Studio Underd0g Mantis: The 02SERIES Goes Full Night-Vision
Studio Underd0g has never been a brand particularly interested in doing things the conventional way. From fruit-inspired chronographs to colourful takes on military field watches, the British microbrand has built its reputation on taking familiar watchmaking ideas and injecting them with a sizeable dose of personality. Now, the brand is taking its second-generation 02SERIES somewhere considerably darker with the new Mantis.
Described by Studio Underd0g as a “serious take on our famously unserious field watch”, the Mantis takes everything that made the 02SERIES Gen2 interesting and turns the lume up to eleven. Inspired by the nocturnal world of military operations and covert missions, this is a field watch that appears relatively restrained in daylight before revealing its real personality when the lights go out.
And if the name wasn't enough of a clue, the dial takes its inspiration from the praying mantis — an insect renowned for disappearing into its surroundings. Studio Underd0g's version isn't exactly interested in hiding, however. Instead, the Mantis uses an abundance of X1 GL C3 Super-LumiNova to make itself extremely difficult to miss once darkness falls.
A Field Watch With A Secret
At its heart, the Mantis remains very much a member of the 02SERIES family. The collection takes its inspiration from the classic military field watches associated with the British Ministry of Defence and the famous Dirty Dozen watches of the Second World War, but Studio Underd0g has always been more interested in reinterpretation than recreation.
The result is a compact, straightforward field-watch silhouette with considerably more going on beneath the surface. The Mantis retains the 37.5mm stainless-steel case of the Gen2, along with its reduced 11.5mm thickness, making it a nicely wearable proposition for anyone who appreciates the traditionally modest proportions of a military watch.
The real transformation happens on the dial. Rather than simply adding a few luminous numerals and calling it a day, Studio Underd0g has created a dial designed specifically around the idea of night-time visibility. The brand says the Mantis uses seven layers of X1 GL C3 Super-LumiNova, giving the watch a serious phosphorescent presence in low-light conditions.
In daylight, the construction is considerably more subtle. A brass base dial receives a silver sunray finish, while a 1mm-thick tinted sapphire crystal sits above it. That layered approach has become one of the defining characteristics of the 02SERIES, creating the impression of depth while allowing the dial to change considerably depending on the surrounding light.
Then the sun goes down and things get considerably more interesting.
The Glow-Up
Lume has become something of a Studio Underd0g speciality, but the Mantis takes the concept particularly seriously. The seven layers of Super-LumiNova don't simply serve as decoration; they're an integral part of the watch's identity.
The brand's spy-themed presentation is obviously delivered with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but there is a genuine functional advantage here. The combination of luminous dial elements, refined handset and minute track is designed to keep the watch highly legible in darkness.
Studio Underd0g even describes the Mantis as being equipped with enough lume to make night-vision goggles feel redundant. That's obviously marketing hyperbole, but the underlying point is clear: this is intended to be one seriously luminous field watch.
Interestingly, the inspiration behind the dial isn't actually the mantis itself. Studio Underd0g points towards the natural glow of jellyfish and their electric, phosphorescent appearance as the semantic inspiration behind the 02SERIES dials. On the Mantis, that concept makes particular sense, transforming what would otherwise be a fairly traditional military-style watch into something that feels almost alive after dark.
Gen2 Under The Hood
While the Mantis may be a special edition, it isn't simply a cosmetic exercise. Studio Underd0g has carried over the technical upgrades introduced with the second-generation 02SERIES.
Powering the watch is the Swiss Sellita SW200-2 M manual-winding movement, which has been upgraded to deliver a substantial 63-hour power reserve. That is a particularly useful figure for a hand-wound watch, allowing you to take it off for a couple of days without immediately having to reset and wind it.
The movement is also specified to run at -7/+7 seconds per day, which Studio Underd0g describes as accurate enough for the demands of field work. It's another example of the brand's approach to the 02SERIES: underneath all the colour, humour and unusual dial construction is a mechanically serious watch.
The movement is housed inside the slimmed-down 37.5mm case, while the strap tapers from 18mm at the lugs to 16mm further down the wrist. The overall proportions should make the Mantis a particularly versatile daily wearer, especially for anyone who finds modern field watches increasingly oversized.
Specifications
Case: Stainless steel
Diameter: 37.5mm
Thickness: 11.5mm
Crystal: 1mm tinted sapphire crystal
Dial: Brass base with silver sunray finish
Lume: Seven layers of X1 GL C3 Super-LumiNova
Movement: Swiss Sellita SW200-2 M manual winding
Accuracy: -7/+7 seconds per day
Power reserve: 63 hours
Strap: 18mm tapering to 16mm
Assembly: Great Britain
A Limited-Time Mission
There is another reason the Mantis is likely to attract plenty of attention from Studio Underd0g collectors: it isn't going to be around for long.
Studio Underd0g says the Mantis will be available directly through its website for just nine hours, from 3pm until midnight BST on September 1st, after which the watch will disappear for good. A small additional allocation will be reserved for customers who make the trip to the brand's D0ghouse for a face-to-face briefing.
That limited availability fits rather neatly with the entire covert-operations theme. Rather than being another permanent member of the 02SERIES collection, the Mantis is essentially a mission that appears, makes its mark and disappears.
For collectors already invested in Studio Underd0g, that scarcity is likely to make the watch particularly tempting. The brand has developed a strong following around its limited releases and colourful collaborations, and the Mantis manages to offer something slightly different without abandoning the design language that made the 02SERIES successful in the first place.
Studio Underd0g Keeps Doing Things Its Own Way
What's perhaps most interesting about the Mantis is that it demonstrates just how far Studio Underd0g has come. The brand's watches are still playful and deliberately irreverent, but there is increasingly serious watchmaking underneath the jokes.
The Mantis doesn't attempt to reinvent the field watch mechanically. Instead, it takes an established format and concentrates on the things Studio Underd0g does particularly well: colour, texture, layered construction, lume and storytelling. The result is a watch that looks familiar enough to be recognisable as a field watch, while being unmistakably Studio Underd0g.
The 37.5mm dimensions are another smart choice. In an era when field watches regularly push beyond 40mm, the Mantis retains the compact proportions associated with its military inspiration. Combine that with an 11.5mm case, manual-winding movement and 63-hour power reserve, and there's a compelling everyday proposition underneath all the fun.
Winding Things Up
The Studio Underd0g Mantis feels like a natural evolution of the 02SERIES rather than simply another limited-edition colourway. It takes the Gen2's slimmer case, improved movement and refined dial construction and gives the entire concept a new personality after dark.
There's something particularly fitting about Studio Underd0g choosing a praying mantis for a watch that is supposed to disappear into the night, only for the company to completely undermine the insect's camouflage abilities with seven layers of glowing Super-LumiNova.
It's exactly the kind of contradiction that makes Studio Underd0g so enjoyable. The Mantis is a military-inspired field watch that doesn't take military watches too seriously, a covert-inspired watch that absolutely refuses to be discreet, and a serious mechanical timepiece from a brand that has built its identity around having a bit of fun.
With availability restricted to a nine-hour window on September 1st, anyone wanting to add this particular bug to their collection will need to be ready when the lights go out.
