Scrolling, scrolling, scrol….stop.
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This is how I came across the Italian brand, Unimatic and it immediately got my attention. I was born and raised in Sweden and the Scandinavian approach to design is, and always has been, minimalistic. Less is more in that part of the world. I’ve seen previous models from Unimatic, however they were not as clean and cool as these new models with slightly too large (to me) hour marks. The new clean, unobstructed lines of all the Unimatic models…hello desire, my old friend.
I shared it with my good friend Ben, just to hopefully have somebody else say ‘nah, too simple…don’t see the attraction’ but if anything, he liked it even more. Sigh. Started trawling the web for write ups of the all black models and there is very little out there on this brand, apart from the usual watch blogs that all had very complimentary thing to say about the brand. |
Couldn’t sleep those few days, my favourite model was a run of 300 only (yes, that is a very clever trick) and finally just faced facts, got up at 1AM and bought the super slick Modello Uno (U1-FN). This is a time of night where there is no wife to beat (figuratively) some sense in to me so a good (bad!) time to make such decisions.
This is where the experience started. Order processed in less than a day and a tracking number provided. A USPS of all companies (from Italy to Australia, weird). The tracking process was amusing since it had a dot and tracking lines that went from Italy > Germany > LAX > Hawaii…and then a line stretching straight in to the pacific with no maps …as in ‘Here there be dragons and the edge of the world’. Turns out USPS did find Melbourne eventually, phew. |
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I had the package in less than a week and what a great unpacking experience! The box was taped up with branded Unimatic tape, followed by the really cool black ‘tough’ case in bubble wrap. Opening the box, and there’s the watch on one side, and a nice looking warranty card and basic info on the other. Clearly made to house two watches – nice touch.
So first impressions of the watch. Honestly, didn’t speak to me. The photographs and the way it’s presented on the website is absolutely gorgeous, but if I had’ve had a chance to try it on in person – I’m not sure it would have been an immediate buy. Why is this? Honestly, I really disliked the strap that was supplied. It looks great on pictures but in person, harsh and uncomfortable and felt rather cheap and nasty to me. Please bear in mind, this was just my first impression and I don’t mean to speak ill of the product team’s choice of supplied straps. However, this meant I put it more or less straight in to my watch box and waited for a couple of other straps I had ordered. That was not quite what I had expected so I tried to put it out of my mind and any thoughts of returning it. A couple of days later, I received the ‘Marine Nationale’ strap from Strapify. I’d say these are heavily inspired by Erika’s Original MN…but with a two day delivery rather than 1 month from Holland. I fitted this to the watch and…BANG – fell in love. The nice, simple & comfortable black band made the watch to me. |
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Following are my impressions after owning it for a while.
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The Unimatic Modello Uno (U1-FN) does have a great utilitarian feel to it. The reduced lines and numbers on the bezel suits the watch perfectly. I also like the smaller hour markers on the watch and, the DLC coating that makes it all black, is lovely.
I looked long and hard at the model with no bezel marks at all (U1-FMN), but I eventually decided that breaking up that all black ring was the best option. It would have been great to have checked out both models in person, next to each other since I still think the all blacked out model looks fantastic on the website, but I’m happy with mine. The product photos on the website has some confusing blue lights on the inside of the bezels which is an odd thing to me since there are no such blue details/reflections on the watch. The back of the watch has some nicely engraved details such as a conversion scale and also the individual number of the watch, out of the limited run of 300 for this version. As you can see in the pictures, the bezel is very flat and square. It’s also rather stiff to turn, it feels solid but is rather cog like as opposed to some of my Seiko watches softer turns. It’s quite a tall watch, I think that the included Nato strap makes the watch too tall and it just didn’t sit right for me. On my new strap that anchors it down on the wrist, it fits me far better and I feel it looks much more planted on the wrist. Honestly again, the watch is not a cheap purchase and I feel an extra strap could have been included for the money.
The Unimatic logo and print on the watch looks awesome to me, absolutely fits the esthetic of the watch. The double domed sapphire crystal is lovely. Whilst it does have anti-reflective coating on the inside, it is still fairly reflective in any type of light, I’d say more so than some of my other anti-reflective watches. My guess is that the black watch face causes this effect.
Finally, the lume and movement. The lume is very good and glows green. It’s high quality Super-Luminova C1 white so no complaints there. There is some grumbling online about the ‘simple’ Seiko movement NH35A, however I agree whole heartedly with all the subject matter specialists out there that argues that this movement is very common which means that come service time, it should be easy and cost effective. Good..ahem…move, to me. |
Movement
Bracelet
Black heavy-duty Unimatic nylon nato strap Case
miscellaneous
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Final words
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It was love at first sight, then it was a period of ambivalence where I thought perhaps it was beer goggles that caused this, until I realised that it was just wearing bad clothes and this was easily rectified! Is it a keeper? Yes, I’d say so. It’s a really well designed, slick looking watch that will look good in most situations. It’s solidly built and I’d not hesitate to take it snorkelling or hiking.
That DLC coating should resist scratching – but even if it does get a few scratches over time, it would enhance the look in my opinion. Hopefully a descendant a few generations down the track will wear it whilst exploring Mars on a space buggy. I’d like that, and I think they will too. Cheers, Esbjorn |
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Want your own model? Don't delay, there are only 300 made.
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Did you enjoy this review? Coffee fuels my night time ponderings.
