This ramble is in no way influenced by sitting in a cafe in Florence, near where I bought my Tuscan made U-boat 
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Italy has a number of watch manufacturers, but the locally made watch brands include U-boat, Anonimo and Locman as great examples of brands beating their own path. U-boat was founded by Italo Fontana in the year 2000 having discovered his grandfather’s sketches of wristwatch designs from the 1940s. Italo’s grandfather, Ilvo had been commissioned to develop the watches for the Italian navy, however, the arrangement never came to fruition. Italo’s vision was to produce watches based on these designs, so he partnered with brand developer, Mounir Moufarrige who had already guided brands like Panerai in their development. It took U-Boat a total of 7 years to launch its first line of wristwatches.
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U-boat is known for doing its own thing and would probably cause an explosion in most watch geek forums, which is a good thing. U-boat’s style is exuberant and large. For a long time, I have admired U-boat watches. They are immaculately finished with many unique features. They are just too large for my wrist. 47mm used to be the smallest size! I have a smallish 6.7” wrist and almost pushed the trigger on the 46mm submerso, which won’t go under a suit shirt, but is profound in T-shirt and jeans. Interestingly I have seen many men with long shirts here tucking in the cuffs under the watch, basically to show off the watch. Makes sense when you have spent a load.
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U-boat has been experimenting with “smaller” sizes over the last few years and has had some hits. The now discontinued 9016, thin and only 45mm was also a near hit for me. Recently, as well as a line of petite lady’s’ watches, U-boat has launched smaller versions of its Classico series. Instead of making them cheaper with less features, such as the 40mm version of the Aquaracer, they have actually made them more premium pieces.
![Image]()
When I tried on this new Classico 42mm Tungsteno, it was an instant buy. It is simply beautiful, and ticks all my boxes on looks, clarity, comfort and construction.
The layer construction is the first thing that strikes you. It is quite unique, and, unlike my Bremont Airco, where you have to look for it, on the Classico it is instantly recognisable. There is a solid sapphire glass on the top, which clears the bezel by 1-2mm. Then a polished bezel made of a large piece of Tungsten. Tungsten is almost scratch proof, like ceramic, and means that the watch will remain relatively unchanged over the decades. One salesman, in a shop I didn’t buy it from, to my horror, took out his car keys and viciously slashed the bezel with the edge of a key. Yes, there was no mark at all. The next layer is a satin brushed body centre piece. It has U-Boat engraved on one side with a small polished panel containing the model number, which can be used for engraving a name. The centre piece is made from 316 steel, but then put through a toughening process, similar to Sinn tegiment, Bremont or Damasko.
The bottom layer is a single slab of strengthened mineral glass. I naturally like exhibition backs but I have never seen the whole back covered in glass, although the Omega Globemaster and Ball Trainmaster come close. There are lots of advantages to this, over and above the beauty. Glass is warmer in winter then metal, cooler in summer, does not imprint a sharp logo into your wrist and is hypoallergenic. I love it. It is attached with 6 recessed screws.
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Whilst looking at the back, you can see every plate in the m,echanism is decorated with beading. This is more decoration than I have seen in this price range before. The movement is an STP 1-11, which I was excited to find out about after having very positive experience with STP movements previously. STP is a movement manufacturer owned by the Fossil group, which started with copies of ETA movements, like the 2824. They appear in Fossil group firms, e.g. Zodiac, and in other companies as well. The 1-11’s lowest grade is equivalent to the ETA TOP, and in this case an extra 24 hour complication has been added. For viewing pleasure a ruby from the movement is also displayed on the watch dial. The power reserve is 44 hours with 26 rubies, and the frequency is 28800 Hz.
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The body has short lugs, which feel like the lug-to-lug is around 48mm, pretty short for a watch with a dial of this size, similar to my 37mm Nomos Club Sport Neomatik !!
Another unusual aspect of the case is the crown on the left, to prevent it digging into your wrist, and a screw in crown protector. This ensures that winding the crown is not needed when screwing it in for water resistance, thus both elongating its life and preventing damage. One thing to remember is the anti-clockwise winding direction for a crown on the left side. Water resistance is to 100m
![Image]()
The dial is gorgeous. There is both a cream and black one available. The cream one is super clear, with the Italian style three large numerals and the rest as long pips. The dial is made of a three layer sandwich. This manifests itself to the user when you see the pips are actually cut outs in the top layer, showing the black layer below. The numerals are applied black metal surrounded by a cream metal wall. The hands also follow this black cream them and sometimes appear to float. There is a small sculptured date window with a black background and cream font. Lettering is sparse, with the company name, the name of the founder (Italo Fontana) and the word “Tungsteno”.
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The body of the watch is more then the sum of its parts, and as an object d’art it goes a long way.
![Image]()
The strap provided is natural dark brown with darker brown script writing etched across. It is thick but interestingly not that stiff, so it adapted to my wrist after only one day. I also bought a rubber strap with it for swimming.
![Image]()
I always like to mention the box, although trivial 😉, but it’s a nice one. Not like the Breitling’s of old, or the great Omega one, but wood laminate and nicely made.
Development points ? No lume. Actually, with the cream dial, if you can’t see it there is no light, it is just so shockingly clear. However, for the lume afterglow there is none. A quick release strap mechanism would also be great, considering that amount available at the 20mm lug width of the watch.
![Image]()
There we are then, a beautiful versatile piece, but not a shrinking violet. It certainly can’t be mistaken for anything else! It is absolutely gorgeous, and pretty hard, if you appreciate this kind of thing.
