Hands-On With The Futuristic Maghnam Noor And Mohareb

Most watches we get in for review are round. They have three hands and maybe a date, but that’s about it. That’s why we were all very excited when we opened up a box with not one but two spaceship-like watches inside. Both the Maghnam Noor and Mohareb look like they could take off from your wrist at any given moment. The Noor doesn’t even tell you the time if you don’t want it to. Its dial hides underneath a Grade 5 titanium shell and only appears when you push the designated button. The Mohareb, a watch inspired by warriors, shows you the time through its biretrograde layout and offers the possibility to choose between four skins.

Jordanian watchmaker Sohaib Maghnam and Hader Alsuwaidi, founder of Qatari luxury brand Albidaa, are the men behind the Maghnam brand. Sohaib Maghnam is a mechanical engineer who is now both the CEO and creative director for Beda’a as well as Maghnam watches. The Beda’a brand is certainly more on the classic side when it comes to design, while Maghnam is more experimental. You’ll see what I mean once we take a look below.

The Maghnam Noor

Let’s start with the first watch, the Noor. As mentioned, it looks more like a spaceship than a watch, especially because there isn’t even a dial or anything like it. The only thing you see at first is a polished and sandblasted, elongated, and streamlined shell made of Grade 5 titanium. Its car-inspired case is 49mm long and 33mm wide, and a custom leather strap holds on to each end. But now comes the best part: when you gently push the button on the front edge ofthe case, its shell pops up and reveals a tiny dial with rotating hours and a minute hand. Now the Noor suddenly towers 32mm above your wrist. To close the case, you gently push the dial back and click the shell down intoits initial position, as if nothing happened.

Inside, there’s a modified La Joux-Perret hand-wound D101 movement. Maghnam calls this its MCF5-01 caliber. It runs at a frequency of 21,600vph, features 18 jewels, and holds a power reserve of 50 hours. The caliber was adjusted with shorter wheels and pinions to fit the 5.5mm-slim inner case. This means the Noor is still only 10mm thick overall. The movement also received more extensive finishing with added Geneva stripes, anglage, and sandblasting.

For the shell, you can choose between a raw titanium color or a warm gold PVD-coated finish. Both versions are limited to 50 pieces and cost CHF 8,700 (ex. taxes).

The Maghnam Mohareb

The second watch reserved from Maghnam was the Mohareb. Its name means “warrior” or “gladiator” in Arabic, and that’s also what inspired its design. The case actually has quite a common circular shape. However, at first, that’s not very apparent because you wear the Mohareb with one of four modules. Those modules attach to the top of the 39mm stainless steel case and are also the parts that hold onto the crocodile strap. We received the Mohareb with the Blades module, which, once again, gives it more of a spaceship-like look. But you can also opt for the more circular Halo, the ellipse-shaped Wings, or the Armour, which turns the Mohareb into a pocket watch with a complementary chain.

You can always change out the module whenever you feel like it. Regardless of your chosen module, the Mohareb always tells you the time through its double-retrograde layout. The black hour pointer moves along the bottom half of the case, while the minutes are vertically displayed right through the middle. Above it, you find the crown, with which you operate the modified Sellita SW210 manual movement inside. This caliber runs at a frequency of 28,800vph, features 19 jewels, and holds a power reserve of 42 hours.

The production run of the Maghnam Mohareb is limited, but we don’t know exactly how limited yet. What we do know is that the watch costs CHF 6,500 (ex. taxes).

On the wrist

When I saw the Noor, I immediately thought of De Bethune’s Dream Watch or SpaceOne’s Jump Hour. However, the Noor wears differently because it’s directed toward you instead of toward your hand. There’s also no dial or display when it’s closed, which makes it an intriguing object to look at, rather than just a watch. Its 49mm length sounds substantial, but the strap doesn’t attach all the way at the ends, so it also wears well on 17cm wrists like mine. Then, with a push of the spring-loaded button, the Noor flips open and tilts its dial toward you. The size and the layout make it quite hard to read, but who buys this watch to tell the time quickly anyway? It feels more like a personal time-telling bug, always there when you need it but hidden away when you don’t.

Because of its rounded shape, the Mohareb feels more like a conventional watch on the wrist. However, due to its unusual layout and its razor-sharp blades, it doesn’t look like one. It wears well, though, and feels solid, even though the blades can also easily be swapped out for one of the other modules. To do so, you simply open the two locks on the back of the case and insert the other module. It’s cool how you can quickly adjust the style of your watch to your mood and even turn it into a pocket watch if that’s what you feel like.

Accessible avant-garde

Both the Noor and the Mohareb look like something that could’ve come out of MB&F’s M.A.D. House. However, with price tags well below the €10,000 mark, these offerings from Maghnam are much more affordable. Sure, they also use technically less advanced movements, but if you like the more futuristic look, these watches offer a great alternative to much more expensive ones from other brands.

What do you think of the Noor and the Mohareb, and which one would you choose? Let me know in the comments below.