manufacturers, vogue watches, and the like.
I used to be in a position to pattern the Grand Tonneau on a rubber strap, which is built-in to the case and fairly snug. The visible affect of that integration is the very best factor concerning the watch in my view, and if there’s one development the Grand Tonneau is hopping on that I do recognize it’s leaning into the anachronism of a dressy watch with a sporty strap. For my cash, although, each Fears and echo/impartial are doing this just a little higher, and beat them to the punch with watches which can be higher proportioned and extra unique in their very own approach. The watch can also be provided on an built-in metal bracelet, which I used to be not in a position to check.
Dial choices embrace black (seen right here), turquoise, yellow and “lava crimson,” all of which have a gradient impact and what Maen describes as a “double-layered development.” I like a fumé dial however the impact right here is very refined – in regular lighting situations it’s not almost as pronounced as you see in our studio pictures. I’m unsure if the intent was to create a classic, patinated look, however that’s sort of what involves thoughts for me, no less than with this execution. Beneath a loupe, extra element comes out, and the dial takes on an virtually natural look.
There aren’t any markers of any form on the dial, simply the Maen wordmark at 12:00, “Swiss Made” at 6:00, and the Pleasure & Pinion emblem simply above that. This watch is a collaboration with YouTuber Nico Leonard, a sequel of types to final yr’s leap hour restricted version, which was housed in the identical Grand Tonneau case. I had truthfully forgotten that this was a collaborative effort till seeing that emblem, which seems a lot just like the Rolex coronet emblem that it’s stunning Leonard hasn’t been sued by the notoriously litigious Crown. However maybe he’s spoiling for a struggle? That might be in character for Leonard, who usually casts himself as a little bit of a troll on YouTube and social media.
I do know I mentioned on the outset that the case form is the make or break function right here, however realistically, it’s in all probability Nico Leonard’s involvement within the venture that may function the preliminary filter. I’ve by no means met Leonard personally, however he has a status for being a considerably divisive determine within the watch world, largely for taking provocative positions with a largely uncensored strategy (he famously doesn’t have many good issues to say about Hublot). He’s considered by some as a beacon of authenticity and, pardon the phrase, preserving it actual in an atmosphere that’s stuffed with influencers shilling actually something in trade for money. He’s considered by others as a little bit of a blowhard, somebody who courts controversy for views.
As somebody who began on this business by begging everybody who would hearken to let me write for them without cost, it’s exhausting for me to criticize Leonard or anybody else for doing what they should do to make a dwelling within the watch world. My impressions from seeing Nico’s content material is that the character he presents is fairly authentically himself, even when it’s just a little abrasive. I respect anybody who’s prepared to only be themselves on the web – it’s a judgmental place! However lending your title to one thing that’s finally a hodge podge of on-trend design quirks makes me surprise about not simply the collaborator’s style, but additionally their motivation.
Much more central is the very concept of collaboration with a YouTuber. Movies on YouTube are ephemeral – they’re served to you by an algorithm, you watch them (or possibly skip shortly by means of them) after which they’re gone, and also you’re on to the subsequent. A model selecting to collaborate with a YouTube character undermines the very concept of a watch being an object of permanence, a generational heirloom that defies the passing of time itself. When Maen, or Christopher Ward, or some other model locks arms with a YouTuber (significantly when it’s for a restricted version that’s finally a manifestation of up-to-the-minute trend-spotting) it virtually all the time reads to me as a industrial play, versus one primarily based in creatively pushing an concept ahead. A restricted version collaboration is at its greatest when it comes from a transparent perspective, or meaningfully reinterprets an concept. That requires authorship and intent, not simply an alignment with no matter occurs to be trending in the mean time.
Watches accumulate that means over time. Each watch will outlive the traits, and definitely the media personalities, that impressed it. This watch feels prefer it’s been cobbled collectively in a approach that displays a really particular second, outlined by algorithms, a extremely particular aesthetic, and a YouTuber’s seal of approval, which is its personal foreign money in 2026, for higher or worse. I simply surprise what we’ll consider this watch, and plenty of others from this period, as soon as the second passes.
The Grand Tonneau Extremely-Skinny has a retail worth of EUR 1,519 and is obtainable by way of the Principal web site starting April 14.
