I recently had the pleasure of helping Marc, a new Marvin customer, acquire an M104 from New York City. The story is a bit of a saga. You see, this person actually went to Geneva to try and buy one there (not exclusively for that, but he happened to be traveling for business) but to his dismay, it was out of stock at the time. And clearly, we do not yet have the eShop open, so the watch had to be ordered straight from Marvin Castle in Switzerland. Long story short: when I heard about his tribulations I contacted him by phone. Several weeks later, with a slight delay compliments of the USPS, he was happily wearing his M104 proudly around his wrist. But enough from me. It’s way more interesting to read about it from the customer’s mouth. To make this happen, I interviewed Marc about his Marvin experience and following are his words.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you came to hear about Marvin?
I am a 30 year old technology professional. I live and work in New York in the UN system. I am a French national, living in the US for the past 6 years. I came to hear about Marvin by luck and it finally gave a conclusion to my 8 months quest to find a new watch to my taste (big 3-0 birthday gift from my wife).  I guess now is a good time to state that I am a VERY picky shopper. I had a precise idea of what I was looking for, but just could not find it from any of the big players. Then by chance I was browsing watch blogs and found an article about the M112. I thought it looks fantastic so I looked Marvin up and found the website.

What was it about the 104 you prefered over other models?
While looking at the Marvin website, I had a few models in mind but I was always coming back to the 104. As I said before, I am very picky and I was looking for many specific things in my watch. I wanted a dark automatic watch with Arabic numerals, but using a somehow unusual font, I wanted something simple not too big but not too small and maybe one nice complication. he 104 had everything. Right size, right look, right function, and this elegant classic yet modern feel to it that just hooked me.

I later found Ariel Adams’ review which sold me…

There’s just one tiny thing I regret… I love butterfly clasps… I find them much more practical than regular buckles – even tho the Marvin buckle is very well made… that’s the only thing I miss on the 104…

Is the 104 a watch you wear daily or on special occasions?
This is my day to day watch. It replaces my beloved Rolex Air King that I have been wearing for the past 10 years.

Do you own any other watch brands? If so, which ones and how many?
My two most notable pieces are my Rolex Air King and my Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin 38.

How did you manage to secure a 104 before the e-shop opened up?
That’s where the story gets a bit twisted…After not finding a distributor for the US, I kept searching the web and ended up finding Jerome’s contact. He basically helped me get an idea of prices, etc, and offered to help me do a direct purchase. But right at that time I was sent to Geneva for a work conference, so I figured I would get the piece there…Unfortunately the two shops that carry Marvin were out of stock on the 104 and couldn’t help. I then contacted Ariel Adams who mentioned ‘ways’ to get the watch in the US in his blog post, he then sent me to Damien who forwarded my request back to Jerome bringing the story full circle After that Jerome was very helpful and the process (minus the USPS part) was a breeze.

Tell me about your experience with the Marvin people. Were they helpful/responsive/adequate?
They were great! Very helpful, very responsive, just a great group of people.

Have you gotten any comments/remarks since you’ve been wearing the 104? If so which ones?
Not yet, I just got the piece 3 days ago and it’s been raining cats and dogs so I haven’t been able to show it off I expect many comments though.

Was the website helpful in helping you discover, understand and compare the Marvin brand?
It was very helpful. The website is very tasteful and conveys very well the concept of the brand. Plus they have great images of the different models, which is hard to find on watch websites.

What channel(s) do you feel a most appropriate to keep in touch with Marvin (twitter, facebook, blog, newsletter, other)?
All of the above… Did I mention what I do for a living?

Tell me one thing you feel Marvin should do better.
If international shipment, use Fedex or equivalent to avoid the postal (USPS in my case) headaches… I don’t mind paying a bit extra to ship a watch this valuable, especially if it means smoother way to me.

Would you recommend Marvin to friends and family members?
Absolutely! Although Marvin is not distributed either in France where my family is.

Would you consider buying another Marvin in the future?
I still miss a nice square-ish watch… Maybe the Malton 160 Coussin?

Thank you very much Marc, for taking the time to answer all these questions. And stay tuned here and on Facebook for upcoming information on our new square Malton 160 “Coussin” – I know you’re going to love this puppy

Meanwhile, enjoy your new Marvin piece!