REDBAR / STUDIO UNDERDOG WATCH MEET!

Good morning watch friends! **Bit of a longer post than usual** 😊

So last night I went to my first #redbar watch meet in Leeds, I got the train into Leeds, the weather was rubbish, Snow and Sleet, I made my way to a pub nearby to have a few CALMING scoops before heading to the venue, I was nervous, as I am a shy kinda person in public and large groups (90 people invited) probably nearly full capacity there, the lads who organised the event were welcoming and friendly and made you feel at ease. The venue was a lovely place to be, as I first walked in, there were other people milling around the bar, a little shady and keeping themselves to themselves as the organisers had said not to let the venue location into the public domain for safety reasons. One guy eventually wandered over and spoke to me and asked if I was here for the RedBar/ #studiounderdog meet. I said yes and we went up to the function together. (he’s called Michael) Bromance starts 18:45pm 😂

**Photos below of trip on the train, a few settlers 🍻 and my Seiko Arnie**

On entering the room (Secret Location), we were greeted with 2 members of the #redbar team, they welcomed us and gave us name badges and a token for a free beer (Magic) we spoke for a few minutes and then walked round to see the studio underdog watches, they had the full set there plus the new pizza one. Both Richard and Magnus were very friendly and answered all the questions we had. Now let’s look at the watches.

Series 01 Watermelon, Desert Sky, Goofy Panda and Mint Choc Chip

Series 02 Pink Lemonade, Steffany Blue, Full Moon and Midnight, the lume on these was amazing! They really stood out, and the design more to my taste on this series.

The New Pepperoni Pizza watch. Not sure about this one, it's fun and lots of people liked it though. Just not my cuppa tea. Great idea and design though. The Lads thinking outside of the box.

On first inspection the watches look well made, they are funky designs, stand out from the crowd and have a real presence about them. My only issue was the size, at 38.5mm it’s rather smaller than I’d usually buy. The lads at Studio Underdog said they had based the dimensions on their own taste/wrist size, I don’t have a problem with that. If I was to buy one I'd probably get one for my wife. It was good to get hands on, you see things on websites and don’t know the true size, feel, quality of them. Studio Underdog have a good thing going on with these watches, I’ll be keen to see the next few versions they create. Aubergine, Egg or Beer Time. GOOD LUCK GUYS. I know Richard is secretly reading, he said so himself! 👍

Also on the table was a copy/homage (homage used lightly) to the Watermelon, see photos, Richard has ideas for that! The 2 watches are absolutely different ends of the spectrum, the colour, the quality, DO NOT BUY THE FAKE!!!

The venue was busy, plenty of attention on the Studio Underdog team and then other little groups milling around looking at other watch enthusiasts watches and taking photos and trying them on, everyone was in good spirits, the weather was horrible last night, we ended up with a day of snow which in the UK always causes problems. BUT WE BATTLE ON. 💪

So I sat down with a beer and started talking to Michael about watches, life, wives and kids, he told me about his job and having to leave it and that he's terminally ill! He’s just returned from Dubai and the watch convention (Dubai Watch Week on January 12, 2024) proper interesting guy, LIVING LIFE TO THE FULL. I asked him who he thought was “flexing the most” in the room and he said he’d seen an #audemarpiguet (UNBEKNOWN to me what was to come) we continued chatting and made our way over to another table where a guy had 5 or 6 inexpensive watches but was a true enthusiast, we chatted a while with him and he asked about what I was wearing and what Michael had on, I wore my Seiko Arnie and Michael then pulls out this!!!! A #ludovicballouard I've never heard of them or seen them, what a timepiece!

I couldn’t believe it, I asked a) what it was and b) how much? Michael smiled and said £125,000! THIS WAS THE GUY FLEXING THE MOST, AND I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW! I loved that, Michael is just a normal guy, lovely to chat to and then pulls out £125,000 like it was a £10 Casio! LOVE IT! He handed me the watch and said try it on, take it into the light and take some photos, we’d only met an hour ago and he was handing me over his timepiece! 🤑

Michael also has a #doxa special edition watch which was for sale, he bought 3 of them while in Dubai. I'll have to see what other treasure's he's hiding away! WHAT A GUY! 🙏

The Doxa SUB 300 Beta Seddiqi ❤ limited to 50!

After that I went over to chat to Richard at Studio Underdog and mentioned the couple of projects I had going on, #watchjourney2023 and #watchjourney2024 on #watchcrunch @WatchCrunch @Max plus the #williamwood firefighter watch, he was impressed with the ideas. I asked about a possible Studio Underdog travel watch, but he’s very busy getting the orders out that people have bought. Maybe in the future. ✨

Flashing the Watermelon with me (face is a closely guarded secret!!) 😂 Richard PLEASE MAKE A 42mm or 44mm limited run!

I’d already mentioned to Rich one of the RedBar members that I wanted to see his #zenith Zenith El Primero what a lovely watch that is! Always good to see a watch in person as I thought it was a bigger watch than it is. I'd have one though!

I also tried on this Omega, this is on my hit list! ❤

One of the RedBar team also mentioned a friend of theirs had a Tudor FXD, so I had to hunt that down and have a look, I really liked that watch, lightweight (which I didn't expect) good size dial and very clear face, it was the blue version of the black one I really want.

It got to about 10pm and I decided it was time to head home, I was hungry and I had work in the morning, so I swapped numbers with Michael and said my goodbyes, what a lovely group of likeminded watch people, ONTO THE NEXT ONE! I'll be less nervous next time and more chatty, what a great set of guys!

This night has created memories for me, opened me up to doing things alone, pushing myself to be confident, if I hadn't gone last night I wouldn't have had fun and wouldn't have met Michael and the other people there.

Another thing I can take from this is that my wife is fully behind my passion, one text on the way home said "looking forward to hearing all about it" I told her ALL about it! 😂

Thank you Ben

#mrsantanamod @Mr.Santana @UnholiestJedi @Aurelian @DeeperBlue @Ichibunz @Yonder @JaeBust @Magstime @Overfriendlyconcierge @TalkingDugong @weedge @weng_c @watchguard77 @drcarter13 @DH_NYC @jcwatch @Chunghauphoto @chunky @Stracerwatches23 @TyrogScot @Okavango @DAF_punk @FeebleWrists @Barkovitch @Fieldwalker @Matt84 just thought I'd add you into my post 🤝