Over their six years of existence, Studio Underd0g have gone from colourful British upstart to an ambassador for what our specific breed of home-grown horology does best: tongue-in-cheek eccentricity as a design language. And now that they’ve taken control of their own assembly, Studio Underd0g is more capably independent than ever.
So how did we get here? Not through one watch of course, but through a series of drops that have come to define one of the most hyped watch brands not just in the UK, but in the world. These then are the watches that made the Underd0g.
The Minions Watch, 2016
If you’ve not come across this one, don’t worry, this isn’t actually a Studio Underd0g but it was founder Rich Benc’s first watch design. Straight out of university he got a job essentially copying licensed assets onto templates. Not exactly exciting. Until he created this, a ‘watch’ that shoots Minion-branded discs through the air using those blue levers either side. Yes, it’s a cheap toy rather than a timepiece, but it was this watch that started the journey towards Studio Underd0g as we know it.
The Minions Watch originally retailed for £7.99, and these days it hasn’t exactly appreciated, despite being notably rare. In fact, this might have the best money-to-rarity ratio of any watch out there – the perfect grail watch for a hyperactive eight-year-old.
The Watermel0n, 2021
The watch that started it all. Studio Underd0g began as a design project during lockdown and, at a time when most of us were feeling a bit grey, Rich was going full-on colour. It debuted with a pair of timepieces that are still very much in the collection – the sneaker-inspired Desert Sky and racy Go0fy Panda – but to date, the Watermel0n has dwarfed them all.
To put that into context, it has sold upwards of 10,000 pieces since it launched in 2021. For a brand this young, that’s a serious number. It’s also the watch that most clearly illustrates how far Studio Underd0g has come. Originally priced at £370, it is now assembled in the UK, with upgraded Seagull movements and British-made straps, with a new price tag of £600. It’s remained the fun, fruity impulse buy it launched as but has become much more serious behind the scenes.
The bottom line: if you know the brand, this is the watch you know. And for good reason.
The 02SERIES, 2023
Any sophomore effort is hard, doubly so when you’re following up something like the Watermel0n, a watch that reinvented the accessible chronograph. This time, the humble field watch was getting the same treatment. And so, we got a brand new design with a twist – a two-level dial, with sapphire on top with floating numerals and cool gradients underneath, held in place by two very visible screws and priced at £800.
The 02SERIES proved that Studio Underd0g was more than a one-watch wonder. It wasn’t just more of the same; it wasn’t even an evolution. It was something entirely new. At the same time, it still had that air of eccentricity, that sense that this was serious design that didn’t take itself too seriously. Now into its second generation with a host of new dial colours, that dual layer dial has become a Studio Underd0g signature; arguably more so than the colourful Big-Eye.
Studio Underd0g x H. Moser & Cie Project Passion, 2024
Collectors weren’t the only ones that appreciated Studio Underd0g’s fun, accessible watches. Behind the scenes, a watchmaker with a similar cult following – albeit working at a much, much higher price point – was taking note. And if you were going to do your first-ever collaboration, who better than Moser & Cie to kick things off?
Project Passion was actually a two-way collaboration. On the one hand, there was the Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Passion Fruit, a juicy twist on one of the brand’s highest-end pieces. On the other, the debut of Studio Underd0g’s 03SERIES monopusher chronograph. Both had the same purple and yellow livery and similar designs, just at very different levels of watchmaking.
Was it successful? Well, Moser’s website couldn’t handle the traffic as everyone in the watch world clamoured to discover the collab. Yes, it was successful.
Studio Underd0g x H. Moser & Cie Project Passion Friends & Family, 2024
One of the biggest issues people had about the Moser collab was the price. £65,000 isn’t exactly accessible, even if you do get two watches. For most collectors, that’s more of a thought problem than an actual issue, but for everyone that actually worked on the project, it meant that the thing they’d poured their own passion into was unobtainable.
So, to celebrate the partnership, the pair built a version of the Studio Underd0g in inverted Passi0nfruit colours that was available to everyone involved in the project at cost price. It was essentially a crew watch, and it says a lot that, as far as we’re aware, not one of these has appeared on the secondary market. In fact, most people don’t even know these exist. It is, in Studio Underd0g terms, a grail.
The Fears Gimlet, 2025
Most of the time a queue around the block means a new Swatch collab, but not here. British Watchmakers’ Day was held by the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers on 8 March 2025, and while there were plenty of collectors lining up to see the wider homegrown industry, many of them had one watch in mind: the Fears x Studio Underd0g Gimlet.
Pairing Fears’ cushion case – albeit adapted to a Sellita movement – with Studio Underd0g’s 02SERIES dual-layered dial, this full-lume, cocktail-flavoured release was limited to just 200 pieces and priced at £1,000. Needless to say, there were a lot of disappointed collectors on the day. So, it wasn’t a huge surprise when there were two further alcoholic releases in the Manhattan and Mim0sa, just in time for Wind-Up New York.
The Gimlet proved the hype around Studio Underd0g was more than online impulse buys; it was here in the real world.
The Un0riginals, 2025
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and as copies of their various designs started appearing from junk-shovelling ‘flatterers’, Studio Underd0g had to pay attention. But where other brands would have seen a lawsuit, they saw an opportunity. None of these rip-offs were worth worrying about, but one actually offered something new: an avocado-themed colourway. And so, Rich opted to show just why Studio Underd0g are the best at what they do and copy that copy. The result was the Av0cado, with a stone-orange subdial and the subtler Guacam0le in shades of green. And, in the ultimate middle finger to the copycats, the pair sold £3.25m over the nine-hour order window.
The 04SERIES, 2026
Frustrating as it is, there’s very little we can currently share about the next Studio Underd0g mainline release. We’re just as frustrated as you – it’s something we’re desperate to talk about. But we’ve been sworn to secrecy and, professional as we are, we’re not about to betray that trust.
What we can say is that once again it’s something novel, something very different to the rest of the Studio Underd0g collection and something that we very much want to own. Watch this space.
More details at Studio Underd0g.
