Melbourne Watch Company Parkville, MWC goes compact

While the overall watch case design movement may be staying with the mid-40mm case, I have seen quite a few designs of late that are less than 40mm across, designed for me (or at least unisex) and are round.  The Melbourne Watch Company Parkville automatic is just the most recent of these.  Skipping the crowdfunded phase that started the brand’s previous efforts, the Parkville is being offered as a pre-order on their website, an encouraging sign that this young watchmaking firm has a strong enough following to sell direct.

Offered in both stainless and rose gold plated stainless, the Melbourne Watch Company Parkville has a 36mm case holding a Seiko NH35A driving the 3-hander.  There is no date window, which I think helps keep the smaller face uncluttered.  MWC consistently uses some design element to distinguish the center disk of the face from the chapter ring, and here it is a ‘rosetta spiral’ guilloche pattern.  Also carried over from the previous models is the “M” counterweight on the second hand and the logo on the crown.  Their last model, the Portsea, used blued hands against the white dial version, and these are carried through to the Parkville again, a nice addition.  Rounding out the features are a sapphire crystal, a 40 hour power reserve and 30 meters of water resistance.

Etched onto the screw-down caseback is a historic W-class tramway, celebrating the brand’s roots in Melbourne, Australia.  Both watches are offered on a leather strap, the stainless on brown and the rose gold on blue.  I think the stainless would work well as either a woman’s watch or a watch for a man who prefers a smaller case, while the rose gold, at least to me, would be at home on a woman’s wrist.  I was able to spend some time with the Flinder’s, and the quality and detailing of the watch were excellent.  melbournewatch

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