As we noted in a post late last year about UTS Watches here, Nicolaus Spinner, the founder and chief engineer of the German-based company, leaves nothing to chance. Since Spinner started his brand more than seventeen years ago he has been the only person to decide whether each of the two hundred dive watches he makes each year is truly professional grade.
By that we mean all UTS timepieces, which range from those rated at 4,000 meters water resistance to the Adventure models rated at 500 meters water resistance, feature screw-down crowns, screw-in case backs, industrial-grade seals, German-made sapphire crystals with antireflective coating, top-grade ETA Unitas or ETA automatic movements and Super-LumiNova hands and indexes. One ten-piece limited edition model even features a tourbillon, made with a movement supplied by the former STT, which is today part of Bovet Fleurier.
But it’s the dive watches for which UTS is best known. The firm’s deepest diver is its 4000M Professional Diver, which, true to its name, is tested to 4,000 meters water resistance. Spinner’s obsession about case strength means he uses German-made stainless steel that he alone fabricates. He then adds a stainless steel plate that holds the watch’s 6mm-thick sapphire crystal in place. That sapphire crystal is not only glued into the case, it is held in by another massive stainless steel ring affixed by seven additional hex screws. The UTS lug design and the solid case back are both attached with hex screws and industrial grade seals.
The rotating bezel here is broad and easy to use thanks to its unusually thick grooves. Like all UTS rotating diver bezels, the 4000M securely clicks in sixty positions and is locked using a customized UTS bezel locking mechanism via a crown at 2 o’clock. Inside is a reliable ETA 2824-2 automatic movement. Spinner personally assembles, finishes and tests each watch. This model is also available in a four-hand 4000M GMT . Price: $5,900.
Specifications: UTS 4000M Professional Diver
Case: 45mm stainless steel, brushed finish, 17.5mm height, 205 gram weight on supplied UTS rubber strap, 305 gram weight with UTS bracelet (no links removed), multiple industrial grade seals, locking bezel system, screw-down crown, 6mm A/R-coated sapphire crystal, water resistant to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet), solid case back and milled lugs affixed by hex screws
Movement: ETA 2824-2 automatic top grade
Dial: Black or blue with hands and markers with applied SuperLuminova.
Strap/Bracelet: Steel or rubber
Model: Limited to 200
Price: $5,900