The French microbrand pulls the Scalegraph out of limited-edition territory, redesigns the case, and pushes water resistance to 100 meters — with prices starting at €1,640.
In 2005, when he was 16, Etienne Malec opened an old suitcase that had belonged to his father, a photographer and collector who died when Etienne was five. Inside were more than a hundred watches. Twelve years later, that suitcase became Baltic, the French brand that this month is pulling its Scalegraph chronograph out of limited-edition territory and making it a permanent part of the catalog.
The brand's name isn't an accident: Malec's family comes from northern Poland, near the Baltic Sea. That personal connection — more than any marketing strategy — explains why Baltic designs watches meant to feel like something found in a collector's drawer, not stamped off a production line.
The Brand
Baltic officially launched in 2017, when Malec — who had spent the previous eight years running an eyewear brand — turned to Kickstarter to fund the Bicompax 001, his first neo-vintage chronograph. The goal was €65,000; backers pledged €514,806. Since then, the brand has assembled and regulated its watches at its own workshops in Besançon, the historic seat of French watchmaking, even though most components are manufactured in Hong Kong and the leather accessories in Italy. In nine years, Baltic went from the Bicompax 001 to the Tricompax collection, then the 2022 Peter Auto Tricompax, the 2024 Tricompax x Tour Auto, and the 2025 Scalegraph Tour Auto — each edition tied to a classic-car event where Baltic served as official timekeeper. The 2026 Scalegraph is where that road leads: no longer a special edition, now a permanent line.
The New Scalegraph
The 316L steel case keeps the same 39.5mm diameter as before, but Baltic redesigned it from the ground up: wider lugs, sharper lines, and vertical brushing on top of the lugs replacing the old circular finish. The most useful change for daily wear is the addition of screw-down pushers, which push the collection's water resistance to 100 meters — double what you'd expect from a dress chronograph like this. The tricompax dial comes in champagne, blue, or grey, with off-white guilloché sub-dials framed by polished rings that separate the counters visually from the rest of the dial; the polished steel dauphine hands carry Super-LumiNova BGW9.
Inside is the Sellita SW510-M, a hand-wound chronograph based on the Valjoux 7750, running at 28,800vph with a 63-hour power reserve — a generous number for a hand-wound chronograph, which typically demands more attention from the wearer than an automatic.
Latin America and Spain Perspective
Baltic sells directly from baltic-watches.com and ships across Latin America — the brand's only blanket restrictions are Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, and Turkey — via DHL Express, with delivery in three to five days. The €1,640 leather-strap price and €1,700 bracelet price don't include taxes: at the average July 2026 exchange rate (roughly $1.144 per euro), that works out to approximately $1,876 and $1,945 — this is an approximate conversion, verify it before buying — plus whatever import duty and VAT applies on arrival in your country.
Spec Sheet / Baltic Scalegraph (2026)
| Case | 316L steel, 39.5mm x 14.1mm thick, 47mm lug-to-lug; wider lugs with vertical brushing |
| Crystal / water resistance | Double-domed sapphire with internal AR coating; 100m thanks to screw-down pushers |
| Dial | Champagne, blue, or grey; tricompax layout with guilloché sub-dials and polished rings; dauphine hands with Super-LumiNova BGW9 |
| Strap / bracelet | Italian calf leather, or steel in beads-of-rice or flat-link |
| Caliber | Sellita SW510-M, hand-wound, Valjoux 7750-based |
| Frequency / reserve | 28,800vph (4Hz); 63-hour power reserve |
| Complications | Chronograph (central seconds, 30-min and 12-hr counters); independent stop-seconds |
| MSRP | €1,640 leather strap / €1,700 steel bracelet (taxes excl.) |
| Availability | Permanent collection; direct sale at baltic-watches.com, ships to Latin America |
The verdict from ORELO
The new Scalegraph stands out for the improvements Baltic has made in areas most noticeable in everyday use: a more refined case finish, screw-down pushers that extend water resistance to 100 meters—uncommon in a chronograph of this type—and, above all, a genuinely Swiss mechanical movement, the Sellita SW510-M, at a price point of around €1,640 to €1,700. Finding a Swiss chronograph with this level of finish at this price point remains rare, even among microbrands. The only thing to keep in mind before buying is that it's a manual-winding watch, not automatic—a feature of the timepiece, not a flaw, and consistent with the vintage spirit of the entire collection.
There's something fitting about a brand born from a suitcase of inherited watches ending up making watches meant to be inherited. The 2026 Scalegraph isn't the cheapest chronograph in its category, but it might be the first Baltic built to outlast a collection, not just fill one.
