Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Phantom White Review

Over the past two years we've covered most of the creations from French designer Romaric Andre, better known as seconde/seconde/. The first collaboration from seconde/seconde/ that really caught my attention was the first watch he did with Spinnaker. The first of three collaborations each occurring around Halloween was a fun take on the world's first dive watch, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Together Romaric and Spinnaker created the 50 Phantoms which while retaining the classic look of the 70 year old Fifty Fathoms had a bit of fun on its dial. Fifty ghosts, who resemble a ghost you'd see from a classic video game, appeared on the dial, each one fully luminous.

It was no shock that the watch was a huge hit and sold out in less than a day. Spinnaker would then go on to re-release the 50 Phantoms with slight color changes. A year later the 2024 release of the 50 Phantoms was released in two variations, both in a slightly smaller case than the original. The 2024 releases came in a bold purple coloration as well. One model has a similar dial to the original 50 Phantoms with fifty ghosts on the dial, but drawn slightly different. The second model had one large ghost on the dial that was crossed out to resemble the original Blancpain Fifty Fathoms "No Radiation" dial, instead saying "No Apparitions" with the remainder of the ghosts being set on the bezel.



Of course for Halloween 2025, Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/ teamed up again for another take on the 50 Phantoms collection. Before we get into those watches, we should first go over the history of both Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/.

Spinnaker is a fairly new watch brand which is laser focused on one segment of the watch market. Spinnaker only specializes in producing high quality dive watches at extremely obtainable prices. Spinnaker has a full range of watches from vintage inspired models to those being crafted out of high tech materials like forged carbon. The brand also isn't scared to experiment with features found in much more expensive timepieces like stone dials.

Spinnaker is very picky with who they do collaborations with, meaning when they do release a collaboration piece, it's been well thought out and typically sells out quickly. Besides seconde/seconde/, the brand has also released watches done with The Dial Artist and Scottish Watches. Even the collaborations stick to the formula Spinnaker has established for its general release pieces meaning they retail for well under $1,000 and have far more than adequate water resistance.



Romaric Andre worked in the finance field before finding his true calling in watch design. Prior to creating seconde/seconde/, Romaric actually co-founded Celsius which created a mobile phone with a mechanical tourbillon embedded in it. Ultimately the company did not work out, but Romaric's partner and board members were watch industry veterans and the company would mark his entry into the watch world.

After moving on from Celsius, Romaric found himself a bit lost. With the encouragement of his wife, he soon started buying vintage watches and adding a bit of his artistic flair to them. Typically this was seen in the form of replacing the original seconds hand with a fun and colorful 8 bit video game style hand. These creations caught on like wild fire and through these modifications seconde/seconde/ was born. Over time Romaric would become more and more daring with his creations moving on from hand swaps to full re-designs of watches in collaboration with the brands themselves. Today seconde/seconde/ is by far the most sought after and respected watch designer with a never ending list of future projects.



Initial Thoughts

Now that we have gone over a quick history of the 50 Phantoms collaboration, Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/, let's now look at the latest watch in the Fifty Phantoms collection. For Halloween 2025, Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/ ended up releasing two very similar watches. The main differences between the two pieces were size, price and movement. The first 50 Phantoms release was housed in the 43 mm case, while the second pair of 50 Phantoms were 40 mm. Being a fan of larger watches, I vastly preferred the original 43 mm release, but most collectors now favor smaller cases and the 40 mm case found on the second release was more on trend. For the third release, Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/ actually ended up releasing the collaboration in both 40 and 43 mm versions.



The 40 mm version is called the Phantom Steel, while the 43 mm version is called the Phantom White. Besides the size, the smaller watch is powered by the Japanese Miyota 9015 automatic movement while the larger movement runs on the Japanese Seiko NH35 automatic movement. The smaller watch also carries a fifty dollar premium over the larger version, more than likely due to the difference in the price between the movements.

The watch we will be taking a closer look at today is the 43 mm Phantom White version of the Fleuss Automatic Seconde Seconde 2025 Edition. The watch is also referred to as the 47 + 3 Phantoms, since the dial only contains 47 ghosts, with three more hidden elsewhere on the watch.

When the Phantom White arrived, the first thing I noticed about it was the super unique bezel shape. Looking at the press pictures of the watch leading up to itself release I was unsure of the design, but in hand I was blown away with the bezel. This is truly one of those watches that needs to be seen and handled in person to really be appreciated. The bezel is not flat and has a flowing design to it meant to resemble the bottom of the "skirt" of a cartoon ghost. This design is insane in person and really makes the watch look extremely unique.



