It’s conceivable that even the most ardent horolophiles amongst our readership will not yet have heard of either Micromilspec or Black Badger: and the piece before you – the Milgraph Sabotage – is a collaboration which proves both participants should be on the radar of anyone who appreciates watch aesthetics that reside in the sportier zone.
In case you haven’t yet had the pleasure, Micromilspec is an Oslo-based independent maker, founded by corporate finance professional Henrik Rye, which has crafted custom pieces not just for elite military and law enforcement units but also prominent athletes: Manchester City titan Erling Haaland is among its household-name clients (as well as a friend of Rye’s).
Black Badger, meanwhile, is a pseudonym for luminescent artist James Thompson – an avant-garde aesthete, known as the “Master of Glow” for his creation of 3D luminescent composite Badgerite, who has drawn flirtatious winks from those in the horological sphere before now with other collaborations, such as his contribution to Swiss brand Hautlence’s Vagabonde range.
Micromilspec Milgraph Sabotage features a titanium case and matte white dial with orange accents.
Thompson here applies his subversive Midas touch to the already award-nominated Milgraph. His take on the limited-edition (75 pieces) iteration of the chronograph applies orange Super-LumiNova X1 and a white dial to a piece whose 42mm microblasted Grade 5 titanium case boasts a unidirectional QuadGrip bezel, a matte white dial, and orange, high-vis flourishes.
Clearly always keen to flex its creative muscles in all ways which present themselves, Micromilspec has also, to support the release, introduced “The Time Wars”: an anime-esque universe in which the new piece seen here is worn by Black Badger, recast as an ultra-charismatic space pirate, doing battle with a tyrannical Chrono Syndicate helmed by the aptly named “Grand Psycho” and his associate The Crown Guard.
The indices and hands of the Milgraph Sabotage are coated with X1-grade Super-LumiNova, which glows in a unique “ultramarine” colour.
Each piece comes with a serial-matching zirconium and Super-LumiNova dog tag, for which Black Badger/Thompson teamed up with Mexico-based contemporary jewellery artist Pat Pruitt: a major draw, if accumulating tomorrow’s grail watches is your mission. Or, as Micromilspec founder Henrik Rye humorously puts it: “This is a one-time-only, never again release. If you miss it, you’ll have to wait for the next galactic cycle.”
Besides the Hautlence Vagabonde release, meanwhile, Black Badger has also joined creative forces with MB&F, De Bethune, Hautlence, Sarpaneva, MW&Co, Linde Werdelin and Arcanaut in the past. Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr and Arnold Schwarzenegger are among those to have worn the results – so take Rye’s advice and you’ll be in good company.
Author: Nick Scott
If you like sport watches, you may be interested on the Alpiner Extreme Automatic Titanium, the Tudor Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25”, or the IWC Big Pilot Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL.
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