Why We Love It
Yes, we're vintage watch snobs.
In virtually any comparison, we'll take a piece that has been properly aged over something shiny and new. There is just something inherently superior in our minds about a timepiece that has already passed through time. It gets a little metaphysical, a little emotional, a little wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey to explain properly, but you're with us, right?
Anyhow, there IS a time and place for a modern wristwatch - in the field. If you're out digging up Unicorn bones in the Scottish highlands, battling space aliens with adaptive camouflage in some equatorial rainforest, defending your urban keep against a raging zombie horde - whatever - chances are a modern timepiece would be a better tool for the job. It has something to do with their inherently superior water resistance, durability, accuracy, as well as their ease of replacement and all that. We won't bore you with the practicality of it all.
Seeing that we at Analog/Shift engage in at least one of these activities on a monthly basis, we have had to make some tough decisions and select modern watches that are up to difficult tasks without being, you know, too modern and bleh.
Unimatic has been favorite modern brand of ours since they launched in 2015. Based in Milan, Italy, they are the brainchild of two young Italian gentleman who had a desire to construct minimalistic tool watches, built to exacting standards that have classically-industrial designs and are heavy, tough, and beautiful.
The Modello Uno U1-DN is a variant of their basic diving watch design with a 40mm steel case and unidirectional bezel. It features a minimalist dial with Super-LumiNova indices, a three-hand date movement sourced from Seiko, and gives the whole package a jet black DLC coating. Black is the new black.
Basically a Unimatic is perfect for doing all those things you'd never in a million years wear your precious vintage watch for. This particular example is a sold out model in nearly-new condition from its original owner and comes with its complete kit, including inner and outer packaging, warranty card, instruction manual, and a pair of straps. It is sensible, practical, and incredibly good looking. We almost hate how much we love it.
For more information on Unimatic Watches, click HERE.
