Today Hodinkee, in collaboration with Italian-based accessible watchmaker Unimatic, dropped a new limited-edition trio of tool watches called the H Series.
Going on sale at 11 AM Eastern Time, the Unimatic × Hodinkee H Series Limited Edition Collection, from left to right, retails for $1,395 for the GMT, $875 for the diver, and $675 for the field watch.
Unimatic has a clean, minimalistic aesthetic, with monochromatic color hues, and sporty designs made for rugged use, and they release watches as limited editions, special editions, or made to order. This carefully executed method of distribution allows the company to control supply so as not to flood the market with inventory the way many accessible volume brands do, which minimizes the need for discounting.
Interestingly, considering how much consumers care about thickness, watchmakers across all price points, continue to pay more attention to this measurement, and accordingly, the case thickness on all three watches has been reduced to 11.8 mm, without the crystal. It’s unclear what the total thickness is with the crystal, but we estimate the total thickness to be 12.8 mm, more or less.
In addition to reducing the case thicknesses, starting with the H Series, the lugs have also been drilled to make changing straps easier. Each watch comes with two straps, and are water-resistant to 300 meters.
The flagship of the new H Series is a GMT watch built on the existing dive watch platform. Driven by a Swiss-made automatic Sellita SW330-2, the U1-HGMT is the first GMT from Unimatic, as well as the first of their watches to use a Swiss movement. Presented in a 41.5 mm x 11.8 mm stainless steel case, the GMT is based on the original Modello Uno dive watch. The Modello Uno U1-HGMT Limited Edition For Hodinkee features a faded gray unidirectional bezel, graduated for 24 hours, with a black dial, and a gray GMT hand that can be independently adjusted in 24-hour increments to indicate a second time-zone. The caseback is engraved with the world’s major 24 time zones and is delivered with a 22 mm cordovan black leather strap and an additional NATO-style strap.
The Modello Uno U1-H Limited Edition For Hodinkee dive watch has also been upgraded with a Swiss-made movement, the automatic Sellita SW200-1. Offered in the same 41.5 mm x 11.8 mm stainless steel case as the GMT, with a graduated unidirectional dark gray bezel, the monochromatic aesthetic is distinctive thanks to the light gray dial. A decompression scale is engraved on the caseback. Comes with a two-piece black rubber strap and NATO-style strap.
Completing the collection, the most affordable timepiece in the lineup is the Modello Due U2-H Limited Edition For Hodinkee field watch. Most noticeably, the dial has a so-called “California” dial orientation, which means half Arabic numerals and half Roman numerals. The caseback is engraved with a military-style bullseye and the individual production number of each watch. The 38.5 mm x 11.8 mm stainless steel case is powered by the same Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement as the dive watch but lacks the crown guards, and is delivered with a black two-piece Cordura strap and an additional NATO-style strap.
Each timepiece is an individually numbered, limited edition of 500 pieces per model. All watches come with two straps and are delivered inside a Unimatic-branded Pelican-style Tough Case.