There are a lot of boutique dive watches available right now, many sporting the same cases, dials and movements. Smaller companies can’t afford the cost of a custom design, so after a while many look the same. UTS, on the other hand, makes its own cases from steel ingots; you’ll not see their designs used elsewhere. An interesting mix of angular lugs and round body, the UTS cases wrap nicely around the wrist and have a massive 5mm bracelet as a matching option.
UTS has recently announced a new addition to the 1000m line, the 1000m GMT using the ETA 2893 movement. Otherwise the same as the diver Ariel reviewed, (Ed. – readers, please note that contributor Paul Hubbard wrote this article) the 24h hand and small UTC track really add to the appeal of this watch. Available in a variety of dial and hand colors, the high-contrast white on black really does it for me.
Add in the two year warranty, two-layer SuperLuminova lume, anti-reflective sapphire crystal and you’ve got a winner. At $2,250 on strap and $2,549 on bracelet, this is an excellent value for a custom design.
Size is a reasonable 42mm by 15.4mm, 200g on the bracelet. The movement is the tracteur ETA 2893, the standard for GMT movements. It’s not ideal – I prefer the modified versions as found in Omegas that allow the main hour hand to be moved in 1-hour increments – but still useful for tracking two or three timezones.
Case finishing is excellent, and the lume looks quite good:
I’ve seen quite a few pleased UTS owners, including a few who normally buy the prestige Swiss brands. From this, I’d have no hesitation in recommending the brand.
