While it feels like Studio Underd0g are the current golden child of British watch design, I have in the back of my mind had one criticism. Between pizza parties, pumpkins, passion fruit and more their recent focus on food has felt a little gimmicky. Fun and quirky designs I don’t mind but when you’re riffing on the same concept time and again it’s harder to get excited about each new edition. In short, it’s about time for Studio Underd0g to change up the formula. And that’s exactly what they have done with the launch of the Sartory Billard By Studio Underd0g SB05 Sunfl0wer.
The dial features a central guilloché in a rich, dark brown with a spiralling hobnail pattern that looks like the seeds of a sunflower while the outer sector features the same pattern but in yellow to replicate the petals of the flower. There are also thin golden lines marking the shapes of the petals with 12 in the foreground marking the position of the 12 hours with the space between them filled with petals behind, making for 24 petals in total. The optical illusion it makes is incredible. Plus, there’s a hint of green on the central hands, matched by the green gradient strap (produced by The Strap Tailor), like the flower’s stem.
It feels like a perfect fusion between the characteristics that both brands are known for, with Studio Underd0g’s eye for colour and design and Sartory Billard’s immaculate execution. It’s almost mind-bending to study the dial for too long because it’s not photorealistic but it feels real, which I suppose is the definition of impressionistic. I can quite easily picture what a Studio Underd0g Series03 Sunfl0wer chronograph would look like and it’s a bit twee and cartoonish but by comparison this feels sincere and genuine.
Structurally it’s based on the standard Sartory Billard SB05. That means a 38.5mm diameter in stainless steel housing the SMB01 movement based on the La Joux-Perret 7380. It’s a time-only calibre with a 90-hour power reserve and a daily accuracy of +/-7 seconds. It’s a manual movement, which is why there’s no rotor obscuring the movement when viewed through the exhibition caseback.
It’s limited to 10 pieces at a price of €12,700 (approx. £10,575) and goes on sale on April 4th at 2pm BST. At that price it’s much more a Sartory Billard than a Studio Underd0g but that’s sort of the point, pushing the boundaries of the French watch brand’s designs. If you can head over to Geneva quickly it’s also on display at the Hotel Beau Rivage from now until the sale during the Geneva watch shows.
Price and Specs:
More details at Sartory Billard.
Beautiful, beautiful watch, I would love to have one, but at circa £10k it’s never going to happen, but I guess that is down to a limited quantity of only 10 watches and the work involved in creating them.
I personally don’t understand the very limited runs, of this watch and others, surely a larger quantity (but limited and not mass market) would sell out if they were more realistically priced, so the sums would add up. I do understand that if a watch is in the price range of £50k + then very limited numbers do make sense, as the market would be very small.
I guess we must assume that these people know what they are doing.