Website: http://www.uniqwatches.com
Company: UNIQ
About: UNIQ Ltd. was established by Industrial and Transportation designer Zviad Tsikolia in order to create a limited edition of high quality Swiss watches. Each model is a unique creation, part of an exclusive collection. Nevertheless, our prices are quite affordable to customers. UNIQ Ltd. divides its watches into three subsections: Motor Transport, Aviation and Navy. These include models of watches named after those vehicles, aircrafts and ships, which left a significant mark in the world history. Limited editions of our watches are aimed at the fans of the most memorable historical models. We also do belong to the above fans.
Watch Model: SEVEN 7
Inspired by Caterham Seven 316L Stainless steel
Case diam.46mm
Dial Indexes and hands Superlominova
Hardened Mineral Crystal
5ATM water resistant
Genuine leather strap
Movement Ronda 5040B
13 Rubin Gold plated Movement
Price: $650 usd
THE PACKAGING :
The packaging on UNIQ watches is always very cool. When I first saw the P-47 and it’s amazing packaging I was instantly a fan of what UNIQ watches was doing. I believe they actually won awards for the packaging design on the P-47. The Seven packaging does not disappoint either. The outer box is cardboard and has that vintage slot car design element which instantly transported me back to my childhood memories of slot car racing with my brother. Peeling back the lid of the cardboard box, reveals another box, this one though is made of tin. Again, a really cool vintage feel with using tin and the lid having the name of the watch model and brand on it with that racing feel to the styling. This particular watch was inspired by the Caterham Seven car and you see those design elements carried throughout the packaging and the watch itself. The Caterham 7 is a sports car produced by Caterham Cars in the United Kingdom which is a very lightweight racing car. The Caterham 7 design is based upon the Lotus Seven which is also a lightweight sports car that was built by Lotus Cars, starting in 1957 and ending in 1972. When Lotus ended its production of the Lotus Seven, then Caterham bought the rights to the design, and which still produces the Caterham 7. 2007 was the 50th anniversary of the production of the Lotus and Caterham 7.
THE CASE:
The limited edition version of the Seven watch comes in black stainless steel but is also available in a brushed stainless steel version. The black is very slick, and with the sexy curves of the UNIQ 7 reminanceninint of the curves of a car. The black has a very sharp gloss finish and is applied very even. I really like the engraved ‘SEVEN’ on the dial side of the case, it’s a nice detail. I’ve never reviewed a watch that dial side wasn’t taken up by straight crystal and a bezel. With the added space where there is no crystal was used in a great way by UNIQ. They kept it simple, but a great detail that adds character to this watch. The Caterham 7 influence in design can be instantly recognized when looking at the case of the UNIQ 7. The cut out for the crystal is the same shape as the front grill on the Caterham 7. The 46mm case is a good size for this watch and I don’t think that the watch would have the same feel if the case was smaller. The short curved fenders, I mean lugs, are a good length to allow the watch to sit comfortably on the wrist no matter your wrist circumference.
The crown is designed after the tires of the Caterham 7 and has nice tire tread detailing which makes turning and operating the crown very easy to do and grip. The crown is also signed with a ‘U’ for UNIQ which is a nice design detail. I definitely prefer when a crown is signed as it is a simple detail, but a detail that really goes a long way. The pushers for operating the chronograph features are very simple and yet packed with detail, because they remind me of button/pedals that are from a vintage car, which is very consistent with the desgn of the watch.
The case back is uncoated stainless steel and is signed in the center with UNIQ Mod. Seven-BB. It also has the following info: stainless steel 316L, Swiss Made, 50M water resistant, and limited edition. It would have been a cool detail to see a engraved Caterham 7 on the caseback, but UNIQ still gets the job done with the caseback here on this watch.
THE DIAL:
The dial on the UNIQ does not disappoint and it stays true to the design that UNIQ was trying to accomplish here. The dial itself has really nice 3-D detailing with thick vertical lines that match the lines of the grill of the Caterham 7. The mineral crystal is shaped like the outline of the number 7 that is also on the grill of the Caterham 7. The yellow, black and white color choices for the dial all really work well together. The large yellow hand is the center stop second hand and features a ‘U’ at the end. It doesn’t continuesly move unless activated by the pusher, and rounds the dial counting the outer number/minute hash marks and numerals. The hour and minute hands are silver and feature lumed tips. I really like how the hour and minute hands are cut out so that they don’t obstruct the views of the subdials. The only hour number that is featured on the dial is the appropriate number 7. At the 12 o’clock position on the dial is a date display which is a white wheel with black numbers making the display very easy to read. The dial features the text UNIQ and Swiss Made, and consequently the number 7 also serves as the model name as well. The dial features 3 sub dials which are responsible for different features which come in handy for timing events such as racing. The pushers that activate the subdials are easy to press and operate the functions and the operating manual does a great job explaining how to operate and calculate the functions.
THE STRAP:
The padded leather strap is a racing style strap featuring cut out holes that are painted yellow to match the yellow accents on the dial. The strap has a traditional buckle style clasp and is signed with UNIQ. The wrist side of the strap is stamped with UNIQ and genuine leather. The strap is very soft and comfortable with some pretty thick padding which makes the watch nice to wear in terms of overall comfort and wearability. The strap really continues nicely with the racing/car theme of the Seven watch model. It’s so soft in fact that it almost feels like suede. UNIQ did a really nice job on the strap.
THE MOVEMENT:
The movement is a Ronda 5040B Quartz movement which is very accurate and allows this watch to remain in the “affordable” price range.
Movement technical data:
Product Specifications
Analog quartz movement
Line startech
Caliber 5040.B
Size 12½”’
Version Swiss Made 13 jewels / gold plated
Version Swiss Parts 6 jewels / nickel plated
Standard battery life 54 months
Hand fitting height 1
Functions
3 eyes
Small second
10 hour counter
1/10 seconds up to 30 minutes
Big date
Chronograph
Center stop second (1/1 sec)
ADD and SPLIT functions
30 minute counter
Features
Hand Heights 1 and 2
Repairable metal watch movement
Very easy handling by two pushers
Very long battery life
Power saving mechanism with pullled out stem: Reduction of consumption approximately 70%
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
I believe that UNIQ achieved what they set out to do with this watch, to design a watch based upon a vintage car with that design theme throughout the watch, without it feeling overdone. UNIQ did a really nice job with their Seven model. It’s a well made watch, with great design features and beautifully executed in terms of overall appearance. This is a great watch for anyone looking for a watch that is uniquely different then this is a great place to look. Fans of the Lotus/Caterham 7 then this is a must have for you. UNIQ watches offer some really nice watches that are well designed and thought out, check out their website to see what they have to offer.
Pros Cons
great design Themed design might be too much for some
affordable price Using the chronograph feature takes some getting used to
nice strap
realable Quartz movement
A special thank you to Zviad and UNIQ watches for this oppurtunity to do this review! 🙏🙏🙏
For reference my wrist is 7 1/2″
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