The UTS Műnchen Professional 3000M Diver
Diameter and thickness should both count in defining a big watch right?
If this watch isn't big enough for some it's certainly tough enough for all!
I received a UTS 3000M Diver a bit over a week ago and have worn it 24/7 to be sure if my initial impressions are correct. I'm now convinced that they are so here are my thoughts on the watch.
The UTS Professional 3000m diver is designed and built by Nicholas Spinner in Munich Germany. It is number 33 in a series of only 200 to be issued.
General Description
The watch case is constructed in multiple pieces of DIN 1.4305 stainless steel and "bolted" together with 8 M1,6 DIN912 stainless steel cap screws. The back of the watch is necessarily a heavy stainless steel disk to withstand the enormous design pressures.
The weight of the watch is a substantial, but quite tolerable, 170 grams. The bezel is similarly screwed in place with 4 stainless steel screws and is of a brushed finish with laser etched numerals and indices filled with black enamel. I much prefer this type of bezel design on a diver since it is relatively impervious to the knocks and nicks which are so visible on colored enameled or anodized bezels in so many other popular divers.
A very smoothly operating spring loaded "click" mechanism controls the rotation of the bezel in standard 1 second intervals and additionally the bezel can be firmly locked in place by 1/4 turn rotation of the smaller crown at 2 o'clock. It's quite easy to see when the bezel is locked because a red dot is pointed "at" you when locked and pointed "away" when unlocked.
This locking mechanism is quite smooth and if I have a criticism of the watch at all it might be that the locking mechanism is too smooth. I haven't had the bezel lock rotate out of the locked position but I can imagine that this could happen under unusual conditions. A slightly more positive click retainer might be of some advantage for the secondary bezel lock crown.
The lugs of the watch are manufactured as separate pieces and also screw to the case body with 4 stainless steel hex cap screws. The lug width is 22 mm to allow a wide variety of aftermarket straps and bracelets to be easily applied. The lug attachment is arranged so that the lugs angle relatively steeply downward making the watch "grip" the wrist quite nicely and eliminating that uncomfortable shifting about that some substantial weight watches seem to exhibit. This might not be so helpful for folks with larger wrists but for one who has skinny wrists like mine it's a big benefit.
The dimensions of the case are 43 mm bezel diameter, 42 mm case back diameter and the thickness of the watch is a 16.5mm.
The crystal is a 5mm thick "slab" of sapphire clearly designed to withstand the enormous pressures that this watch is designed to handle with no problem.
As you can see the watch materials are clearly and completely specified even down to the Viton material of the seals. I'm not aware of any other company which so openly describes the construction materials they utilize. Herr Spinner is no doubt justifiably proud of the quality of his creations and not at all shy about sharing data about the high quality bits and pieces which go into each of them. He even specifies the correct torque values for the assembly cap screws.
As supplied the 3000m diver is equipped with a very soft and comfortable 22mm wide rubber strap AND a beautiful calf skin leather strap imprinted with the UTS Műnchen logo. I should mention that the rubber strap is not at all the uncomfortable rubber material supplied with so many popular dive watches. This strap is buttery soft and flexible and works extremely well even for those who normally hate rubber straps. I'm one of those who would not ever choose a rubber strap, except in this case, you bet I would. This strap is outstanding. I also understand that UTS will also soon be supplying a high quality stainless steel bracelet specifically designed for the Professional Diver.
In spite of the quality of the straps supplied I changed the watch to a UTS 5mm thick stainless steel mesh bracelet because I felt that the combination of the 3000m diver and the heavy mesh gave a killer look to the package and excellent balance to the watch when worn because of the increased weight. My diver weighs in at 223 grams with the heavy mesh bracelet when sized to my somewhat small 6.5" circumference wrist. While this may seem somewhat heavy to some, consider that the recently popular stainless steel Citizen 300 m eco-drive diver weighs 248 grams on it's stainless steel bracelet. Consider also that the UTS will withstand 10 times higher pressures than the Citizen.
The dial of the watch is a dark, or light grey background (depending on the angle of the incident light) and has an almost anachronistic and quite beautiful soft look about it on such a purposeful watch.
