Mayur London Regal Watch Review
Smart sophistication that doesn't break the bank is the brief of Mayur, London, the watchmaker. We have been sporting the Regal timepiece around our wrists over the last few months and have been generally pleased with the quality and presentation of this newcomer. Prices start at £74.99.
Design
Daniel Wellington have achieved great fame on Instagram due to their charming timeless designs. Mayur, London, are targeting the exact same audience with the 55g Regal watch, which has a generally thin profile and the spirit of historic elegance. A significant difference between the two timepieces is that the Mayur Regal has protruding glass floating above the rose gold stainless steel casing. It makes the visual appeal a bit more exclusive, but it does create an overall chubbier design than the 6mm Daniel Wellington St Mawes watch body - with the Regal measuring 10mm. Because of this the Mayur Regal’s message is less understated in appearance and is a bit more showy due to the twinkly face and the metrics of time measurement too. Winning back some ground in the battle of thinness though, the 20mm leather strap is actually noticeably thinner and the balance of the two components works well.
Regarding the build quality - we’d have the hand the Daniel Wellington with the winner badge for strap quality. However, the timepiece construction is equal on both. We’ve bumped the glass display onto tables, shelving and it’s also dropped onto hard ground a few times accidentally. In more extreme scenarios the face has been ground against rough walls too; and still looks like new! It’s also worth pointing out that the Mayur is around £149 cheaper than the Daniel Wellington St Mawes watch at RRP.
Comfort
As we seem to be comparing the Mayur, London, Regal against our Daniel Wellington St Mawes, we feel that the comfort factor was equal for both watches. We didn’t attain any nasty rashes or irritation marks from digging parts. It’s a smooth watch to wear, with a strap that, as previously highlighted, is discreet and only marginally noticeable on the wrist. But it doesn't have the hug-like comfort of the Daniel Wellington due to the lesser substance.
Telling the Time
Keeping the hands moving is an internal Japanese Quartz movement. The hands attached are metallic gold along with all lines indicating the hour of time - the black lines signal the measurement of minutes. It’s easy to read in bright sunlight and in lower light scenarios, thanks to the reflective nature of the metallic gold hours and the twinkly face that helps to reflect light.
As well as time the date is also presented on the face, and If you’re going to have a date implementation, then it should be easy to read. Here we find that the single digit numerals have been enlarged to such an extent they become, on certain numbers, a struggle to read at a glance. Some of the double digit numbers are guilty of this too, and really it seems a solvable problem if a different font was used. A feature that we gave the thumbs up to was the second hand being routed to a separate smaller dial of 60 seconds. Certainly useful for measurements, but also a clear and appreciated design effort to steer away distractions from the watch face.
Verdict
The Mayur, London, Regal Watch offers historic elegance presented within a timepiece that sports a thin leather strap and an endearing rose gold body. Whilst the date legibility could be improved, it is not a great problem and the important element of telling the time is fundamentally straightforward and precise to read.
