Chrono Syndicate Breach: Micromilspec and Black Badger Hijack Horology with Project Sabotage

CHRONO SYNDICATE BREACH
<CrownGuard Uplink Hijacked – Source: Project Sabotage
<Deploying Milgraph Protocol… Stand Clear
<Countdown to Payload Drop – May 22 @ 18:00 CET
<Black Badger|
System Reboot: May 22
Uplink Progress: 37%

Micromilspec: Tactical Timekeeping with Teeth

Micromilspec may not be a household name among the glitterati, but in the covert corners of defence, space exploration, and elite military units, it’s a very different story.

Founded in Oslo in 2019, Micromilspec was created to serve the kinds of clients who rarely appear on brand ambassador pages. We’re talking custom watches for Norwegian, French and Canadian Special Forces, the U.S. Space Force, His Majesty The King’s Guard, and elite search-and-rescue helicopter squadrons like Norway’s 330 Squadron. Even the Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates and asymmetrical warfare groups are listed among the brand’s black-ops clientele.

Micromilspec operates on a “made-to-order” basis. That doesn’t mean slapping a logo on a dial. It means designing tools from the ground up to suit missions that take place under arctic skies, inside helicopters, or in desert combat zones. Designed in Oslo and manufactured via Swiss partnerships, these watches aren’t trying to be fancy. They’re trying to function. Flawlessly.

Until now, Micromilspec’s operations have been, let’s say, restrained. Project Sabotage changes that.

Black Badger: The Luminova Alchemist

James Thompson, aka Black Badger, is not a traditional watch designer. He’s an experimental materials artist who happens to love watches, and refuses to treat them as sacred.

He first made waves crafting rings from exotic materials, none of which were considered suitable nor necessarily very appealing by the mainstream jewellery design industry – James pioneered the usage of Fordite, the colourful industrial build-up of car paint from Detroit factories. Then came moose jawbone, carbon fibre offcuts, glow-in-the-dark resin, recycled aerospace components, F1 barge board, and yes, even dinosaur teeth, and god only knows what else that was either sold before it was advertised or never left the worksop or had to be destroyed before it took over the planet… Over the years, his material palette has grown to include Scandinavian mussel shells, submarine sonar cable sheathing, and fossilised wood, all of which he’s re-contextualised into wearable art.

His bespoke accessories have graced the likes of Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Downey Jr., Lando Norris, and the late, great Ken Block. But horology has always been a gravitational pull. Black Badger’s past collaborations read like a Who’s Who of independent high-horology: MB&F, De Bethune, Hautlence, Sarpaneva, MW&Co, Linde Werdelin, Schofield, and most recently, Arcanaut, where he’s now a key creative force.

Luxfanzine readers may recall our feature from nearly a decade ago – The Luminova Master: James Thompson – where we referred to him as “the man who makes watches glow without asking permission.” Not much has changed. If anything, he’s gotten bolder.

MILGRAPH: Sabotage – A Watch Smuggled Through a Wormhole

The centrepiece of this collaboration is the MILGRAPH: Sabotage, an explosive reinterpretation of Micromilspec’s mission-grade chronograph, sabotaged in the best possible way.

Tech Specs That Bite:
– Case: 42mm of microblasted Grade 5 titanium
– Bezel: Uni-directional QuadGrip with minute scale
– Crystal: Sapphire
– Water Resistance: 10 ATM (100 metres)

Dial: Chaos Meets Control
– Finish: Matte white with grainy texture and velvet details
– Colour: High-visibility ‘Sabotage Orange’
– Sub-Dials: Clearly separating hours, minutes, and seconds
– Indices & Hands: Treated with Super-LumiNova X1

Movement: Swiss, With Secrets
– Calibre: Self-winding mechanical L121
– Functions: Chronograph, GMT, hours, minutes, seconds
– Frequency: 28,800 vph (4Hz)
– Power Reserve: 60 hours

Straps:
– Black leather or rubber, with titanium bracelet option

Only 75 pieces will be made. Price: USD 3,850. Deliveries commence March 2026.

Enter: The Time Wars

Of course, this isn’t just a watch – it’s part of a world. Micromilspec and Black Badger have invented a fictional anime universe called The Time Wars, where time is controlled by the Chrono Syndicate, ruled by the Grand Psycho and his enforcer, The Crown Guard. Black Badger appears as a rakish space pirate who steals and repurposes time. The MILGRAPH Sabotage is his wrist-bound weapon of choice.

You don’t need to care about this alternate dimension to enjoy the watch, but it absolutely amplifies the fun. It’s not often a watch launch feels like the prelude to a graphic novel or Netflix pilot, but here we are.

Micromilspec calls it “a one-time-only, never again release.” You don’t just buy this watch. You buy into the lore.

Sabotage as Storytelling

Project Sabotage does more than just glow, tick, and resist impact. It tells a story. A rather subversive one. In a world where many independents mimic the old guard, Micromilspec and Black Badger have gleefully taken a blowtorch to the rulebook.

It’s military-grade storytelling disguised as a wristwatch. It’s horological cosplay with real-world credentials. And it’s another signal that the most exciting work in the watch world isn’t happening in Swiss boardrooms, but in dark Norwegian studios and glowing Swedish labs.

So when May 22 hits and that website countdown reaches zero, stand clear. The payload’s dropping.

Further information: https://www.micromilspec.com/products/black-badger-project-sabotage

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