Your Pizza Is Ready! — Introducing The Highly Requested Studio Underd0g Pepper0ni And Hawaiian Chronographs
Did anyone order pizza? Well, actually, I know many of you did. When Studio Underd0g founder Richard Benc and Time+Tide founder Andrew McUtchen seemed to launch a pizza watch last April, watch enthusiasts went wild. Unfortunately, it was a very well-played April Fools’ joke, and everybody could soon get back to what they were doing. However, requests for the watch just kept coming, so Richard decided to make the pizza-hungry watch crowd happy and put it into production. And now there’s not just one but two pizza chronographs — the Pepper0ni and the Hawaiian.
Richard and Andrew in the April Fools’ video
It’s not the first time that one of Richard’s April Fools’ pranks has made it into production. Here at Fratello, we’re very familiar with the Studio Underd0g Aubergine Chronograph, which also started as an April Fools’ joke. In collaboration with Fratello, it was later put into limited production and sold. The project was all to raise money for the fight against testicular cancer. In the end, we raised £13,000 for Cancer Research UK and had a lot of fun doing so. The new pizza watches are also here to support a good cause, but we’ll talk more about that later. First, let’s have a look at these delicious pieces/pizzas of watch design.
The Studio Underd0g Pizza Pepper0ni and Hawaiian chronographs
Of course, the deliciousness of the watches depends on what kind of pizza eater you are. If you’re anything like Thomas, who’s an avid pizza Margherita lover, you might not enjoy these versions. But I’m sure there are plenty of you out there who can appreciate a nice slice of pepperoni or secretly enjoy those pieces of pineapple on there. Above all, these watches are meant to be pure fun, and I’m all for it. It’s also cool to see that, at least for the Pepper0ni version, nothing has changed compared to the initial April Fools’ design.
The dial design starts with the tachymeter scale on the (non-filled) crust and then works its way toward the central part, where the delicious toppings are scattered about. To be honest, this Pepper0ni version is my kind of pizza. Whenever I order a pizza, this is exactly the one I order — tomato sauce, mushrooms, pepperoni, and cheese as a base with some olives and basil to finish it off. Even the shape of the slices and the texture of the toppings are there.
For lovers of the contrast between sweet and salty, there’s the Hawaiian pizza. On this dial, the toppings have been replaced by big chunks of piña and cooked ham. Both versions feature a tricolor 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock. And at 9 o’clock, there’s a concentrically engraved running seconds sub-dial.
The rest of the ingredients
The case of both pizza watches is the familiar 38.5mm stainless steel one with rectangular pushers and the signed push-pull crown. It measures 13.6mm in thickness from sapphire crystal to sapphire crystal. The lugs are fairly short, so the lug-to-lug span comes down to a very wearable 44.5mm. Through the exhibition case back, you get to take a look at the real ingredients of these pizzas. Inside, there’s a hand-wound Chinese Seagull ST1901 chronograph movement ticking away. It runs at a 21,600vph frequency and holds a 50-hour power reserve without the chronograph running.
Unlike real pizzas, these two are water resistant to 5 ATM, and they both come on leather straps from The Strap Tailor. But you’re probably not even interested in hearing about all these details. Of course, they are important, especially to the watch enthusiasts, the people who these watches are made for. But I think you either love or hate these watches and their designs. And if you’re a (pizza) lover, then you’d probably just like to get yourself one as quickly as possible. Well, that might be a little more complicated than ordering an actual pizza.
Freshly baked and delivered in person
As this watch was designed and created for the watch aficionados, Richard and Andrew thought it would be nice to do things a little differently this time. That’s why you’ll only be able to get your hands on one of these watches if you get in touch with either Richard or Andrew directly. In addition, the handover will also only be facilitated in person. This is to encourage watch enthusiasts to come to local events and engage with each other. I mean, it’s a noble pursuit, and I quite like the idea. But it also makes these pizza watches quite hard to get. We’ve seen with the MoonSwatch how that limited availability makes people feel.
However, I’m sure that members of the watch community will appreciate this act of improvisation and will do their best to get their hands on these sizzling, hot, and crunchy Studio Underd0g Pepper0ni or Hawaiian pizza chronographs. Depending on where you meet with Richard or Andrew, the watch will cost £550 / €600 / US$650. You can find more information on the official Studio Underd0g website. The watches will also be available at the Time+Tide store in Melbourne, Australia. Good luck acquiring one of these watches, and I’ll now go and order myself a delicious pepperoni pizza.
Which pizza or other dish would you like to see made into a watch? Let me know in the comments below.
