Introducing the Studio Underd0g 04SERIES

Six years ago Studio Underd0g didn’t exist, it was merely an idea that designer Richard Benc had to create a serious watch with a fun and playful design. When the Watermelon 01SERIES launched it captured a lot of attention and went on to be the biggest seller for the brand, catapulting it into rapid growth. Fast forward five years and the brand has become one of the largest in Britain and has acquired its own in-house UK assembly facility earlier this year.

The brand-new Studio Underd0g 04SERIES is here. After much speculation as to what direction the brand would go next, the answer has finally arrived and here’s everything you need to know about it.

The movement for this watch has been developed in collaboration by Studio Underd0g and Sea-Gull, the manufacturer of the manual wound calibre found in the 01SERIES, specifically for this watch. It took two years and 34 bespoke components to come together but the result is phenomenal.

It gives this watch a retrograde date, moon phase, and weekend indicator. It’s a Studio Underd0g calendar watch!

There is a pusher at 2 o’clock that sets the date, the 8 o’clock pusher sets the moon phase, first crown position sets the weekend, and second position the time. You get a stylus to adjust them. You do have to reset the weekend indicator every month but having it adjusted by the crown makes this process very easy. The movement has a power reserve of 42hrs, an accuracy of -10/+15 seconds per day and is the first automatic movement to feature in a Studio Underd0g.

On the dial the weekend indicator is displayed by CNC-cut and chamfered windows with a coloured wheel beneath. The only other watch I’m aware of that displays the weekend in this way is the Karyon Anyday which has a retail starting at CHF 88,000 in white gold. I’ll come onto the price of this 04Series at the end but keep that figure in mind.

The rest of the dial design has been kept purposefully minimal. The only writing aside from the date numerals is the Studio Underd0g logo and ‘Assembled in Great Britain’. It is a perfect example of a complex watch designed to be easily readable and approachable.

There are two case size available, 37 and 38.5mm. The difference being the width of the bezel. The dial on both models is the same diameter. Both are 10.5mm thick or 13.5mm including the double domed sapphire crystals front and back. The lugs are 20mm wide and 44.5mm from top to bottom.

If you can’t tell already these dimensions, come together to make a very enjoyable wearing experience, but in my opinion it’s the design that contributes the most to that wearability.

The three-piece construction means there are no large flat surfaces, the case sides are flat, but slim and they mould into the bezel and case back beautifully. The 04SERIES handles its thickness brilliantly. It’s a very clever design. The finishing on the case is also very impressive with a brushed middle section, polished chamfers on the bezel and the signed crown all very impressive.

This is a calendar watch, but this is still a Studio Underd0g. The design and colour are as important here as the impressive horology within. There are four dial colours launching, Cloud10, 0vercast, Shepherd’s Delight, and Arabian sky. All are inspired by the sky you see looking out of the office window longing for the weekend.

My personal favourite is 0vercast with its orange weekend indicators and moon phase set against the dark navy-blue dial. It’s got that balance of impressive dress watch with a fun twist.

Something I think studio Underd0g do really well, but doesn’t get spoken about enough, are their case back designs. Every watch they produce is fun on the outside but serious on the inside. The back of the 01SERIES was stunning and now the new movement in the 04SERIES has been beautifully decorated along with the sapphire case and the text that surrounds it. I always appreciate a skeletonised rotor when an automatic watch has an exhibition case back. I don’t want to look at the back of my watch and just see a chunk of spinning metal.

Personally, I’m not especially fond of Cloud10, it’s too shiny for me. The bezel and dial colour do blend and reflect a bit too much in certain lightings. It looks great in photos, but that blue tint is almost too subtle in natural light.

I wish the pushers to adjust the calendar on the 37mm didn’t poke out of the case sides. They are flush to the case on the 38.5mm which makes them look much neater. I get that it is a challenge with a complex movement needing space for the pushers but this small change would make a difference in making the 37mm a little closer to perfect.

Setting the date and moon phase using the pushers is fiddly and you do need the tool in order to do it, but that’s the same for any calendar watch that uses this system so I’m not going to hold that against this watch.

That’s about it, I have nothing else negative to say about these watches. They bring the fun and colour of Studio Underd0g to a serious and capable complicated watch while also making it very pleasing to look at. Like all of their watches these are assembled in Great Britain at the D0ghouse in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

So, I mentioned I’d finish up with the price and having given the example of the Krayon at CHF 88,000, I bet you’re expecting this to be hideously expensive?

Well, you’d be wrong. This watch featuring a newly developed movement with three complications and a beautiful design is just £750, which I think might just be the most impressive part of it all.

It brings a genuinely useful complication to an accessible price point all while being well design, well proportioned, and enjoyable to wear. It shows that the two worlds of high complication and fun design can combine to make something that excites enthusiasts in both camps.

I’m sure that we will see more colours and possibly limited editions in future and I am personally very excited to see the 04SERIES develop.