Five years in, and already on its fourth model, the Studio Underd0g 04SERIES moves the young and precocious brand in a new direction. Its first calendar watch channels all of the attitude and creativity we have come to know and love from them, while simultaneously displaying the brand’s growth in development and production capabilities.

While this may appear to just be a new calendar watch from Studio Underd0g, to me it is actually a statement of intent. Having only recently opened up its own assembly and QC unit in Maidenhead, England, this first automatic watch is saying that Richard and his team are very much ready to move up in the watch world.

Having recently visited the D0ghouse and witnessed exactly how this brand is operating today, I can see why they must have felt confident enough to go after their most ambitious project yet. With an entire building dedicated to assembling, checking, and shipping its watches, this brand now has the capacity to chase other goals, such as the development of a new and exclusive calibre.

That means the 04SERIES is exactly the calendar watch Underd0g was after, and not an off-the-shelf alternative. With a retrograde pointer date, a weekend indicator, and a moon phase all packed into a compact case, topped off with four eye-catching dial options. They might not be styled after food, but these look to be the next step for a more grown-up, but just as fun, Studio Underd0g.

On their surface, this collection of four dials seems quite restrained for Studio Underd0g. They are not multi-layered with textured sapphire; they do not look to symbolise a delicacy while on the wrist, and they don’t glow in the dark. What they have instead is a retrograde pointer date that follows the path of a weekend indicator and a moon phase at the bottom.

A surprising turn towards function for a brand usually full of whimsy. But we still get pops of colour with these four different options entitled: Cloud10, Arabian Sky, Shepherd’s Delight, and 0vercast. All four of these dials feature some lovely textures with a polished centre and sandblasted outer edge, while the moon phase has been given an azurage finish.

But let’s dig into the structure of this dial a little more. The pointer date and weekend display work in tandem as the retrograde hand works its way around the near-complete circle of dates, which align with the CNC cut-out squares through which you can see how long until the next weekend, thanks to the rotating disc behind it with coloured sections. But why make this date function a retrograde?

When you combine a pointer date with a moon phase, you either have to place the moon phase outside the path of the date hand or risk it blocking the moon for part of the month. To get around this, the date hand snaps back from 31 to the 1st at the beginning of every month, avoiding the moon phase window entirely. This is a sign of how deeply Underd0g has been thinking about its newest creation.

Not wanting to cut corners in function or design.

While the use of loud colours and food-based design has been a cornerstone for Studio Underd0g since it launched, and a very successful one when you look at the Watermel0n and Pizza watches, there has always been a light criticism levelled at these designs for having a touch of gimmick to them. This is not something that could be said of these new 04SERIES dials.

While they draw inspiration in their colours from the various shades you see in the sky, hence their names, on their surface, they are all very serious and well-considered dials. Even if that red is still a very strong colour to wear as a daily.

Speaking of wearing this watch daily, Underd0g has chosen two sizes for its release, both pretty close to each other, but they swear it makes all the difference.

With both 38.5mm and 37mm available, it seems the brand wanted to offer something leaning towards vintage, but didn’t want to fluctuate too heavily in its case size options, as it is only offering one size of movement, and I appreciate this decision, as I don’t know about you, but I am never a fan of a movement looking tiny inside a case that is clearly far too big for it.

One thing you will notice when you first open the box of your new 04SERIES is that you are also given a stylus with it. This is to use the two pushers that sit flush with the case at both 8 and 2. The one on the right is to set the quick-set date hand, while the one on the left sets the moon phase.

This leaves one function still left to adjust, and to move the weekend indicator, you just need to move the crown out to the first position. It would have been great if all functions could have been controlled through the crown, but for this price point, I understand not wanting to make the movement overly complex.

The straight, tapered lugs measure 44.5mm from end to end and have been given a straight-line brushing along their top, which mirrors the brushing on the thin bezel as well. The clean look that this finish gives the watch ensures that the decision to integrate the pushers into the case was not wasted, and so the slim case, at just 13.5mm, keeps its slender profile.

Turn the watch over, and you get a full view of the automatic Sea-Gull movement inside. As mentioned above, this movement is not a standard offering from the Chinese manufacturer; instead, they have worked closely with the team at Studio Underd0g to develop a new module that sits on top of its ST-2100 day/date calibre. In order to create this…