Watersprite

The Watersprite is 36mm across, but that number tells only half the story. The broad, brushed steel bezel gives the watch a satisfying amount of visual weight, while the open, uncluttered dial and oversized numerals make the entire face feel bigger.

The case finishing is part of what makes the design convincing. It is not an elaborate collection of polished facets or decorative flourishes. The brushed surfaces look purposeful, and under close light the bezel has enough texture to reward a proper macro photograph.

It also avoids the trap of making a small watch look deliberately delicate. On my wrist the Watersprite had presence without bulk, which is a useful trick for something intended to be worn casually and often.

The four colourways share the same case and dial design, yet each gives the watch a distinctly different character. Blue feels the most versatile. Orange is an instant mood-lifter. Yellow seems permanently on holiday. Green has already been claimed by an amphibian in my photography department.

If there is one reason to look closely at the Watersprite, this is it.

The big 12, 3, 6 and 9 numerals are not merely printed onto a colourful surface. They stand proudly above it, outlined in black, with plenty of physical depth. The rectangular hour markers have a similarly substantial appearance. Together they give the dial an almost architectural quality that photographs especially well from low angles.

A watch with such bright colours could have ended up looking flat or toy-like. The three-dimensional furniture stops that happening. It catches light, throws small shadows and makes the dial feel much more considered than the playful palette initially suggests.

That sense of depth was not accidental. When another enthusiast remarked on the applied markers in one of my photographs, Newmark replied that depth had been an important design consideration. Looking at the macro shots, I can see exactly why.

The remaining dial printing is sensibly restrained, and the absence of a date window leaves the face beautifully balanced. It is a distinctive design, not simply a familiar field-watch layout with four different paint jobs.

Each Watersprite comes alive on its colour-matched textured rubber-style strap. The pattern is a pleasing detail, and the bright straps are an enormous part of the design rather than an afterthought.

For the everyday wearing I managed during the loan, the combination felt suitably casual and easy-going. These are watches I could imagine being passed around a family, worn on holidays, taken out at weekends or picked up simply because somebody fancies a flash of colour on a dull morning.

There is one experiment I have not quite managed to shake from my head, though. I'd love to see what one of these would look like on a stainless steel bracelet. Not because Newmark should have supplied one, or because the rubber strap needs replacing. The matching strap is half the fun. I simply suspect a steel bracelet could reveal an entirely different personality hiding underneath all that colour.

Blue with brushed steel might make a rather lovely everyday combination. Green could be equally interesting. Before I try it, I'll need to check the lug width and find a bracelet whose fit and end links actually suit the case. So this is a little project for another day, not a claim that I've found a compatible one.

That is part of the appeal of a cheerful, small-run watch like this. You can enjoy it exactly as Newmark intended, then perhaps give it a second look of your own.

Inside the Watersprite is the TMI NH38, a familiar Japanese automatic movement with 24 jewels, hand-winding, hacking seconds, a 21,600-beat-per-hour frequency and a quoted power reserve of more than 41 hours.

Why does it say TMI rather than Seiko? Time Module is the Seiko Group movement-supply operation, providing movements for third-party watchmakers. The NH38 belongs to the same mechanical family as the widely used NH35. It is not a mystery calibre, nor is the different name a reason to doubt it.

The NH38 is a no-date design, which makes sense here. The Watersprite has no date aperture, no need for one and no reason to interrupt those enormous applied indices. You get a sensible, established automatic rather than unnecessary complications.

It is not an exotic movement, and it does not have to be. The personality is on the outside. The movement is there to be reliable and serviceable, and that is an entirely sensible division of labour.

I went into this expecting the Watersprite to be a little too small for me. My preferred size is usually around 39mm, so 36mm naturally made me hesitate.

That hesitation lasted until I put the blue one on. The broad bezel, open dial and strong hour furniture create much more presence than the number suggests. It does not look remotely timid.

Blue would be my everyday choice. The dark strap grounds the colour and makes it easy to imagine wearing with almost anything. Orange is the one that makes me smile most, while yellow and green seem almost engineered to brighten somebody’s day.

I can see these working across ages and tastes, not as a universal fit for every wrist, but as genuinely approachable, unpretentious automatic watches. They invite you to wear them rather than worry about them.

These were short-term review loans, rather than months of living with a single watch, so I cannot pretend to offer a long-term ownership report. What I can say is that all four were a pleasure to handle, and the blue one in particular made me rethink how a 36mm watch can wear.

The Watersprite is not the sort of watch I would buy by comparing movement specifications and choosing whichever gives me the most for the least money. If that is the only measure, plenty of more conventional options will make a persuasive case.

But context matters. Newmark has made the Watersprite a strictly limited run of just 50 pieces in each of its four colours. That does not magically make any price a bargain, but it changes the way I look at this watch. This is a relatively tiny production run with a distinct identity, rather than a colourful model intended to roll off a production line indefinitely.

There is also genuine substance behind the good humour. The brushing is nicely judged, the case wears with more presence than its 36mm diameter suggests, and those beautiful three-dimensional numerals and indices add a level of depth that is easy to overlook until you get a camera close to them. The NH38 is an established, sensible automatic movement rather than an exotic selling point, which suits the Watersprite rather well.

Is the Watersprite an impulse purchase? Perhaps not. But once you put the limited numbers, the distinctive dial and the sheer enjoyment of wearing one into the equation, the asking price feels easier to understand than a specification-sheet comparison might suggest. It is a watch you choose because it makes you smile, and because relatively few other people will be wearing the same one.

The Watersprite is a genuinely enjoyable watch, and I am pleased Newmark has given itself permission to have a little fun.

The colours are bold without apologising for themselves. The 36mm case wears bigger than expected. The NH38 is an entirely sensible automatic choice. Most importantly, the dial has real character: those raised, black-edged numerals and thick hour markers give it a depth I do not often see executed this confidently at this level.

Learning that there are only 50 pieces of each colour helped put the whole thing in perspective. This was never meant to be a lowest-price-wins exercise. It is a compact, distinctive, small-run watch that happens to be enormous fun. And while I'd still love to see how one looks on a well-fitting steel bracelet, that's an experiment I'm looking forward to rather than something missing from the package.

I kept coming back to the same thought whenever I picked up a different colour: these watches make me smile. That is a quality no movement specification can measure, and one that too many watches forget.

For me, Blue takes the everyday crown; Orange wins on sheer joyful ridiculousness. Green and Yellow are not far behind. Whichever you choose, you are getting something with a personality all of its own, and one of only fifty in that particular colour.

I gave Frogboy first refusal on the four colours. He chose Green, disappeared into a tissue-paper jungle and was last seen attempting to claim it as a company car.

Then came the yellow watch and a rather worrying LEGO headcount. Orange needed a pumpkin for Halloween. By the time we reached Blue, Frogboy had apparently moved into quality control and was personally inspecting a mountain of blueberries.

Newmark seemed remarkably tolerant of the whole enterprise. Which is fortunate, because I am not sure I could explain any of it to a conventional marketing department.

At least the watches behaved themselves.