The second thing I noticed during my initial time with the Phantom White was the just awesome parachute strap. The watch actually defaults to being on a stainless steel beads of rice hybrid style bracelet, but since I'm not a fan of bracelets I quickly put the watch on the included nylon strap. I had never used a parachute strap before, so it took me a minute to figure out how to mount the strap. The strap is white, but is fully lumed as well. The crazy thing is that the parachute strap weighs nothing and is endlessly adjustable. It does pass underneath the case back, but doesn't add much height to the case. The parachute strap is extremely comfortable and after being introduced to it on the Phantom White, I have now started buying this style of strap for many other watches I own that I don't wear due to their straps not being comfortable. No joke, I just ordered 10 of these straps a few days ago, after buying two a week earlier.

The last thing I noticed during my initial time with the Phantom White was all the lumed touches used throughout the watch. The most obvious usage of lume are the 47 ghosts found on the dial. These ghosts glow green, blue or white and have been the defining feature of the 50 Phantoms collection since day one. The white nylon parachute strap also glows a glorious green in low light and it's a trip to go into a dark room after being outside and seeing the band glowing very bright. Around back, the winding rotor is lumed as well and shows ten sets of five crossed out for the 50 phantoms found on the watch. The bottom right corner of the rotor also has a lumed pair of green ghost eyes. Finally if a lumed rotor wasn't out of the ordinary enough, the bottom right lug is also lumed, which is something that I have never seen before. Even the box has a lumed outline of a ghost… crazy stuff…





Technical Specifications

The Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Phantom White is crafted out of 316L stainless steel and has a 43.2 mm case diameter and a 50.7 lug to lug length. On the nylon parachute strap the watch weighs in at a wrist friendly 99 grams and at its thickest point is 14 mm tall. The stainless steel bracelet weighs 87 grams by itself, and is a great example of why I don't like wearing watches on bracelets, since it nearly doubles the weight of the watch.

Because of how the bezel ebbs and flows, the sapphire crystal appears to be very raised in the dips and closer to flush at the peaks. This does give the crystal a slightly glass box look to it. The sapphire is flat and there is a cyclops at 3 o'clock over the date the window. The crystal has also been treated with an anti-reflective coating as well.

Under the crystal clear sapphire crystal is the textured silver dial, which is called spectral gray by Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/. Living on the dial are the 47 ghosts we have been talking about, each done in Swiss Newlite lume. The ghosts look white to off-white in normal lighting and then glow white, blue or green in low light. The 48th ghost is found at 3 o'clock where its eyes make up the black backed date window.



Around the outside of the dial is a printed minutes track with each minute being represented by a small hash mark. The hour markers are slender bar markers coated in lume that appear white in normal lighting and glow green in low light. There is no hour marker for 3 o'clock because of the date window and there is also no marker for 5 o'clock since it's covered up by ghosts.

There are three centrally mounted hands on the dial of the Phantom White being the hour, minute and seconds hands. The hour and minute hands are polished sword style hands that are filled with lume that glows green. The slender seconds hand also has a lumed tip. There is Spinnaker branding found at 12 o'clock and "47+3 Phantoms" and "500ft/150m" found at 6.

Moving on from the dial is the shaped bezel we spoke about earlier. The simplest explanation of the bezel is that has a wave pattern with each hour (5 minute) being raised. If you look at the classic drawing of a cartoon ghost, this pattern can also been seen at the bottom of the ghost's cape or skirt. The difference between the bezel's highs and lows is very pronounced, measuring around 2 mm. The bezel has a brushed finish to it and is set with the dive time scale. 12 o'clock is set with a marking triangle and 15, 30 and 45 are represented by Arabic numerals. Each other 5 minute interval is done in a hash mark. All of the bezel markings are coated in luminous material that appears white in normal lighting and then glows green in low light. The bezel is uni-directional and it takes 120 clicks to complete a full rotation. The bezel has a great feel to it and there is zero back play. The bezel ratchets nicely between clicks with a rewarding sound as well.



