A Week on the Wrist with the Studio Underd0g 01Series – not all hype

It might sound odd but I reckon it’s now easier to get a Rolex than a £550 watch from Studio Underd0g. That’s because Studio Underd0g is one of those brands that pops up out of nowhere and generates so much hype that its products pretty much immediately become exclusive. Or in this case more elusive, as watches from the brand are hard to get hold of unless you’re willing to pay inflated prices.

For those not in the know, Studio Underd0g is a British brand born in 2020 under the Covid-19 pandemic conditions and created by Richard Benc. Previously a designer at Braun, Benc took his design nous and applied it to watches with the idea of injecting some fun into what could be seen as a stuffy watch world.

Studio Underd0g was born, with its first series of watches showcasing bi-compax chronographs with unique colourful dials – the most notable being the Watermel0n with its green and red colors drawing inspiration from a juicy, refreshing fruit of the same name. This playful take on a chronograph garnered a lot of attention and very quickly Studio Underd0g’s watches sold out, with the brand only able to fulfil a limited number of orders at the time.

While I like the originality of making a bi-compax watch design fresh by adding in colors and aesthetic flair that look like a watermelon, I opted for the ‘Go0fy Panda’ model – a watch that uses colours that look like a panda pulling a face. I also think it’s a not so subtle riff on the Rolex Daytona, which is another hype watch with a panda dial.

Speaking of Rolex, I had to wait basically as long as it took to get my Rolex Explorer to get a far, far cheaper watch. It took me around four months to finally get my 01Series after paying for a pre-order.

Studio Underd0g 01Series: key specs

Powering the 01Series is the manual-wind ST-1901B movement developed in partnership with Chinese manufacturer Seagull and provided exclusively to Studio Underd0g. Fully wound, it offers 45 hours of power reserve when using the chronograph, and operates between minus 10 to plus 15 seconds a day. It's not the most accurate of movements but by no means shoddy at this price either.

The exhibition case back does let you peer into it, and while it’s not flush with finishing, I still think it looks nicer than movements from some Seiko watches. It’s nice to see the parts all working together, and the levers click into place when you engage the chronograph.

The movement sits in a stainless steel case measuring 38.5mm in diameter, with a thickness of 12.9mm and a lug-to-lug measurement of 45.5mm. Looking at it directly, the 01Series wears true to its size, sitting neatly on my 7-inch wrist without looking too diminutive or overly showy. I rather like the slim and short lugs that don’t distract from the watch face.

The case is neatly finished with a polished bezel and a chamfered edge, along with polishing between the lugs. That polished steel transitions to a brushed finish on the left side and rectangular chronograph pushers on the right that flank a crown signed with the split zero of Studio Underd0g.

I don’t think the finishing looks quite as pristine as the polished and brushed elements of my Baltic HMS 003, but there’s nothing to really dislike here. A minor caveat is that I do feel at certain sideways angles it can look a little thick.

A domed sapphire crystal completes the watch case, giving it a slightly vintage look along with scratch-resistance. But the 01Series isn’t a watch you’ll want to swim with as five atmospheres of water resistance and no screw-down crown or pushers means it’ll survive a bit of a splash but not a dedicated dunk in the drink. And with Super-LumiNova only on the hour and minute baton hands, this isn't a watch for dark rooms.

One of my favourite parts is the black leather strap, which comes courtesy of The Strap Tailor. It’s got a nice premium feel to it, but also gives the impression it’ll weather some wear. Quick-release spring bars are also massively appreciated for someone like me who enjoys strap swapping, as is the 20mm lug width that’s a common size a lot of third-party strap makers use.

What’s the Studio Underd0g 01Series like to wear?

It took me virtually no time whatsoever to immediately fall for the Studio Underd0g 01Series Go0fy Panda. Had I gone for the Watermel0n or Desert Sky options, that might not have been the case due to the colours potentially being a little bold for my tastes – at least for a watch I want to wear often.

But the muted tones of the Go0fy Panda ticked my boxes, mixing black elements on a coarsely textured dial that shifts from an ivory-like, yellowy white at the center to a more silvery-grey hue at the edges – basically aping the often off-white fur of pandas. It makes for a punchy dial that stands out against the satin, sandblasted base dial it sits on top of.

There are more design quirks to be enjoyed here. For starters the difference in sizes of the sub-dials does indeed give the impression of a panda pulling a goofy expression, without falling into the realms of being gimmicky.

There’s more neat details to enjoy, such as the tips of the chronograph hand and that of the sub-dial being a bold green, which references the bamboo at the heart of a panda’s diet. The markers are all dark pips, which are a signature of the 01Series and seem to be a direct reference to the Watermel0n model that put Studio Underd0g on the map.

Then there are clever design choices that watch geeks will enjoy, such as how the brand name and model name sit either side of the chronograph hand rather than be bisected by it when it’s not running, as is the case with so many other famous chronographs – looking at you OMEGA Speedmaster. The small ‘Assembled in Great Britain’ text on the dial is also a neat touch, offering a refreshing change to the ‘Swiss made’ text slapped on many a watch, and also emphasising that the design quirks of the 01Series are distinctly British.

All this detail makes the 01Series Go0fy Panda a joy to simply look at. But it’s also a lovely watch to wear, nearly mixing a mid-century vintage shape with modern aesthetic flair. I think it’s simply a cool watch to wear, and one that keeps time well despite having an arguably basic movement.

The chronograph pushers can feel a little spongy, and resetting the hands lacks a satisfying snap I'm used to with my Speedmaster, though that’s an unfair comparison given the chasmic price gap.

Is the Studio Underd0g 01Series worth the money?

Speaking of price, £550 for a watch that’s hard to get and has a lot of hype behind it and so could be sold on for more money, makes the Studio Underd0g 01Series worth getting on paper.

But taking a step back, and things get trickier to parse. The 01Series doesn't have any class-leading features for its price, as you’ll find the likes of a sapphire crystal and a robust Swiss-made movement with 80 hours of power reserve on the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical – a watch I recently bought for £436. And there are plenty of well-spec'd Seiko watches with solid movements for around the £500 mark.

Yet, £550 for a decent chronograph movement with acceptable accuracy isn’t to be sniffed at. Plus you get a leather strap that would cost around £100 if purchased separately.

What you’re really paying for with the 01Series, and other Studio Underd0g watches, is the dial design. There are plenty of watches with fantastic, quirky dials that you can spend ages peering at, but I’ve not seen many that drop below the £2,000 mark.

In many ways I’d compare the 01Series with the OMEGA x Swatch MoonSwatch in that you’re not going to get a value-busting watch but you do get a slice of iconic design for a fraction of the price of a real Omega Moonwatch. I suspect the 01Series watches will become icons in the future, if the Studio Underd0g hype train continues.

If you’re not willing to wait for Studio Underd0g to open up orders again, I’d caution against paying much more than its original price on the secondary market.