Hands-On: The Le Forban Marseillaise With What Might Just Be A First – The ‘Dive Bund’

The handset draws heavily from the diver realm. The second hand, lumed of course, is a classic lollipop. The hour hand, meanwhile, goes pencil-shaped, while the all-important minutes hand, which reaches through the indexes to the bottom edge of the chapter ring, is topped with a blocky triangle. 

There’s a lot of text on the dial, with ‘LE FORBAN’ (which translates to ‘outlaw’ or, in a seafaring context, ‘pirate’) on top, with a rather generic anchor logo below. Then we’ve got ‘SECURITE MER’ – ‘Maritime Security’?? Weird and cool, I say. Below the handset is the Marseillaise model name in script, perched above the bleu, blanc et rouge colors of the French flag. Finally, we’re reminded of the 250 meters of water resistance to hammer home the diver’s functionality.