The indices
and hands are all "stick" designs with very high quality luminova luminescent material applied. There's no concern about seeing the time in the dark with the UTS diver! The glow is brilliant and lasts through virtually the whole night. The black printing on the dial is small and ultra crisp and precise when viewed under a 10X loupe. There's just the logo below the 12 o'clock position and in even smaller letters, Professional Diver, 3000m = 300 bar, above the 6 o'clock position.
The date window is a round circle between the 4 and 5 o'clock positions. The numerals are a brilliant white on a black background which gives excellent visibility.
Movement
The movement of the watch is an ETA 2824-2 but not your average 2824. It's the top of the line chronometer quality piece and the so-called Soignee version to boot with nice Geneva Stripes and Pearlage decoration including the UTS logo etched on the rotor.
Photo Courtesy of UTS Watches
All of this in spite of the fact that no one will normally see the movement except when the watch is serviced after 5 years or so.
I should mention that UTS supplies a print out of the characteristics of the individual movement with each diver. My watch was shown to run 2 seconds/day fast, with a 0.1 milliseconds beat error and balance amplitude of 297 degrees. Again Herr Spinner is proud of his work and willing to let his customers know about the quality of the bits.
One thing I should mention about the particular movement in my watch is it's incredible positional uniformity of rate.
I am in the habit of popping any new watch I acquire on a timing machine and measuring the rate in all 6 basic positions so that I can find the "fast" and "slow" positions. This allows me to do a daily amateur regulation by leaving the watch in the correct compensating position when it's not worn. It amuses and satisfies me to have a watch run for weeks or months without having to reset the time to maintain it near to atomic clock settings.
With the UTS diver I'm not going to be able to do this. Why? Well, the watch runs exactly and precisely 2 seconds per day fast in all 6 positions. It also runs exactly 2 seconds fast per day on the wrist. Imagine that! This result is almost unbelievable to me. I've never seen a watch that showed no detectable rate variation in any position. I don't know whether this is a miraculous fluke or a result of the care and quality of Herr Spinners regulation. I just know it's almost unbelievable but true.
Packaging
The UTS Professional diver comes in a foam padded plastic case with it's rubber and leather straps, a special hex cap screw wrench, extra stainless steel screws for all the case requirements, instructions and specifications in both German and English and the timing print out for the specific movement. All in all the packaging is precisely suited for the watch. It's packaging with a purpose, not packaging for show, just as the watch inside is.
Summary
By now no doubt everyone has the impression that I like this watch very much. I also have a UTS Commander and when I received it I thought of it as a "bank vault" of a watch. If that is so, then the 3000m diver is the "Fort Knox" of watches. There is absolutely no way I'll ever challenge the capabilities of this watch of course unless someone tosses it off the side of a ship into the Marianas Trench with my ashes. No matter, I'm attracted to watches that show quality and purpose, especially if the quality and purpose are in excess of reason!
I'm also attracted to small independent manufacturers who build their products out of love for the thing itself and are willing to put a bit of their life's blood into every piece that leaves their doors. The UTS 3000M diver is such a piece.
Criticisms
I've already mentioned the smooth bezel locking crown. It just could be that it's designed perfectly or it could be that my excessive pickiness about detail will pan out sometime in the future and the crown will unlock when it's not expected to. I certainly don't expect a disaster even if it unlocks since the click detents are nicely firm. That criticism is definitely reaching into the unproven future. It's just the only thing that I can even imagine that "might" not be perfect about the watch.
Criticisms that other folks might have about the watch might be that it's too heavy or too thick or that they don't like the style of divers’ watches. There can be no argument on any of these points because each is a matter of personal taste. To my personal taste the UTS 3000m diver is the perfect diver. It's distinctive in appearance, tough beyond all reason, constructed with the care of a perfectionist, comfortable to wear and not a watch that one would find on many peoples wrists because of it's strictly limited edition. It's clearly the best diver I own and I own more than I should of the type. What more can I ask? Nothing more that "I" can ask that's for sure!