British Microbrand Studio Underd0g has turned last year’s April Fools’ joke into this year’s charity fundraising watch.
Founder Richard Benc posted his concept for an Eggplant-inspired watch on the brand’s Instagram on April 1 2021, the joke included mention of real Aubergine skin being used on the dial that would “wrinkle beautifully over time” with the watch’s smoked textured dial recalling the purple and green color palate of the vegetable.
One year later and a version of the watch – minus any reference to real Aubergine skin – is back as a 50-piece limited edition chronograph in collaboration with watch website, Fratello Watches. All profits from the £500 GBP (approximately $660 USD) watch will go to Cancer Research UK towards research into testicular cancer.
Studio Underd0g has based its brand on colorful modern dials coupled with mechanical ST-1901 chronograph movement from Chinese movement maker, Seagull. The Chinese Airforce purchased the tooling and technical drawings for the Swiss Venus Cal.175 chronograph movement in the early 1960s and Seagull has been making them ever since. Each watch is inspected, demagnetised and, where necessary, regulated in the UK before shipping, along with its own report card.
The watch, which is supplied on a calfskin strap handmade by The Strap Tailor, drops on April 1 at 10AM EST via a password protected launch page. Those wishing to place an order will need to sign-up to Fratello’s newsletter, which will send out the password before the drop. Orders are being processed on a first come, first basis and limited to one watch per order.
In other watch news, Bulgari claims the world record for thinnest mechanical watch with its Octo Finissimo Ultra.
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