Spinnaker Dumas GMT Ink Dial: Inkdial’s Sketches Finally Make It Onto the Dial

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Spinnaker and Ben Li have worked together before. In 2023 the illustrator, better known as Inkdial, put his name on a run of Dumas Automatic divers in colours like Hornet Yellow, each limited to 300 pieces and sold with a numbered print and a box covered in his drawings. The watches themselves were standard NH35 three-handers. The art lived on the packaging, while Spinnaker saved its bolder dial experiments for pieces like the hand-painted SPENCE 300 manta diver.

The new Dumas GMT Automatic Ink Dial Limited Edition (SP-5188) changes that. Li’s cross-hatched illustration is now the dial itself, set inside the 43mm faceted case of the Dumas GMT with a TMI NH34 movement underneath. It comes in Ink Blue and Ink White, 450 numbered pieces each, at $495. This is a watch for people who collect watch art first and want a usable second time zone as a bonus, not for anyone shopping purely on specs.

What makes this release more interesting than the usual Spinnaker limited edition is the price. The regular Dumas GMT lists at $550, so the art dial arrives below the watch it is based on, in a crowded field of GMTs under $1,000. Whether that holds up depends on a few things Spinnaker hasn’t told us yet.

Ben Li Draws Watches for a Living, Which Is Why This Works

Ben Li is a Hong Kong-British illustrator based in the UK whose work is almost entirely watches, drawn by hand in fine pen line. Brands hire him because he can render a dial, a case or a movement in enough detail that collectors recognise the reference at a glance. AVI-8 marked his fourth anniversary with a Hawker Hurricane Inkdial chronograph whose “4” glowed in green lume.

This release marks Inkdial’s sixth year, and Spinnaker has built a small hunt around it. Six cards, signed and numbered by Li, are hidden at random among the 900 watches. It is a nice touch for fans of his work, and a far better use of the collaboration than another print in the box. Even the rotor joins in, inscribed “Paper Casing and Inkdial”, a nod to the idea that this watch was drawn before it was built.

The Drawing Is the Dial, Not a Pattern Printed On It

Spinnaker says the dial is worked in cross-hatching and outline so it reads as a sketch rather than a print, and an “Ink-made” mark sits at 6 o’clock. That distinction carries the release. A printed illustration on a dial often looks like a sticker. A dial that mimics pen strokes on paper can look like an object in its own right, as long as the execution stays clean at wrist distance.

The two colours push the concept in different directions. Ink Blue is meant to look like ballpoint pressed hard into paper, deep and saturated, and it will be the easier one to wear every day. Ink White is supposed to resemble a fresh page, and it gets a gold GMT hand for contrast. I’d lean White. It sells the sketchbook idea more clearly, and the gold hand gives the second time zone a visual reason to be there.

Lume is the open question. Spinnaker doesn’t mention it, and a dial designed to look like ink on paper leaves less room for luminous plots than the applied indices of the standard Dumas GMT. It wouldn’t be surprising if the hands carry most of the glow here, but until the brand confirms it, treat night legibility as unknown.

Underneath, the Case Is the Same

The Dumas has always been Spinnaker’s take on angular 1970s divers, and the Ink edition keeps the faceted steel case, a flat anti-reflective sapphire crystal and an exhibition caseback. For the standard Dumas GMT, Spinnaker quotes 15mm thick and 48mm lug-to-lug, with 300m of water resistance and a screw-down crown. The Ink page lists none of those figures, so they are a reasonable expectation rather than a confirmed spec. Spinnaker’s own listing for the standard model also gives 44mm rather than 43mm, which points to a measuring difference rather than a new case.

Either way, this is a big watch, and on a smaller wrist it will sit wide and tall. That is the first reason to hesitate. Build quality worries me less. On the Fleuss 40 I reviewed in Royal Splash, the case was solid, the bezel clicked crisply with no play, and the weak point was a basic clasp rather than anything structural.

Spinnaker hasn’t said what bracelet or strap ships with the Ink edition, so I wouldn’t assume the clasp story has changed. The standard GMT comes on a steel bracelet with a spare rubber strap, which would be the obvious package to repeat.

The NH34 Is a Caller GMT, and That Shapes Who Should Buy It

The TMI NH34 is the GMT version of the NH35 workhorse. It adds a 24-hour hand that you set on its own, which makes it a caller GMT: ideal for keeping home time while you live in another zone, or for tracking a colleague’s office hours. What it can’t do is jump the local hour hand independently, so frequent travellers have to reset the main time when they land. It also runs at 21,600 vph, a slower beat than Miyota’s 9-series.

For a watch built around a drawing, that hardly matters. If travel is the point, though, the same money buys more elsewhere. Consider the Erebus Ascent 40 GMT, a true flyer at $499 before shipping, with a Miyota 9075 that jumps the local hour and a 40mm case that suits more wrists. On paper it is the stronger travel watch for the money, and the Dumas only wins on design.

Spinnaker usually charges a premium for its collaborations. Against list price, it doesn’t here. The standard Dumas GMT is listed at $550, and at the time of writing Spinnaker is selling it for $413 on its own site. Measured against that sale price, Li’s dial, the numbering and the card hunt add roughly $80.

That feels fair for what Spinnaker calls a genuine limited edition of 450 individually numbered pieces per colour, which reads as a fixed cap rather than the made-to-order runs used on some of its other collaborations. It also looks better every year as affordable automatic movements get pricier, and an NH34 GMT under $500 is no longer something to take for granted.

Specs, Pricing & Availability

My Take: An Easy Call If You Already Like the Dumas

The simplest way to judge this watch is against the regular Dumas GMT, because that is what it really is underneath. Same case, same movement, a drawn dial instead of a printed one, and a lower list price. If the Dumas already appeals to you, I’d pick the Ink edition over the standard model without much hesitation.

Between the two colours, I’d go for the Ink White. The sketched-page idea comes through more clearly on the pale dial, and the gold GMT hand keeps the second time zone easy to read. The Blue is the quieter option, and the one that will slip more easily into daily wear.