The Studio Underd0g Effect: How A Watermelon Watch Became The Most Hyped Microbrand

"If the process is driven by what the market wants, you'll often end up with another Submariner homage." Richard Benc's words cut to the heart of why his Brighton-based Studio Underd0g has become one of the most hyped watch brands of the decade. In an industry obsessed with heritage and reverence, Benc made watermelons, pizza, and mint chocolate chip ice cream the inspiration for mechanical chronographs. The result? A brand that can shift 6,000 watches in nine hours and leave customers waiting months for delivery. It's an extraordinary achievement for a company that didn't deliver its first physical product until September 2021. But the Studio Underd0g phenomenon isn't just about clever marketing or manufactured scarcity. It's a masterclass in doing everything the traditional watch industry says you shouldn't do and succeeding spectacularly because of it.

Mint chocolate chip & Watermelon

The Braun Rebellion
Benc's journey into watchmaking was accidental. A product design graduate from Nottingham University, he stumbled into the industry designing character watches, Mickey Mouse, Star Wars, the sort of timepieces most serious collectors wouldn't touch with a barge pole. But it was his subsequent six years at Braun that shaped his design philosophy. Working under the strict confines of Bauhaus minimalism—black dials, white dials, maybe grey if you were feeling extravagant, Benc absorbed principles of proportion, functionality, and refinement. Studio Underd0g, launched during the March 2020 lockdown, emerged as a direct rebellion against those constraints. But here's the crucial bit: the Bauhaus discipline never left. Look past the Watermel0n's audacious green and red colourway, and you'll find thoughtful details that separate Studio Underd0g from mere gimmickry. The brand signature sits offset from the movement specification, ensuring visibility regardless of the chronograph hand position. The watermelon seed-shaped hour markers are subtle enough to miss at first glance. The case proportions, at 38.5mm, prioritise wearability over wrist presence. These aren't happy accidents. They're the product of a designer who understands that playful doesn't mean careless.

The Specifications Actually Matter
Strip away the food-inspired dials, and Studio Underd0g's 01Series presents a compelling value proposition. The Seagull ST-1901 movement inside has a fascinating provenance, it's essentially a Chinese-made version of the Swiss Venus 175, a column-wheel chronograph that powered mid-century pieces from Heuer, Breitling, and Gallet. The tooling was reportedly brought from Switzerland to China in the 1960s, and while Chinese movements still face prejudice in some quarters, the ST-1901 has earned genuine respect among enthusiasts.

At £550, you're getting a hand-wound mechanical chronograph with sapphire crystals front and back, a well-finished dial with multiple textures and layers, and an Italian leather strap worth approximately £100 on its own. Yes, you can find Swiss movements with longer power reserves at similar price points. But those watches won't stop conversations at the pub. The 03Series marks Studio Underd0g's ambitious leap upmarket. Priced at £1,700—more than double anything they'd previously released, it houses the Sellita SW510 M, the brand's first Swiss movement. The monopusher chronograph configuration, exhibition caseback with custom Côte de Genève finishing, and 63-hour power reserve represent genuine technical advancement. The Salm0n dial, split between copper-toned salmon and dark grey fumé gradient, looks like sushi rendered in haute horlogerie.

British Watchmaking's Unlikely Champion
The most significant development in Studio Underd0g's trajectory has nothing to do with dial colours. In late 2025, the brand acquired Horologium, the Reading-based workshop that had been assembling their watches since 2021. It's a move that positions Studio Underd0g as one of the few independent brands owning their own assembly operations and the only one of their scale in Britain. This matters beyond patriotic sentiment. Watch assembly in the UK was on life support; Studio Underd0g is training watchmakers and investing in skills that were close to disappearing from British shores entirely. They assembled 14,602 watches in 2025. That's not microbrand territory anymore. That's an actual manufacturing operation.

The Hype Machine That Runs on Authenticity
Here's where it gets interesting. Studio Underd0g's drops create Supreme-level frenzy, yet they've managed to avoid the cynicism that often accompanies manufactured scarcity. The pre-order model wasn't a marketing strategy; it was survival. Benc couldn't afford to produce stock speculatively, so customers funded production. When the first order window closed in 2020, they'd taken 300 orders over three weeks. The most recent nine-hour window generated nearly 6,000 orders worth approximately £3.5 million. The brand only sends email updates every two months, and only when they have something meaningful to say. They've been transparent about production figures since day one. When Chinese manufacturers began producing knock-offs of their designs, Studio Underd0g responded by releasing two new colourways inspired by the fakes rather than lawyering up. They auction charity pieces at pizza parties and meet-ups. This approach resonates because it feels genuine. Benc isn't performing the role of quirky microbrand founder, he is the quirky designer who made a watermelon watch because he thought it would be fun, and it turns out thousands of people agreed.

The H. Moser Stamp of Approval
When H. Moser & Cie., the Swiss brand famous for trolling the industry with cheese watches and Swiss Icons that parody their competitors, collaborates with you, it's a signal. The Studio Underd0g × H. Moser 03Series wasn't a marketing exercise; it was recognition that Benc's irreverent approach deserved serious horological attention. The piece was nominated at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève in 2023's Challenge category. Collaborations with established names like Fears and Sartory Billard followed. These aren't brands looking to borrow street cred from a hype watch. They're serious makers acknowledging that Studio Underd0g brings something valuable to contemporary watchmaking.

Why Everyone Wants One
The democratisation of watch enthusiasm through social media created a generation of collectors who appreciate horology but reject stuffiness. They're comfortable mixing a £550 Studio Underd0g with a Rolex Submariner in their rotation. They value design innovation as much as movement provenance. They want watches that spark conversations, not respectful nods. Studio Underd0g speaks their language. The brand acknowledges that you can be serious about watchmaking without taking yourself too seriously. That a Seagull movement with Chinese manufacturing can deliver genuine value. That British watchmaking doesn't need to cosplay Swiss heritage to matter.

At British Watchmakers' Day in March 2024, Studio Underd0g's booth was mobbed seconds after doors opened, with crowds several people deep throughout the event. Established British brands looked on, some in admiration, others perhaps in bewilderment. How does a five-year-old brand command this sort of devotion? The answer is deceptively simple: they made watches they wanted to wear, priced them fairly, communicated honestly, and trusted that there were enough people who valued creativity over conformity. In an industry often paralysed by tradition, that counts as revolution. The hype around Studio Underd0g isn't manufactured - it's earned. And that's precisely why it shows no signs of slowing down.