Marloe Aerodyne Brings a More Grounded Look to the Aviation Watch

Marloe has expanded its Aerodyne collection with three new variants: Pearl, Navigator and Tenee, bringing a very different set of colours to its 1930s aviation-inspired watch. The formula is familiar, but these new dials make the Aerodyne look less like an exercise in aviation nostalgia and more like a watch you might simply want to wear every day.

I think this second group of Aerodyne colours makes the collection easier to understand. Marloe is not trying to recreate a historical pilot’s watch literally. Instead, it borrows from 1930s aviation, field watches and navigation instruments, then filters those references through a fairly distinctive case and dial design. They show how much personality Marloe can extract from the same underlying watch through colour, straps and some unusually distinctive dial details.

The New Colours Make the Aerodyne Easier to Wear

The basic architecture remains familiar from the earlier Aerodyne models, but Pearl, Navigator and Tenee shift the personality considerably.

Pearl is the cleanest of the three. Its pale dial, outlined Arabic numerals and small orange accents give it an almost instrument-panel appearance without becoming overly military. Tenee takes essentially the opposite route with a black dial and white numerals, making it the most immediately legible and conventional tool-watch choice.

Navigator is the one I find most interesting. The warm off-white dial, muted green outer track and brown leather strap lean harder into the period inspiration. It has more character than Pearl without depending on a loud colour combination to create it.

Navigator would be my pick of the three, although Pearl probably has the greatest strap flexibility.

All three use the same 38mm case measuring only 9.8mm thick. That combination matters. Plenty of affordable aviation watches still equate historical inspiration with oversized cases, while Marloe has gone in the other direction.

The case is multi-step blasted rather than highly polished, and the sapphire crystal receives an anti-reflective coating. There is also a magnified date at three o’clock. I can see the cyclops being divisive because it adds a conspicuously modern element to an otherwise vintage-influenced dial, but at least Marloe has integrated the date into the visual identity rather than hiding it apologetically.

At 18mm between the lugs, the Aerodyne should also be easy to experiment with outside Marloe’s own catalogue.

The interesting part is how much the supplied strap changes the watch. Pearl on the yellow-green fabric strap looks distinctly field-oriented. Navigator on brown leather becomes much more vintage. Tenee on olive fabric is the closest of the three to a conventional military tool watch.

The versatility is more convincing than the aviation storytelling. You do not need to care about 1930s aircraft for this design to work.

The Miyota 9015 Is Familiar for Good Reason

Inside is the Japanese Miyota 9015 automatic, running at 28,800 vibrations per hour with 24 jewels, hacking and more than 40 hours of power reserve. Marloe quotes the standard -10/+30 seconds-per-day accuracy range.

This is what I like to see at these price, it is just appropriate.

The 9015 has a long record across affordable independent watches and is far removed from an unknown movement being tested on customers. Vaer, for example, uses the same calibre in its A5 Field Automatic, while Marloe has already used it in earlier Aerodyne references. Miyota’s related 9039, effectively the no-date option within the same premium 9-series family, is equally widespread across modern microbrands.

The trade-off is that the movement itself is not a reason to choose the Marloe over its competition. You are paying for the case, dial, UK in-house assembly and overall design rather than unusual mechanics.

This is where the Aerodyne becomes interesting. The supplied regional listing shows the new variants starting at €450, while Marloe’s UK pricing starts at £349. Importantly, that is consistent with the earlier Aerodyne Heart, Electra and Miami rather than representing an obvious price jump simply because new colours have arrived.

Consider the competition.

The Lorier Falcon Series III costs $499, measures 36mm, provides 100 metres of water resistance and uses the Miyota 90S5 automatic. It includes a steel bracelet, although Lorier deliberately chooses a domed Hesalite crystal rather than sapphire. The Falcon is more overtly vintage and slightly smaller.

Then there is the Vaer A5 Field Automatic. At around $639 for the black model, it uses the same Miyota 9015, but in a larger 40mm case measuring 10.4mm thick. It also provides sapphire crystal and 100 metres of water resistance.

Against those two, Marloe occupies an attractive middle ground. The 38mm diameter is contemporary without being large, the sub-10mm thickness is excellent on paper, and sapphire plus 100-metre water resistance gives it proper everyday practicality.

What makes this release relevant is that Marloe has resisted turning a field watch into another near-copy of a mid-century military reference. The narrow Art Deco numerals, oversized hands, raised minute track and striped propeller-style seconds counterweight give the Aerodyne an identity you can recognise without reading the logo.

Specs, Pricing & Availability

The Apollo Automatic One Small Step Limited Edition comes in a 48mm stainless steel case that is 18mm thick, with sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown, 20 ATM water resistance, and a Japanese automatic movement with three-hand date display. Nubeo is releasing the watch in five versions – Silver Horizon, Meteor Shade, Astral Green, Canyon Drift, and Abyssal Echo – with each variant limited to 100 pieces worldwide. Retail price is set at $590 USD, with availability through Nubeo’s official website.

Of the three new Aerodyne watches, I would buy the Navigator. Pearl is arguably the easiest to wear and Tenee gives you maximum contrast, but Navigator has the strongest balance between vintage influence and Marloe’s own design language.

More importantly, I would not dismiss the bracelet as an accessory. It changes the Aerodyne from a characterful aviation-themed watch into something I could see occupying the everyday-watch slot in a small collection.

At €450, I would choose this over a generic field watch with a better-known logo if originality mattered to me. I would skip it only if I wanted strict historical styling or a more conventional bracelet-first sports watch. Marloe’s strongest argument here is not the Miyota movement or the spec sheet. It is that the Aerodyne still looks like a Marloe.