Looking at the profile of the case is a bit of a treat since you can see just how crazy the bezel shape looks. You can also see that the mid case has a nice curve to it following the shape of your wrist. The lugs and mid case are also fully brushed with just the chamfers being polished to add a bit more visual interest when they catch the light. The back of the bottom right lug also contains a secret with the 49th ghost being a lumed pair of eyes on the lug. This is the first time I've seen lume used on the lug of a watch.

The right hand side of the case features a large screw down crown at 3 o'clock that is nicely scalloped and topped with an "S". The screw down crown aids with the 150 meters of water resistance that the Phantom White boasts. Unscrewing the crown lets your wind the automatic movement in the resting position. Pulling the crown out to position one lets you set the date and pulling the crown out to position two stops the seconds hand and lets you set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minutes hand and getting the crown to catch so that you can screw it back in takes no extra care.



Flipping the watch over shows off the screwed down case back with a display back. All the important information about the watch is engraved around the case back bezel including the water resistance and the individual limited edition number out of 1150. Through the display back you can see a rather straight forward oversized winding rotor that has a pair of eyes of it in the lower right hand corner. When the rotor is exposed to low light or UV light, you can see the 10 sets of five crossed out representing the 50 ghosts featured on the watch. These numbers light up blue, while the ghost eyes glow green. This ghost is in-fact the 50th and final ghost featured on the Phantom White.

Since the rotor is so large, there isn't too much of the Japanese made Seiko NH35 automatic movement visible at any time. The NH35 beats away at 21,600 vph (3Hz) and has a power reserve of around 41 hours. The functions are hour, minutes, seconds and date. On our timegrapher the NH35 showed an accuracy of +3 seconds per day when averaged out over several positions. This is extremely accurate and actually within chronometer standards.



The Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Phantom White has a lug width of 22 mm and comes on a stainless steel bracelet with an additional luminous white nylon parachute strap. The bracelet integrates nicely into the case and has beads of rice style middle links held in place by larger more traditional outer links. The bracelet has great articulation and the links are all brushed in finish. There is a taper for 4 mm from 22 mm at the lugs down to 18 mm at the clasp. The bracelet has a flip lock style Spinnaker branded clasp that requires two pushers to be pushed in to allow the clasp to release. The clasp features no micro-adjustments, but does have three spring bar settings for getting an exact fit dialed in. The bracelet also features quick release spring bars for quick changes.

Already having stated that I'm not a fan of bracelets, for the entire time I was reviewing the Phantom White, the watch was on the excellent parachute strap. The strap virtually weighs nothing and appears white with a center silver line in normal lighting. Under UV light and also in low light situations, the strap glows a vivid green, matching the lumed elements found on the watch. The parachute strap is constructed out of nylon and mounts behind the case like a NATO style strap, also ensuring the watch stays on your wrist if a spring bar fails. The strap has brushed stainless steel hardware and is branded with the Spinnaker logo. The strap is endlessly adjustable and will fit any size wrist comfortably. There is no taper to the strap, measuring 22 mm throughout. This was my first experience with this style of strap and in the course of a week, I have bought twelve parachute straps to go on watches I have in my collection that I find uncomfortable due to poor strap fitments that I do not wear because of that fact. I'm really in debt to Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/ for opening my eyes to this style of strap.





On The Wrist

Being completely transparent, I never wore the Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Phantom White on the bracelet. Up until this review the bracelet was still wrapped in the protective plastic it came with. I'm not the best person to critique a bracelet, but it does seem very well built and the high level of articulation means it would more than likely be comfortable on wrist. The finishing of the bracelet perfectly matches the case and it did look attractive when the watch head was mounted to it when I first took the Phantom White out of the box. The nearly double weight penalty of adding the bracelet would have just been too much for me to personally live with since I really like watches to be at or under 100 grams on the wrist.

With the Phantom White being a decent sized watch at 43 mm and made out of stainless steel, I was a bit nervous that the watch would be too heavy for my personal tastes. My personal collection of watches are all around this size, but most are made out of lightweight materials like carbon, ceramic or titanium. Much to my surprise the Phantom White actually came in under 100 grams when put on the nylon parachute strap. Even at just one gram under at 99 grams, the Phantom White was a real treat on wrist.



The lug to lug length of the Phantom White is just over 50 mm which is right in my sweet spot for watch sizing. On my 7.25" wrist with a 55 mm flat area, the watch just looks right. The light overall weight of the watch combined with the infinitely adjustable parachute strap meant the watch fit like a glove. Also since the strap is slightly elastic, you can tighten the strap to a snug fit to keep the watch centered on your wrist with it never feeling like it was constricting your wrist.

