Studio Underd0g x Fears 02 Series Manhattan Watch Review

I like a good cocktail as much as the next man. More than most, in fact – though apparently not as much as Rich Benc of Studio Underd0g. After mashing up his 02 Series Field with the Fears Brunswick for British Watchmakers’ Day, the hype-drenched British brand is hitting the bar again with the new Studio Underd0g x Fears Series 02 Manhattan.

Full disclosure, I bought one of the 200 Gimlets released earlier this year. I wear it plenty and unlike some have no intention to flip it. But when I first heard that Studio Underd0g and Fears were extending the collaborative cocktail effort into a full collection, I was a bit worried. Would it make my green, luminescent baby feel less special? Fortunately, no, no it does not.

The specs of the new Manhattan are exactly the same as the Gimlet, so I won’t dwell on them too much. It has a 38mm stainless steel cushion case, very similar but not a 1-to-1 copy of the Brunswick. It’s a touch thicker and less elegant, but all the more charming for it. It has a Sellita movement inside rather than either the La Joux-Perret numbers Fears are using these days or Studio Underd0g’s custom Seagull, which means workhorse reliability but a less-than-ideal 38-hour power reserve.

The change with the Manhattan is, of course, the dial. The Series 02 Field’s dual layer dial consists of a base dial for colour, then a separate, sapphire dial that suspends the numerals and hour markers. It’s a cool idea as the numerals seem to float, held in place by the signature twin screws. So far though I haven’t really seen Studio Underd0g make the most of the idea. By splitting the dial into two distinct elements, it opens up new ways to play with the idea that the Gimlet, even with it’s funky gradient green, didn’t do.

The Manhattan on the other hand does things differently. The bottom dial is actually silver, clean and elegant. The deep, orange-brown colouring that gives the watch its name actually comes from colouring the upper layer of sapphire. The physical space between the two layers gives the entire dial ensemble a level of depth that you usually need something like vitreous enamel to achieve.

The very slight downside is that the numerals and indexes no longer seem to float quite as much – more like they’re floating on a mix of whisky and vermouth rather than clean air. The fact that the dial is fume, doing darker at the edges, means you don’t get those shadows any more, either – even if the applied numerals are a bit better finished to make up for it.

As for the colour itself, I love it. I’m a sucker for a brown dial and I’m not sure why it’s not more popular, especially here where it ranges from orange to chocolate. It helps that the brown leather strap really sets it off, too.

As I said before, this doesn’t make me wish I’d held out a bit longer before buying my Gimlet. I prefer my Gimlet. But the Manhattan is still lovely and if you do prefer it to that weird, soft green, I get it. It’s less out-there and more wearable to a lot of people. What gets me more excited though is what comes next. Are we going to see more colour plays like this? Are we perhaps going to see two colours blending? What would happen, for example, if the bottom dial was blue and the top dial was split between yellow and red? Or what about a textured under-dial? Or, now bear with me on this, a textured sapphire upper dial? I would say that last is a bit too out-there but having seen what else is coming  up… watch this space.

If you’re just here for the Manhattan itself though (I don’t blame you), you’re going to need to be in the right place at the right time. Similarly to the Gimlet launch, the Studio Underd0g x Fears 02 Series Manhattan will be launched at Wind-Up Watch Fair in New York (yes, in Manhattan) on 17-19 October. It’ll set you back £1,000, so if you can get to the show expect a queue. And if not, commiserate yourself with 1 part vermouth, 2 parts whisky and a dash of bitters. If you look at your own watch through it, you can always play pretend.

More details at Studio Underd0g.