An Up-and-Coming Brand Upgrades Its Military-Inspired WWII Field Watch

During WWII, the British Ministry of Defense released 12 distinct field watches, lovingly dubbed the “Dirty Dozen.” Today, they are highly collectible and remain deeply beloved in the watch world.

A few short years ago, British microbrand Studio Underd0g launched a tribute to those watches, called the 02Series, which took a playful spin on the traditional concept.

Now, the brand has returned to that design, revamping it into the Studio Underd0g 02Series, Generation 2. While it retains the original spirit, it gets some subtle, yet impactful tweaks to its design.

Studio Underd0g

Playing with tradition

In keeping with the first-generation 02Series and the tradition of the original Dirty Dozen watches, this field watch houses a manual movement. However, this second generation swaps the original for a new one.

The first edition came with a Sellita SW210, while this new generation sees it swapped for a SW200-2 M Power+. While functionally similar, they do have one major difference.

Studio Underd0g

The SW210 had a 42-hour power reserve (about 1.75 days between winds). The SW200-2 M Power+, by contrast, bumps up significantly to 63 hours (a little over 2.6 days between winds). That makes for a major difference in its convenience, while maintaining the same overall functional spirit.

There’s also another relatively significant change, albeit to the watch’s form: the case depth. The first generation had a depth of 12 millimeters, while this one shrinks to 11.5. That might not seem like much by-the-numbers, but at this scale, every fraction of a millimeter makes a difference.

Studio Underd0g

Not-so-dirty dozen

Beyond its new movement and shorter depth, the other stylistic changes are much more subtle. Except for one altogether obvious one: the dial colorways.

Two from the first generation, Pink Lem0nade and Steffany Blue, return, while the other two, Full Mo0n and Midnight, have been replaced with Nightshade and Red L0lly.

I know, that’s a lot to parse, so let me try and simplify it: the original pink-and-yellow gradient and light blue dial colorways are now joined by new dark purple and red dial colorways.

Studio Underd0g

All four also receive custom seven-layer SuperLuminova treatments on their numerals, indices, and hour and minute hands. The minute track around the dial has also been slightly reduced, although the unique suspended sapphire disc and metallic base plate construction remain.

As before, every one of these watches is painstakingly assembled in Great Britain, a fact that is now reflected on the dial (whereas the original had “Mechanical Hand-Winding” printed on the dial). And each colorway receives its own unique strap, although you can add more for an upcharge.

Studio Underd0g

Availability and pricing

The Studio Underd0g 02Series, Generation 2 is now available on the brand’s site for $1,200 apiece in all four colorways.

Studio Underd0g

Studio Underd0g 02Series, Generation 2

Specs

Case Size	37.5mm
Movement	Sellita SW200-2 M Power+
Water Resistance	100m

• $1,200 at Studio Underd0g

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