While reviewing the Phantom White I tried to wear it was much as possible. This included some very long wearing sessions and even during those times the watch never caused any wrist fatigue. For the most part the watch completely disappeared on the wrist and was only there when I wanted to look at it or check the time. The watch served as a great wrist companion for every day errands and there really isn't much I can complain about when it comes to wearing the watch or its comfort.



To test the legibility of a watch, I use a simple test when I try to tell the time at just a glance while driving. In this test, dive watches do the best with their high contrast dials and large markers, while complicated and skeleton watches do the worst due to prioritizing design over legibility. To be honest, I wasn't sure how the Phantom White would do in this test since design was paramount with all the ghosts on the dial. The watch faired decently, but didn't do as well as a typical dive tool watch would have done. The silver dial doesn't contrast well with the hour markers or hands and the ghosts do take up some of the dial where markers would be. This really isn't much of a surprise and the aesthetics of the watch really come first on the Phantom White. Low light time telling did much better, since the lume glows so strong making deciphering the time a breeze. The multi colored ghosts do add a bit of a distraction, but it's a welcomed one.

The mostly silver and white hues of the Phantom White went well with my everyday dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. My wife even commented how "clean" the watch looked when on the nylon strap. I'd have to say that the Phantom White does look surprisingly classy when paired with the white glow in the dark strap. When I wore the Phantom White out on errands as well as to dinner and drinks I noticed a good deal of people looking at the watch. I also had a few people comment on it as well. We carry a small UV flashlight in my wife's purse, so I was able to show all the lumed elements to people who wanted to look at the watch. Everyone just loved the lumed ghosts on the dial as well as the glow in the dark strap. Some of my watch nerd friends also got a kick out of the lumed rotor and lug. All the people I showed the watch to also thought the watch was priced extremely low for what you're getting.



Value and Position in the Market

Speaking of pricing, Spinnaker listed the Phantom White for $475 when they went on sale a few months ago. Of course the collaboration sold out right away, but they are offering a sign up to be alerted if the watch restocks. Spinnaker also made it very obvious that the first batch of Phantom White and Phantom Steel watches were labeled as "Batch 1", meaning a second batch is pretty much going to happen.



Back to the price, for $475 you are getting an extremely unique timepiece. I have never seen a bezel that looks anything like the bezel of the Phantom White, pretty much every dive bezel is flat except for some engravings for markers. The Phantom White also expands on the hugely successful 50 Phantoms collection started two years ago. I originally thought the first version would be hard to beat, but I feel Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/ were successful in surpassing the original with the 2025 version.

The Phantom White isn't just a fun party trick of a watch with its ghost filed dial, interesting bezel and hidden lumed details. The Phantom White is a serious tool watch as well. It offers a full 150 meters of water resistance and feels like it was milled out of a single solid piece of stainless steel in hand. The watch also runs a workhorse of a movement in the Seiko NH35 that can be worked on by any local watchmaker and also showed tremendous accuracy when we tested it. You get all of this for less than straps cost for some watches in my collection. To see how the Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Phantom White holds up value wise, let's try to compare it to other watches that offer similar features and specifications.



Up first we have another take on the iconic Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, this time it's an official homage in the Blancpain x Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms. This collaboration sees the modern smaller Blancpain Fifty Fathoms case of 42.3 mm made out of Swatch's bioceramic material. The Scuba Fifty Fathoms is powered by an in-house SISTEM51 automatic movement which is built by an automated process. The watch has 90 hours of power reserve but only has 50 meters of water resistance. The Scuba Fifty isn't nearly as robust or will last as long as the Phantom White being made out of bioceramic, but it does cost a bit less than the Spinnaker at $420.

Next up we have the IYKYK from Timex and seconde/seconde/ which has a 38 mm case crafted out of stainless steel. There are two models of this collaboration available, one in blue with a Smurfs seconds hand and the other in green with a Kermit seconds hand, basically making fun of Rolex collectors' naming conventions. The IYKYK watches are powered by quartz movements and only have 50 meters of water resistance. They are much less expensive than the Spinnaker models at $249, but once again they are not to the level of mechanical and build quality shown by the Phantom models.



