Spinnaker have recently seen an upsurge in interest following an incredibly popular collaboration with seconde/seconde, the 50 Phantoms. It’s great to see a brand that’s always flirting around the edge of the main stage take the spot light for once. Their latest timepiece is the Croft Mid-Size Dolphin Project Limited Edition, which to my eye appears to have learned many lessons from the 50 Phantoms.
First and foremost among those lessons is fun. The new watch features a dial with a pattern of jumping dolphins across its central disc, which is matched by a dolphin shaped counterweight on the seconds hand. On top of that, every single dolphin (there’s about 42 pairs of them on the dial) is lumed, making them glow in low light conditions. It’s a little bit silly and quirky but I like it. You can definitely see the parallels to the 50 Phantom’s ghost display.
On top of the pattern being fun, it’s also relevant to the watch because it’s produced in support of the Dolphin Project, one of the leading non-profit dolphin conservation and welfare organisations, established in 1970. In fact, the specific leaping dolphin image Spinnaker have used is based on the Dolphin Project’s logo. Naturally, a portion of proceeds from each sale go directly to Dolphin Project.
Let’s zoom out from the dolphins now to look at the Croft Mid-Size Dolphin Project Limited Edition more generally. It measures 40mm in diameter in stainless steel with a water resistance rating of 150m. It has a unidirectional rotating bezel in either steel tone or dark blue depending on the colourway, of which there are three to choose from. There’s the Ocean Blue, Ocean Black and Ocean Turquoise, which are pretty self-explanatory colours. I particularly like the turquoise model because it has a brighter quality that lends itself to the fun design.
The dial follows a fairly typical dive watch layout with large lumed hour markers in a combination of rectangles and circles, making it easy to read the watch no matter the visibility conditions. At 3 o’clock a date window completes the display in a white numeral on black disc style that integrates subtly on the black and blue editions and provides a point of contrast on the turquoise.
Each of the Croft Mid-Size Dolphin Project Limited Editions is presented on a steel bracelet and additional rPET strap in red, blue or turquoise depending on the colourway. On top of that, the limited edition comes with a free rPET Dolphin Project baseball cap, which is fairly attractive in navy and orange.
As for the movement powering the piece, it’s officially listed as a “Japanese Automatic Movement”, which is not a great amount of information. Fortunately we know that the Croft Mid-Size has historically housed the Seiko NH35 with 41-hour power reserve and there’s no reason this watch would be any different. It’s protected by a solid caseback bearing an engraving of the Dolphin Project logo.
The Spinnaker Croft Mid-Size Dolphin Project Limited Edition is limited to 600 pieces in each colourway at a price of $425 (approx. £335). I think this is hands down the best edition of the Croft that Spinnaker have produced, combining its accessible dive watch style with an element of fun while also supporting serious conservation work. We’ve had ghosts, now we have dolphins, what’s next? Ghost-Dolphins?
Price and Specs:
More details at Spinnaker.
