“Just in time for CNY, it’s a ‘Mahjong-themed’ watch!”
I’ll be honest, I’m a sucker for fun watches that don’t take themselves too seriously. After years of being in this hobby, I realised my collection looked as humdrum as a hospital corridor with the usual shades of black, silver, white and the occasional blue.
So, not too long ago, I forced told myself that incoming timepieces had to be funny. Which, in turn, led me to adding the Oris Divers Sixty-Five ‘Cotton Candy’ Bronze in lipstick pink to the stable – feel free to read my thoughts on it here.
In any case, what we have here today is another funny watch and I mean this in the best way possible. Folks, I give you the Revelot x Behati ‘Mahjong Edition’ Hexmariner.
“But wait, there’s more!”
Fresh from the oven at Revelot is also this, the revised Hexmariner 42 seen here in a two-tone (well, three if you count the blue on the bezel) colour scheme with an aventurine dial.
This one isn’t as out there as the ‘Mahjong’ piece but let’s be frank, it’s hard to outdo that one in terms of visual drama. Now in terms of mechanicals, both pieces are packing the same bits and bobs so let’s get that out of the way before we look at the aesthetic differences.
“What’s under the bonnet?”
Within the 42 mm stainless steel case beats the Seiko NH35. The 24-jeweled automatic calibre is a formidable workhorse and is no stranger to the world of microbrands. Just ask Undone, Unimatic, Dan Henry, Zelos and the list goes on and on. It beats at a rate of 3 Hz, has hacking and hand-winding and comes with a power reserve of approximately 41 hours. Water resistance is rated at 200 m.
Would I want more hours? Yes, of course. Is it a deal breaker? No, not at all.
And since we’re on the subject of common traits between our pair for today, let’s get measurements out of the way as well.
Case size? As mentioned, 42 mm. Thickness stands at 13 mm, lug width is at 22 mm and lug to lug at 48 mm (blame the male end links on this one). Quite a universal set of numbers for a diver so it should fit most wrist sizes. Personally? My wrist size of 6 inches would warrant the need for Revelot’s smaller Hexmariner 39 instead.
“So, how does it wear?”
Since both watches are more or less the same save for their wildly different aesthetics, I’ll let you all know that it was the ‘Mahjong’ that sat on my wrist for the majority of the time so however it fares, the score will be the same for the Aventurine variant.
As far as initial impressions go, it’s a hefty bit of kit. With the bracelet, you’re looking at 200 g in total and for those who equate heft to quality, there you go.
It has a noticeably ‘top-heavy’ feel to it which might take some getting used to. The bracelet deserves a mention, though. At first glance, it looks like any regular H-link, oyster-esque steel bracelet but look closer and you’ll spot the chamfered, polish edge at both ends of each link.
I’m a sucker for light play and here it really gives it a visual pop against the rest of the brushed surfaces on the bracelet. It’s the same case for the Aventurine model with the only difference being the center links in rose gold.
More articulation in the links will be appreciated though as I noticed one piece kept digging into my wrist at random times of the day. The milled clasp has 5 micro-adjust holes and opens with a push-button release with a deployant layout.
Oh, and if you’re thinking of sizing the bracelet, it’s a pin-and-collar setup so best be at your sharpest when doing so – unless part of the fun for you is losing and looking for that dreaded collar. Alternatively, you could also not bother to size the bracelet and swap it out for another option as quick-release spring bars are standard.
“What about the case?”
Echoing the bracelet, it’s a mostly brushed affair with a chamfered and polished accent along the top side of the case, lugs and visually emphasizes the crown guards. The lugs themselves droop down to further mitigate the 48 mm lug to lug measurement.
Elsewhere, the screw-down crown (rose gold on the Aventurine) features the Revelot logo but with SuperLuminova lume. The 120-click, unidirectional ceramic bezel feels extremely tactile with no noticeable back play at all. However, that’s not the most impressive bit. The usual dive timer numberings here have been replaced by the Chinese characters denoting the four types of wind in the game, North, East, South and West – and they’re etched and lumed!
On the Aventurine variant, it’s the usual array of numbers on a dark blue ceramic insert with the edge of the bezel in rose gold, further echoing the two-tone scheme.
Elsewhere, both variants come with sapphire crystals with AR coating and an exhibition caseback.
“Now for the star of the show…”
Ah, yes. The dial will obviously take center stage here but before that, let me turn your attention to the rehaut. Look closely at the ‘Mahjong’ variant and you’ll notice the ‘Hexmariner’ text etched alongside a stylized Mahjong-themed pattern.
Then, we come to the enamel dial. We’ve got painted and lumed Chinese calligraphy replacing the hour markers except for 8 and 12 o’clock. Those have been replaced by the characters of the lucky number 8 (which translates to ‘wealth’) and noon, respectively. At the 6 o’clock mark sits the framed and lumed green date window.
Now with all this talk about lume, you’d expect it to be a scene-stealer in the dark but alas, the lume’s performance could have been a lot more striking. The initial moments though, when everything is charged and glowing proper, that’s nice.
The Aventurine variant, in comparison, is more muted. You have the obsidian-blue expanse of the dial which looks like the night sky, replete with “stars” in them. Elsewhere, the applied, rose gold-bordered hour markers are hexagonal plots filled with SuperLuminova.
Flip the watch around and both models have distinctly different takes on the exhibition caseback. The ‘Mahjong’ variant sees the ‘Joker’ character printed on it while the Aventurine model has a hexagonal “curtain” printed over instead.
“How much? And what’s the final take on it?”
So, the ‘Mahjong’ variant is a limited edition run of just 88 units worldwide and is priced at RM1,788. The Aventurine model is a series production model priced at RM1,709.
As for my final take on it after shy of a week on the wrist, I can safely say that the Revelot Hexmariners deserve the attention they’re garnering online. Objectively, it’s quite a lot of watch for the money but a few glaring downsides should be taken into consideration.
The ‘top-heavy’ feel that I mentioned early on never really quite goes away and makes for a mildly intrusive wearing experience. Best way to put it is that there needs to be more tweaking of weight distribution on the case to improve “on wrist” comfort.
Then there’s the odd link that dug into my wrist at certain points throughout the day. Although this may be easier to mitigate compared to the abovementioned point as a bracelet-strap swap is just a click or two away.
But hey, if anything, I’m a sucker for interesting aesthetics and a conversation piece. The Revelot x Behati ‘Mahjong Edition’ Hexmariner is just that.
