The watch industry is currently living through a golden age of pop culture-inspired timepieces. Nearly every major entertainment franchise has some sort of horological tie-in these days, from film series to sports teams, and even musicians. However, despite being a sci-fi stalwart for almost 60 years, the “Star Trek” franchise has never had much of an impact in the enthusiast watch world. Offbeat brand Nubeo aims to change that, with a Trek-themed brand partnership that combines ultra-modern Richard Mille-esque styling with a remarkably in-depth tribute to the franchise’s favorite ship. The new Nubeo Magellan Chronograph Star Trek Enterprise-D Limited Edition is a bold, unapologetic love letter to ‘90s-era Trek aesthetics, paired with a dependable mecha-quartz powerplant and a beefy, aggressive case design.

First things first: the Nubeo Magellan Chronograph Star Trek Enterprise-D Limited Edition is an imposingly large watch on the wrist. At 48mm wide, 51mm lug-to-lug, and a hefty 17mm in overall thickness, the navy blue and black PVD stainless steel case cuts a deliberately bold figure on the wrist that no amount of slimming dark colors can mask. Our “Medical Blue” hands-on sample is arguably the most restrained and balanced of the bunch, but even so, this is not a watch that disappears effortlessly under a cuff or blends seamlessly into its environment. In short, the Nubeo is a watch that one has to plan an outfit around, which can make for fun if infrequent pairings. The overall form here bears a passing resemblance to Richard Mille’s signature curved tonneau design, but Nubeo makes an important handful of tweaks that help to make this shape its own. The flared black case sides, for example, give the Magellan Chronograph Star Trek Enterprise-D Limited Edition a broad, commanding stance on the wrist, while the mix of polished chamfers and vertically brushed case sides lend the design some much-needed visual depth. A set of protruding polished hex bolts running along both the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock case sides adds even more visual detail here, and the broad oblong pushers along with the oversized, color-accented screw-down crown further extend the already considerable diameter. The “Star Trek” side isn’t neglected in this case, as the crown is signed with the classic Starfleet delta emblem and the 9 o’clock features an engraved panel with the “Star Trek” logo. Like other designs of this ilk, the real star of the case is its bezel, which blends a dramatically arcing matte navy blue upper surface with a quartet of raised, polished “claws,” and decorative three-pronged screws at the hooded lugs. The interplay between matte blasted, brushed, polished, and differently coated surfaces adds some dynamism to what could easily have been a simplistic novelty design. Even more impressively, the raised mineral crystal (the lack of sapphire at this price point is admittedly regrettable) matches the compound curves of the bezel with virtually no visual distortion of the dial below. Around back, Nubeo fits the watch with an engraved caseback sporting the Starfleet emblem and a limited edition serial number. While in concept, this watch might be designed for exploring strange new worlds, it’s not prepared for prolonged underwater exploration thanks to an underwhelming 50 meters of water resistance.

Even with the attention-grabbing shape and dimensions of its case, there’s no doubt that the Nubeo Magellan Chronograph Star Trek Enterprise-D Limited Edition’s dial steals the spotlight. Naturally, the amazingly detailed, 3D sculpted rendition of the USS Enterprise-D from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” is the real centerpiece here. Some of the raised detailing and “Aztec” paint variations border on microscopic, but show amazing attention to detail under high magnification. The unfortunate exception is the slightly blurry ship’s registry text near 12 o’clock, but overall it’s clear the Nubeo team spent considerable time and effort designing this element. This is far from the only direct “Star Trek” visual reference on this dial, however. The turquoise and slate blue base dial layer, along with the lumed red and blue segment around 6 o’clock, use asymmetrical geometric patterning heavily inspired by the LCARS computer screens used aboard the Enterprise-D and many other ships in the “Star Trek” franchise.

For the timekeeping elements of the watch’s dial, Nubeo continues this heavily stylized, spectacle-driven approach – for better or worse. The ultra-tall, faceted outer chapter ring combines an outer chronograph seconds scale with a sculptural minutes track on its inner edge, and is flanked by a mix of applied circular and wedge-shaped hour indices. The main handset is a pair of blunted, heavily brushed, futuristic dauphine-esque hands, complete with a striking asymmetric lume fill. For the hour hand, the lume plots are more or less conventionally placed away from the outer edges of the hand, whereas the minute hand uses a continuous strip of lume along its outermost edge. A Starfleet delta counterweight for the yellow-tipped skeleton central chronograph seconds hand dramatically reinforces the theming, but the real attention-grabbing handset belongs to the subdials. For the 3 o’clock 24-hour subdial, 6 o’clock running seconds, and 9 o’clock chronograph minutes, the brand abandons a standard subdial layout in favor of rotating disks. This makes the high-visibility, red and yellow indices at 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock into de facto subdial pointers as well. On paper, this is a playfully unorthodox and suitably sci-fi alternative to a conventional chronograph, and for both the 24-hour disk and the vivid red-hued running seconds, it’s reasonably easy to read. For the 9 o’clock chronograph register, though, this design decision has a serious impact on legibility. In short, Nubeo avoids having a full minutes scale on this subdial for a cleaner, more graphic look, which in practice means it’s nigh-on impossible to get an at-a-glance chronograph reading much more precise than two and a half minutes from the currently recorded time. Coupled with a love-it-or-hate-it, theatrical dial design, it’s bound to be a divisive layout overall.

Inside the Nubeo Magellan Chronograph Star Trek Enterprise-D Limited Edition beats the dependable, familiar Seiko VK63 mechaquartz chronograph movement. The VK63, along with its sister movement the VK64, has become ubiquitous in entry-level chronographs across the industry in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. With quartz-level accuracy coupled with firm, snappy pusher feel akin to a classic mechanical chrono, as well as a mechanical chronograph-style sweeping seconds hand, it’s a hybrid approach that truly takes the best of both worlds (“Star Trek” pun very much intended). Stated accuracy stands at +20/-20 seconds per month, with a respectable three years of battery life. Nubeo completes the watch with a dial-matching turquoise rubber strap. Nicely sculpted, with a pair of raised central ridges and beveled edges, this strap is satisfyingly soft, breathable, and flexible right out of the box, while further tying into the Starfleet uniform color scheme of the rest of the design.

There has never been more enthusiast-focused pop culture watch tie-ins across the industry than there are right now, and it’s long past time that the venerable, long-running “Star Trek” franchise delved into this growing market segment in earnest. With the new Nubeo Magellan Chronograph Star Trek Enterprise-D Limited Edition, the sci-fi mainstay takes its place among its rivals in dynamic, modernist, and willfully over-the-top fashion. Only 200 examples of each colorway in the Nubeo Magellan Chronograph Star Trek Enterprise-D Limited Edition series will be made, for a total production run of 600 watches. The watch is available now through authorized dealers and the brand’s e-commerce platform. MSRP for this watch stands at $1,100 USD as of press time. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.