The Dolphin Project is a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1970 that aims to raise awareness of dolphin conservation and welfare. In that endeavour, they have partnered with watch brand Spinnaker for a number of years to produce a handful of limited edition watches such as the 2024 series. Today Spinnaker announces the latest Dolphin Project collection, the Croft Mid-Size Automatic Dolphin Project Limited Edition 2026.
It’s based on the standard Croft Mid-Size Automatic measuring 40mm in diameter with a thickness of 14.1mm, giving it chunky dive watch proportions. It has a 150m water resistance rating, making it suitable for swimming and playing around in the surf. It’s also equipped with a unidirectional rotating bezel for tracking immersion time.
There are three versions of the watch being produced in blue, green or orange respectively. Their names are Aqua Play for blue, Dolphin Cave for green and Sunrise Splash for orange. It’s well documented that I love an orange watch and here I do think that the Sunrise Splash is my personal favourite but honestly the dial looks great in any of the three colours. It features a wavy pattern interspersed with a pod of dolphins making their way through the water. When the lights go out, the dolphins become illuminated as they are coated with lume.
I think it’s one of the best looking dials Spinnaker has produced in their conservation series. The patterned dial is paired with a very traditional dive watch display with bar indexes at 12/6/9, a date window at 3 o’clock and circular hour markers everywhere else. Admittedly the lumed dolphins mean that the display isn’t as restrained and serious as most dive watches but when the trade off is that you get to swim with dolphins every time you step into the water, that’s a deal I’m sure many ocean enthusiasts would take.
Powering the Spinnaker Croft Mid-Size Automatic Dolphin Project Limited Edition 2026 is the Miyota 8215 with 42-hour power reserve and automatic winding. It’s visible through the exhibition caseback and is decorated with a wave pattern rotor beneath the Dolphin Project rotor. The edge of the caseback is also engraved with the watch’s limited edition number.
Speaking of which, the Aqua Blue is limited to 500 pieces while the Dolphin Cave and Sunrise Splash are limited to 425 pieces each. All three versions are priced at £394 and come with two strap options – a stainless steel bracelet or an RPET recycled plastic strap that promotes sustainable manufacturing. At that price with a fun dial and supporting a good cause, this is a real impulse buy prospect for the summer. It’s launching on July 3rd ahead of World Whale and Dolphin Day on July 23rd.
Price and Specs:
More details at Spinnaker.
