Studio Underd0g is renowned for its playful, tongue-in-cheek designs, and the brand is living by the age-old proverb that ‘Thursday is the new Friday’ with the launch of a new cocktail-inspired timepiece in collaboration with fellow British brand Fears.
Available exclusively at the British Watchmakers’ Day event on the 8 March, the release is limited to just 200 pieces, with 100 available in the morning and 100 in the afternoon.
With Studio Underd0g’s made-for-viral aesthetics and Fears’ penchant for the classics, the pairing might at first seem an unlikely fit, yet in the setting of British Watchmakers’ Day where quintessential senses of humour and respect for heritage craft all sit under the same roof, it all makes sense.
The inspiration for the watch itself is also a nod to British archetypes – we certainly like a drink, and respective founders Rich Benc and Nicholas Bowman-Scargill are pulling up a chair at the bar to join us.
After a evening drinking the namesake gin-based cocktail, the pair were left with more than just a hangover, with an idea sparked to collaborate on a Fears Brunswick 38.
One of the first watches that Fears introduced when Nicholas Bowman-Scargill revived his family’s brand in 2017, the model features a 38mm stainless steel case, domed sapphire crystal, brushed concave bezel and signature push-pull onion crown in a matching brushed finish.
It’s the dial here that’s really worth remembering; lime green and eye-catching yet somehow ineffably classy, a white base is treated to seven layers of Super-LumiNova to create a full-lume dial, before finishing with a final layer of transparent sapphire to create a sense of depth.
On top of this, dual branding at 12 o’clock sits alongside the minute track and hour numerals, read by skeletonised hands.
Like the Fears Brunswick 38, The Gimlet is powered by a hound-wound movement, but here the brands have favoured a Sellita SW210-1 caliber instead of an ETA 7001.
This reliable movement has a power reserve of 42 hours and a solid caseback engraved with a lime, unlike its ancestor which did feature a sub-seconds dial and an exhibition caseback.
Styled with a dark green Vert Marquis leather strap made by The Strap Tailor and water resistant to 100 meters, it comes as the perfect drinking partner – plenty of talking points and can deal with a few light spillages.
£1,000, enquire at underd0g.com or fearswatches.com to register interest.