Spinnaker celebrates SpongeBob’s 25th anniversary with a collection of colourful character watches
Jamie WeissFew TV shows have had the same lasting impact as SpongeBob SquarePants. First launched in 1999, this silly kid’s cartoon about a sea sponge and his aquatic friends has proven to be one of the most enduring and popular animated series of all time – as formative to millennials and Gen Z as Looney Tunes or Hanna-Barbera cartoons were for the generations before them. Kids and adults both love SpongeBob, and many have grown up with SpongeBob: its trademark mix of goofiness and innocence with existential angst and surprisingly dark humour gives it cross-generational appeal, especially in an increasingly cynical TV landscape. To celebrate SpongeBob SquarePants’ 25th anniversary, affordable dive watch-focused independent brand Spinnaker has come out with a limited-edition collection of SpongeBob character watches, which combine the show’s colourful cast and feel-good vibes with dependable dive watch specs.
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The case
These SpongeBob SquarePants 25th Limited Editions are based on Spinnaker’s Hass model, which features a 43mm brushed stainless steel case with a unidirectional diving bezel, a large crown with no crown guards and a 300-meter water resistance rating. Each of the four models’ bezels features a cheesy SpongeBob quote: “You never really know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory” – for the die-hard SpongeBob nerds, that’s from S8, Ep 155b, Sentimental Sponge. A SpongeBob logo can also be found on the caseback.
There’s a bit of a SpongeBob connection here with this model, actually: it’s named after Hans Hass, an Austrian biologist and filmmaker who is sometimes referred to as the “father of underwater exploration.” SpongeBob’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg, was actually a marine biology educator, who first developed many of the ideas and characters that would later feature in SpongeBob from an educational comic book he created to teach his students about undersea life. Maybe that’s a bit of a reach. What is undeniable is that a dive watch makes sense if you’re paying tribute to a cartoon set under the sea.
The dial
The Hass Automatic SpongeBob SquarePants 25th Limited Edition collection features four different dial variants, each with a different SpongeBob character: Patrick, Squidward (which is the version we spent the most time with), Mr. Krabs, and of course SpongeBob himself. Each dial has a multi-layered construction, where the minute track, indices and each character’s eyes and mouths (in Squidward’s case, his nose) are highlighted in different colours of Super-LumiNova, with a matte, un-lumed centre. A date window can be found at the 4:30 position, with its numerals – as well as the rest of the text on the dial – denoted in SpongeBob’s signature font.
The SpongeBob Yellow model is easily the stand-out among the four, with the watch’s handset taking the place of SpongeBob’s nose. Otherwise, I think the red-and-blue Mr. Krabs model is probably the most “wearable” – although I think they missed a trick with the bezel for this one, where you could have had an affirmation around “time is money” that would’ve suited this notoriously money-grubbing character.
The bracelet
Each SpongeBob SquarePants 25th Limited Edition watch comes with two strap options: a three-link steel bracelet with a diver’s safety clasp, as well as an additional silicon accordion-style strap with steel pin buckle colour-matched to each watch’s dial/character theme. The silicon straps are pretty lairy… But no one wears a character watch hoping to be subtle.
The movement
Unlike previous Spinnaker Hass models which mostly utilise the Seiko NH18 movement, these SpongeBob watches use the ubiquitous Seiko NH35, which Spinnaker has tweaked ever so slightly with colour-matched date wheels for each model. Moving to an NH35 has also helped bring the thickness down from 15.3mm to 14mm while maintaining the same 41-hour power reserve, at the expense of day-date functionality.
The verdict
Let’s be real: character watches are not to everyone’s taste, but these Spinnakers are interesting as they’re emblematic of a generational shift in watch culture. We are moving on from the older generations’ Snoopies and Mickeys to the characters that millennials and Gen Z grew up with, like SpongeBob SquarePants. For someone like myself – a “zillennial” who grew up watching SpongeBob – these character watches are perhaps more relevant than those based on older entertainment properties.
Unlike many character watches, too (especially previous SpongeBob character watches), these Spinnakers also hit a sweet spot when it comes to specs and pricing. They’re not cheap plastic toys, nor are they so price-prohibitive or overbuilt that they stop being whimsical. My biggest technical complaint is their size: at 43mm, these watches are likely too big for younger SpongeBob fans (aside from the fact that a mechanical watch might not be suitable for them at all).
Spinnaker Hass Automatic SpongeBob SquarePants 25th Limited Edition pricing & availability
The Spinnaker Hass Automatic SpongeBob SquarePants 25th Limited Edition collection is a limited edition of 300 individually numbered pieces for each variant, for a total run of 1,200 watches. Each comes with a SpongeBob-branded Pelican-style case. They will be available for purchase exclusively at authorized Spinnaker retailers and online at spinnaker-watches.com from the 26th of July, 2024. Price: US$445
| Brand | Spinnaker |
| Model | Hass Automatic SpongeBob SquarePants 25th Limited Edition |
| Reference Number | SP-5138-11 (Spongebob Yellow) SP-5138-22 (Patrick Pink) SP-5138-33 (Squidward Green) SP-5138-44 (Mr. Krabs Red) |
| Case Dimensions | 43mm (D) x 14mm (T) x 50.5mm (LTL) |
| Case Material | 316L stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 300m, screw-down crown |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire |
| Dial | Multi-layered dial with luminous SpongeBob SquarePants character art |
| Lug Width | 22mm |
| Strap | Three-link steel bracelet with safety clasp, additional colour-matched silicon strap with steel pin buckle |
| Movement | Seiko (SII) Caliber NH35, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 41 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, unidirectional diving bezel |
| Availability | Limited edition of 1,200 (300 pieces of each design) Available from 26th July 2024 |
| Price | US$445 |