Hands-On With The Stylish Unimatic Modello Uno Heritage GMT Diver

If you are a longtime reader of Fratello, you know I am a fan of Unimatic. I have often sung the brand songs of praise for developing one of the watch industry’s most recognizable and versatile visual design languages. The minimalist approach to watch design works miracles almost every time for the brand. As Unimatic founders, Giovanni Moro and Simone Nunziato are industrial designers by trade, so it might not come as a surprise. But good designers do not always guarantee great designs. But the versatility of Unimatic’s minimalist style never ceases to amaze me. The latest series of watches displaying this is the new Unimatic Diving Heritage collection. I had a chance to go hands-on with the Tropical Brown Heritage Diver GMT to find out more.

When I reported on the new Unimatic Diving Heritage collection a couple of weeks ago, I praised Unimatic for injecting the watch with exactly the right amount of vintage charm. What I like about the nine watches is that they’re not overdone. Changing colors completely changes the visual presence and gives it that vintage tinge. Essentially, all that the team at Unimatic did was change the lume on the dial and hands to a nice cream color. Additionally, the markers and numerals on the bezel insert correspond with the lume color. That is the basis for the retro feel.

The story of the Unimatic Modello Uno Heritage GMT Diver

However, in the next step, the navy and brown colors used for six of the models are well chosen, too. The saturated colors emphasize the vintage overall feel. The last three models use black as the base color, which creates the most neutral trio of models of the three trios. As a recap, a trio consists of the Modello Uno Heritage Diver, the Modello Uno GMT Diver, and the Modello Tre Heritage Chronograph Diver. As a fan of GMTs, I was more than happy to take the Tropical Brown Modello Uno GMT Diver (ref. U1-GMT-DHBR) for a spin.

At first glance, it looks comfortably familiar. I own several Unimatic models, so the overall style feels right at home on my wrist. The watch features a set of specs similar to those of previous releases. The Modello Uno GMT Diver has a 40mm stainless steel case with a 41.5mm bezel. It makes it easy to grip the knurled bezel and rotate it.

Additionally, the case is 13.2mm thick without the sapphire crystal and 49mm long. This makes it a substantial but not overly large watch. The profile of the case is pretty straight, so if you have smaller wrists, this watch might not be for you.

A charming overall aesthetic

As said, the case is paired with a Tropical brown dial with cream-colored indexes and black hands filled with cream-colored lume. As this is a GMT, the watch gets an extra arrow-shaped 24-hour hand that is black with a cream-colored lumed tip. What I like is that Unimatic chose to keep the bezel insert black. It creates a subtle but necessary and great-looking contrast. If it had also been brown, it would have been too monochromatic and looked more like a funky color exercise rather than a vintage-inspired watch.

Inside the case, Unimatic uses the Seiko NH34A caliber. It is an automatic movement that operates at 21,600vph, has 24 jewels, and offers 41 hours of power reserve. As I said in the introduction article, the modest accuracy of -20/+40 seconds per day, however, seems impressive.

But in terms of actual accuracy, quite a few of my Unimatic models powered by the Seiko NH-series caliber perform far better than that. On top of that, the calibers are super reliable and start turning the moment you pick them up. The brand has used Sellita caliber for a string of releases, but as you will understand, that drives up the price significantly. I appreciate that Unimatic mixes it up, so everyone has a Modello Uno GMT.

Wearing the Unimatic Modello Uno Heritage GMT Diver

The Unimatic Modello Uno Heritage GMT Diver comes on a brown two-piece TPU strap with a stainless steel pin buckle that matches the dial. It’s a nice and flexible strap that makes it super comfortable to wear the watch. The buckle end tapers nicely from 22mm at the case to 20mm at the buckle. The tail end of the strap tapers from 22mm to 16mm. This results in a substantial difference in width if you have bigger wrists, because that is where the tail end is at its slimmest. As a result, there is some play between the two different parts, which some people might not like.

One way of solving that is by wearing it nice and tight, which is what I did. It also nicely balances the watch on the wrist. When I would wear it looser, there would be too much play for my taste. But as said, when wearing it normally, you will not have that problem.

When it comes to the overall presence, there was a great sense of comfort and familiarity. As said, I own several Unimatic watches, so putting a new model on my wrist always feels close to home. But the vintage touches do offer a different feel that I like. While nuanced, the presence does have more charm, and that’s precisely what you would expect from a vintage-inspired overall aesthetic.

Using the 24-hour GMT bezel is fun

Once on the wrist, the size and dimensions are spot-on for my 18.5mm wrist. As with all Unimatic watches, the overall feel is very solid. The watches are very well-made, and they feel like they can take a proper beating. It makes them great daily wearers that you never have to worry about. Additionally, operating the 24-hour GMT bezel is fun. The overall feel is pleasant; turning the bezel, you get a good amount of feedback and a series of high-pitched metallic clicks. It’s a sound that I love because it sounds like a quality ratchet wrench when you turn it normally.

But slow the rotation speed down, and it sounds like turning the dial of a rotary combination lock in a safe. It’s a fascinating sound. Granted, there was a bit of play in the bezel, but because it’s a 120-click bezel, it lines up perfectly. As it is a caller-style GMT, unscrewing the crown and pulling it out to the first position allows you to adjust the 24-hour GMT hand. The absence of a date makes this somewhat flawed if you actively travel through different time zones, where you also want to keep track of the date. As a static GMT, keeping track of two designated time zones, it works well.

Final thoughts on the new Unimatic Modello Uno Heritage GMT Diver

Overall, I enjoyed my time with the Unimatic Modello Uno Heritage GMT Diver a lot. You might think that when owning some of the brand’s watches, you might not be as excited, but I always am to find out more about the brand’s new releases. It’s the direct result of falling in love with the overall aesthetic that makes Unimatic stand out. As it turns out, the vintage look fits the watches nicely, and I particularly love the Tropical Brown and Vintage Navy models. It’s hard to choose between the two. I would say that Tropical Brown models look slightly more vintage-inspired than the Vintage Navy models.

This begs the question of whether it leans too hard toward a proper vintage watch with a tropical dial? The simple answer to that question is a firm “no.” If you want proper vintage vibes, get a vintage watch. But if you like a modern watch with some proper vintage charm, definitely check out the Unimatic Diving Heritage collection. After giving it some thought, out of the nine available models, I would pick the Vintage Navy Diver or the GMT Diver. While I like the brown color, I would have preferred a slightly darker, more chocolate brown color for the dial and the strap. But that’s a highly personal take.

Overall, this Unimatic Modello Uno Heritage GMT Diver is another solid release from the Milan-based brand that can be yours for  €750 + VAT. For that money, there are plenty of other available options. But this is your perfect pick if you are looking for that immediately recognizable minimalist style infused with plenty of vintage charm. On top of that, the Italian brand designs things a lot better than others. Granted, I am a fan, but the balance and the style of this new series and the Heritage GMT Diver in particular stand out immediately.