![Image]()
Italy has a number of watch manufacturers, but the locally made watch brands include U-boat, Anonimo and Locman as great examples of brands beating their own path. U-boat was founded by Italo Fontana in the year 2000 having discovered his grandfather’s sketches of wristwatch designs from the 1940s. Italo’s grandfather, Ilvo had been commissioned to develop the watches for the Italian navy, however, the arrangement never came to fruition. Italo’s vision was to produce watches based on these designs, so he partnered with brand developer, Mounir Moufarrige who had already guided brands like Panerai in their development. It took U-Boat a total of 7 years to launch its first line of wristwatches.
U-boat is known for doing its own thing and would probably cause an explosion in most watch geek forums, which is a good thing. U-boat’s style is exuberant and large. For a long time, I have admired U-boat watches. They are immaculately finished with many unique features. They are just too large for my wrist. 47mm used to be the smallest size! I have a smallish 6.7” wrist and almost pushed the trigger on the 46mm submerso, which won’t go under a suit shirt, but is profound in T-shirt and jeans. Interestingly I have seen many men with long shirts here tucking in the cuffs under the watch, basically to show off the watch. Makes sense when you have spent a load.
U-boat has been experimenting with “smaller” sizes over the last few years and has had some hits. The now discontinued 9016, thin and only 45mm was also a near hit for me. Recently, as well as a line of petite lady’s’ watches, U-boat has launched smaller versions of its Classico series. Instead of making them cheaper with less features, such as the 40mm version of the Aquaracer, they have actually made them more premium pieces.
When I tried on this new Classico 42mm Tungsteno, it was an instant buy. It is simply beautiful, and ticks all my boxes on looks, clarity, comfort and construction.
The layer construction is the first thing that strikes you. It is quite unique, and, unlike my Bremont Airco, where you have to look for it, on the Classico it is instantly recognisable. There is a solid sapphire glass on the top, which clears the bezel by 1-2mm. Then a polished bezel made of a large piece of Tungsten. Tungsten is almost scratch proof, like ceramic, and means that the watch will remain relatively unchanged over the decades. One salesman, in a shop I didn’t buy it from, to my horror, took out his car keys and viciously slashed the bezel with the edge of a key. Yes, there was no mark at all. The next layer is a satin brushed body centre piece. It has U-Boat engraved on one side with a small polished panel containing the model number, which can be used for engraving a name. The centre piece is made from 316 steel, but then put through a toughening process, similar to Sinn tegiment, Bremont or Damasko.
The bottom layer is a single slab of strengthened mineral glass. I naturally like exhibition backs but I have never seen the whole back covered in glass, although the Omega Globemaster and Ball Trainmaster come close. There are lots of advantages to this, over and above the beauty. Glass is warmer in winter then metal, cooler in summer, does not imprint a sharp logo into your wrist and is hypoallergenic. I love it. It is attached with 6 recessed screws.
Whilst looking at the back, you can see every plate in the m,echanism is decorated with beading. This is more decoration than I have seen in this price range before. The movement is an STP 1-11, which I was excited to find out about after having very positive experience with STP movements previously. STP is a movement manufacturer owned by the Fossil group, which started with copies of ETA movements, like the 2824. They appear in Fossil group firms, e.g. Zodiac, and in other companies as well. The 1-11’s lowest grade is equivalent to the ETA TOP, and in this case an extra 24 hour complication has been added. For viewing pleasure a ruby from the movement is also displayed on the watch dial. The power reserve is 44 hours with 26 rubies, and the frequency is 28800 Hz.
The body has short lugs, which feel like the lug-to-lug is around 48mm, pretty short for a watch with a dial of this size, similar to my 37mm Nomos Club Sport Neomatik !!
Another unusual aspect of the case is the crown on the left, to prevent it digging into your wrist, and a screw in crown protector. This ensures that winding the crown is not needed when screwing it in for water resistance, thus both elongating its life and preventing damage. One thing to remember is the anti-clockwise winding direction for a crown on the left side. Water resistance is to 100m
The dial is gorgeous. There is both a cream and black one available. The cream one is super clear, with the Italian style three large numerals and the rest as long pips. The dial is made of a three layer sandwich. This manifests itself to the user when you see the pips are actually cut outs in the top layer, showing the black layer below. The numerals are applied black metal surrounded by a cream metal wall. The hands also follow this black cream them and sometimes appear to float. There is a small sculptured date window with a black background and cream font. Lettering is sparse, with the company name, the name of the founder (Italo Fontana) and the word “Tungsteno”.
The body of the watch is more then the sum of its parts, and as an object d’art it goes a long way.
The strap provided is natural dark brown with darker brown script writing etched across. It is thick but interestingly not that stiff, so it adapted to my wrist after only one day. I also bought a rubber strap with it for swimming.
I always like to mention the box, although trivial 😉, but it’s a nice one. Not like the Breitling’s of old, or the great Omega one, but wood laminate and nicely made.
Development points ? No lume. Actually, with the cream dial, if you can’t see it there is no light, it is just so shockingly clear. However, for the lume afterglow there is none. A quick release strap mechanism would also be great, considering that amount available at the 20mm lug width of the watch.
There we are then, a beautiful versatile piece, but not a shrinking violet. It certainly can’t be mistaken for anything else! It is absolutely gorgeous, and pretty hard, if you appreciate this kind of thing.
