Latest Review
In our over-saturated world of often austere dive watches and overwrought Explorer-likes, Studio Underd0g’s lineup is a continued breath of fresh, colorful air. The British brand’s signature style takes playful color schemes and theming, and applies them to rock-solid mechanical underpinnings to create a series of sporty timepieces that are instantly distinguishable from anything else on the market. Their 02SERIES of field watches, originally launched in 2023, has proven massively popular, with its “floating” numerals and deliciously bright seven-layer dials, topped off with a sapphire disc for depth effect. Joining that line is the GEN2 wave, which sees two new colorways, a slimmer case design, and some more mechanical tricks.
The GEN2 is housed in a familiar 316L stainless steel case, slimmed down to 11.5mm in thickness, a 37.5mm diameter measurement, and a 18mm lug width. This makes it, deceptively, slightly bigger in diameter than the original 02SERIES watches, but noticeably thinner, giving it a lighter profile on the wrist despite the size difference. Inside beats the stalwart Sellita SW200-2 M manual-winding movement with hacking, though the power reserve has also been tinkered with, now offering 63 hours of off-the-wrist time before the hands stop. The two-part case construction, screw-down case back with jellyfish motif, and signed crown add touches of refinement to the otherwise fairly simple 02SSERIES GEN2 watches, and all come with a matching, colorway-specific strap from fellow Brit The Strap Tailor.
So how about those two new colorways? Well, first, the popular Pink Lem0nade and Steffany Blue models return, with the new GEN2 dimensions. Conversely, the Full Mo0n and Midnight models bow out to make way for the brand new Nightshade and Red L0lly. In short, Studio Underd0g has taken the brilliant “deep color” technique that they honed on their Manhattan collaboration with Fears, which involves tinting the 1mm sapphire top layer of the dial stack to deepen the sunburst hues on the metallic layer beneath. The new colors are a lovely dark purple and red—Midnight and Red L0lly respectively—and add two slightly more sophisticated and dressier choices to the otherwise quite loud lineup across the rest of the brand’s timepieces.
Other improvements on the GEN2 watches include a reduced minute track and shorter hands, allowing for the domed crystal to be closer to the dial surface—hence the slimmer profile. With the introduction of their new in-house watchmaking workshop, The D0ghouse, Studio Underd0g has been able to tinker more effectively with their most popular designs, and make hands-on changes that affect the wearability directly. And while the more subtle Full Mo0n and Midnight designs will be missed, their replacements in the Nightshade and Red L0lly are both appropriately subdued and classy in comparison to their jollier counterparts, and push the brand’s ever-evolving and instantly clockable design ethos even further.
The new Studio Underd0g 02SERIES GEN2 line will be available from July 7th, 2026 on the brand’s website, and will retail for USD $1,200, with a limited 2-year warranty.
