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This Affordable Seiko-Powered Tool Watch Is as Adventure-Ready as It Gets

Cerakote, mil-spec shock absorption and dive-ready water resistance.

Close-up of a Unimatic watch with a blue dial, beige numerals, black case, and blue fabric strap on an orange background.Unimatic
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By Johnny Brayson

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There are two things at which Italian microbrand Unimatic truly excels: making affordable tool watches and collaborating with other brands. It’s practically all they do.

Now, they’re at it again. Unimatic’s latest affordable tool watch collab is a three-way collaboration with men’s fashion institution The Armoury and legendary menswear designer Nigel Cabourn. And while that combination may sound like it would result in a watch that favors fashion over function, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Instead, the three entities have put their heads together and come up with a rugged tool watch that just may be Unimatic’s most adventure-ready creation yet.

Field watch with blue dial and navy nylon strap on camouflage fabric with rope and metal whistle.
This Unimatic is one of the brand’s most rugged yet.
Unimatic

Tool time

Unimatic’s new watch is the Modello Cinque ref. UT5-TANC, a spiritual sequel to the brand’s original collab with Cabourn from 2019, the Modello Due U2-NC.

That watch was inspired by the 1950s Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, the first overland crossing over the South Pole, while the new model takes broader inspiration as a tool watch embodying the “philosophy of exploration over ornament, function over fashion.”

The Modello Cinque is Unimatic’s smallest, most wearable case design. It’s a generic tool watch case measuring just 36mm across, 43.7mm long and 11.6mm thick, not including the double-domed, AR-coated sapphire crystal. The bezel is a monobloc style, eliminating a potential weak point in the design.

Blue Unimatic wristwatch with beige hands and green fabric strap worn on a wrist.
Just because the watch prioritizes function over fashion doesn’t mean it can’t still look good.
Unimatic

The crown and oversized 8mm crown both screw down and are backed with high-quality gaskets, allowing the watch to boast a dive watch-like water-resistance rating of 300m. The case is also equipped with Unimatic’s proprietary, Italian-made TPU anti-shock system, which provides 360 degrees of protection around the movement and meets MIL-STD-810H military testing standards.

The movement powering this watch is plenty anti-shock already, as Unimatic and its collaborators opted for a grab-and-go quartz engine over a mechanical movement. But it’s not just any quartz movement. The Seiko Caliber VH31A is a high-beat quartz movement with a smooth-sweeping seconds hand that ticks four times per second, mimicking the look of a 4Hz mechanical movement.

The case is made of stainless steel that has been given a stonewashed finish courtesy of a Cerakote finish. Cerakote is a ceramic-based coating that significantly increases the steel’s resistance to scratches and corrosion. Used sparingly in the watch industry, it’s most often seen on EDC knives and firearms.

Two Unimatic wristwatches with blue dials and beige hands on blue and olive green nylon straps, placed on camouflage fabric.
The case’s Cerakote finish comes in two shades: navy blue and OD green.
Unimatic

The navy blue dial prioritizes legibility, with long hash markings for the minute track, field watch-style printed Arabic numeral indices, Unimatic’s typical ladder-style handset and a reverse lollipop second hand with an orange tip.

The hands and indices all glow in the dark thanks to Super-LumiNova GL Old Radium lume. Nigel Cabourn’s logo is printed in orange under 12:00, while Unimatic’s logo and some specs show up in four lines of text above 6:00.

The strap is a two-piece nylon affair with nylon keepers, quick-release spring bars and a stainless steel pin buckle boasting the same stonewashed Cerakote finish as the case. The solid caseback features a razzle-dazzle pattern inspired by WWII-era battleship camouflage, along with The Armoury’s and Cabourn’s logos.

Watch case back with engraved geometric pattern and text including "THE ARMOURY," "Nigel Cabourn," and "MADE IN ITALY.
The screw-down caseback features a razzle-dazzle camo pattern.
Unimatic

Availability and pricing

It’s tough to imagine a more capable tool watch for the money than this. A wearable, Cerakote-coated steel case with mil-spec shock resistance and diver-spec water resistance, plus a rugged and reliable quartz movement that mimics an automatic just for fun. Oh, did I mention this thing costs less than a thousand bucks?

There are two colorways for the Unimatic Modello Cinque ref. UT5-TANC. Reference “A” features an OD green case and navy blue strap, while Ref. “B” has the opposite configuration with a navy blue case and OD green strap. Each is limited to just 150 pieces and priced at $920 at Unimatic, $950 at The Armoury or ¥165,000 (~$1,042 ) at Cabourn’s online store.

About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.

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