Made In Italy: Unimatic & Automobili Amos Connect With Pair Of Limited Modello Quattros

What do Unimatic and Automobili Amos have in common? Well for starters, they fully embrace being Italian made. They also draw inspiration from classic vintage design and have created their very own thing by combining their passion for vintage mechanical objects with a contemporary design approach and use of modern materials. We’re all familiar with how Unimatic does this with their sleek and minimally designed range of tool watches which take cues from iconic mid century dive watches. Comparatively, Automobili Amos does so by restoring 80’s rally cars such as the Lancia Delta Integrale and adding their distinct style, unique colorways and integrating modern parts and technology. Today, the two Italian brands link up to release a pair of limited edition watches with the UT4-AA and UT4-AA2.

The UT4-AA and UT4-AA2 are similar in appearance at first glance. Both take after the Unimatic Modello Quattro sporting the distinct monoblock fixed bezel and minimal dial layout with the horizontal rectangular marker at six which has become somewhat of a calling card for the Italian watch brand. The stainless steel case gets the sandblasted treatment and is dressed in a gunmetal coating. The Super-Luminova C3 filled markers and ladder hands have that pale green tinge to them and harmoniously accompanies the matte green dial which Automobili Amos calls a “Brinzio Green” named after a small Italian town northwest of Milan.

For the most part, the case specs for both the UT4-AA and UT4-AA2 are similar to that of the Modello Quattro where the case measures 40 mm wide and 49 mm lug to lug. The difference lies within the case thickness where both the UT4-AA and UT4-AA2 come in at 12.05 mm thick, shaving almost a millimeter and a half off of the original thickness in the UC4. The slimmer case is in large part due to the use of the Seiko VH31 quartz movement. Worth noting that this particular movement comes with a sweeping seconds hand which to be perfectly honest, I was not aware a movement like this existed at this affordable price range (I always thought of the GS 9F quartz movement as the only movement to have this unique trait, and yes I know both movements are in totally different leagues but this is still cool). You get quartz reliability and accuracy without sacrificing the soothing appeal we all get from a sweeping seconds hand normally found in a self-winding movement, all packaged in a well designed watch with brand recognition amongst the enthusiast community.

The movement mentioned above, well Unimatic and Autombili Amos went the extra mile to protect it by placing it in an anti-shock movement holder which is military MIL-STD-810H certified. Take a peek at the surrounding edge of the dial. The yellow ring is not just for show to match the seconds hand and the AA logo. It’s actually a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) gasket sandwiched between the case and dial, and is part of the anti-shock protection.

The UT4-AA and UT4-AA2 are only separated by the type of seconds hand used in each piece. The UT4-AA uses a partially colored yellow seconds hand and cleverly placed at the tip is a miniature Automobili Amos Delta Futurista which looks as if it races around the dial with the sweep of the seconds hand. The Futurista, based on a restored Lancia Delta Integrale, sits at the very core of AA design and up to this point they have made 17 different models. The UT4-AA2 is recognized by the use of a more simple, straightforward yellow tipped seconds hand.

The UT4-AA will have a limited run of 50 pieces and can be purchased online at Automobilli Amos. The UT4-AA2 will also be limited, however, to 150 pieces and can be purchased at Unimatic. Each piece will retail at 425 € and that excludes VAT. Unimatic