Moving on is the 01SERIES Watermel0n from Studio Underd0g which has a 38.5 mm case crafted out of stainless steel. The Watermel0n might be the most iconic dial design for Studio Underd0g with the green and red hues and textures looking like what you'd see on a watermelon slice. The Watermel0n is powered by a manually wound bespoke movement from Seagull and also has much less water resistance than the Phantom White at 50 meters. The Watermel0n is a good deal more expensive than the Phantom White at $725.

Finally there is the Super Sea Wolf from Zodiac which has a 40 mm case made out of stainless steel. The watch with the green bezel and pink minute ring is dubbed the "Watermelon" with its playful colors. The Super Sea Wolf is powered by a Swiss made STP automatic movement with 44 hours of power reserve and the watch has 200 meters of water resistance. The Super Sea Wolf is a very well known pioneer of dive watches and with its heritage carries a much higher price tag than the Phantom White at $1,695.



It is rather tough to find direct competitors to the Phantom White since the watch offers both a playful side as well as being a very serious dive watch with elevated capabilities. Looking at the four watches above shows that the Phantom White is priced correctly, if not on the lower end of what Spinnaker could have asked for the watch. I honestly feel the Phantom White offers exceptional value for its asking price. With how quick the watches sold out, collectors must also agree with my thoughts on value.



Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Phantom White for me? Typically I shy away from watches that are not made out of carbon, ceramic of titanium for my personal collection. In some cases watches are offered in multiple materials and you do have a choice, but in the case of the Phantom White stainless steel was the only choice. After getting the watch in hand and swapping it over to the parachute strap, my main concern with the watch being in stainless steel was alleviated since the Phantom White only weighed 99 grams.

Pictures don't do the Phantom White justice and it's a stunning watch in hand. All the little details like the three dimensional bezel, lumed ghosts on the dial as well as the hidden lumed areas like the winding rotor and lug just take the watch over the top for me. I'm also a big fan of what Spinnaker has been releasing recently, especially for the price point. On top of that Romaric is a great guy and we own a few of his collaboration pieces already. Since the 50 Phantoms is the watch that alerted me to Romaric's work, it's only fitting to add one to our collection.



The watch also fits just perfectly on my wrist and the included nylon strap introduced me to the world of parachute straps, which I couldn't be more thankful for. I actually found myself grabbing for the Phantom White in the safe long after the review process was over. That's saying a ton since there were multitude more expensive watches in there of my own collection or on loan. So yes, the Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Phantom White is definitely for me. I will more than likely ask Spinnaker if there is a way that I can hang on to this watch indefinitely.

Would I then recommend the Phantom White to somebody looking for a fun yet capable watch? Well of course I would since I'd like to add it my own personal collection. Coming with both the nylon strap and stainless steel bracelet means the watch can be dressed up or down. From a distance the ghosts are actually fairly subtle, so the watch might actually be suitable for more formal occasions.

With the Phantom series being available both in 40 and 43 mm case diameters, there really is a version of the watch for all wrist sizes. The NH35 movement is dead accurate and doesn't require the watch to be sent in to be serviced or repaired, which is a big plus. Also with the watches retailing for between $475 and $525, there isn't too much of a financial risk for trying one out. The secondary market is rather strong for 50 Phantoms pieces, so if the watch didn't work out, it won't be too hard to recoup most of your investment. Since the first batch of Phantom watches sold out so fast, if you're interested in either watch you should probably sign up for alerts for the next batch on Spinnaker's site and be ready to act quickly when they are launched.



I'd really like to thank Spinnaker for sending us this Phantom White to review. Once again it has served as a great reminder to the quality of watch they produce for an extremely low asking price. All of the added extras found on the Phantom White could have easily allowed the brand to ask much more for the watch, but they didn't end up doing that, which is very refreshing. Spinnaker keeps on producing interesting general release watches as well as highly desirable collaborations, so I'm sure it won't be too long until we have another watch in from them for review.

For more information about the Phantom White please visit : Spinnaker



Technical Specifications

Reference Number: SP-5170-11B-P

Retail Price: $475

Case Size: 43.2 mm

Lug to Lug: 50.7 mm

Thickness: 14 mm

Weight: 99 grams (On Nylon Strap)

Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel

Bezel: 316L Stainless Steel

Strap: 316L Stainless Steel Bracelet or Luminous Nylon Parachute Strap

Movement: Japanese Made Seiko NH35 Automatic

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Date

Power Reserve: 41 Hours

Water Resistance: 150 Meters