Spinnaker Croft Dolphin Project Release

Jilliano Romano
2 days ago
2 min read

There are some watches, which are built with multiple meanings in mind. These watches, in their description, try to keep it as vague as possible, so that it can appeal to as many people as possible. The newest limited edition release from Spinnaker does not care about trying to keep things general, and non-specific. As its name and design suggests, the Spinnaker Croft Dolphin Project was made to raise awareness about marine conservation prior to the upcoming World Whale & Dolphin Day on July 23.

Spinnaker Croft Dolphin Project The Watch Brief Jilliano

Spinnaker Croft Dolphin Project: Making A Splash

The collection comes in a trio of colors - Sunrise Splash (orange), Aqua Play (blue), and Dolphin Cave (green) - with each one limited to 425 pieces, except for Aqua Play, which is limited to 500 pieces. The case silhouette and its bracelet are your standard diver style a la Seiko Marinemaster or Longines Hydroconquest with applied lumed hour markers and an H-Link bracelet, but what really captures the attention is the dial.

Each dial has a textured wave pattern dial (but think more like the SPB509's wave pattern, and less Omega Seamaster wave pattern) which is overlaid by the silhouettes of dolphins. At first, this reminded me of a Seiko Monster with penguin silhouettes on the dial, but I realized they took it one step further when I saw the lume. As it gets darker, each of the dozen or so dolphin silhouettes on the dial comes aglow with bright Swiss Luminova. The color of the lume matches the primary color of each dial, so my personal favorite has to be the Sunrise Splash (what a surprise, the guy who owns a Doxa Sub Professional is a fan of the orange diver!).

A Higher Purpose

The Spinnaker Croft Dolphin Project, in my opinion, succeeds in its goal of raising awareness about marine conservation. You literally can't look at this dial without thinking about marine life, and that's exactly the point.

As a diver, it does leave more to be desired, as it sports 150M of Water Resistance, which may be lackluster for some people. Realistically, though, I haven't worn any of my divers into the ocean yet, so this is definitely not a negative for me. The watch is quite eyecatching, and quirky, and I think it would have a nice place in the collection of many people who want a watch that's a bit less serious without sacrificing on specs, such as the Japanese automatic movement, and the generous Lume.

Available for sale on July 3, check it out on the Spinnaker website!