U-Boat Classico Chrono Tungsten

Italo Fontana has struck again with this new iteration of the Classico Chrono. This watch from U-Boat is featured in the hardest of all metals – Tungsten, or more specifically Tungsten Carbide. Tungsten Carbide can usually be discerned at first glance by its distinctive shiny grey appearance. This metal is so hard and durable that it is used to cut diamonds. Tungsten Carbide is a dense metal and is virtually scratch proof. This property makes it ideal for use in horology.

The U-Boat Classico Chrono Tungsten comes in two different sizes – an oversized 53mm version and a more reasonable 45mm edition. This watch features a left hand crown placement with the characteristic crown guard. The large bezel is polished to a truly amazing finish, all the while holding securely the scratch resistant sapphire crystal. Sapphire is used by U-Boat due to its incredible ranking of 9 on the Moh’s scale of hardness. A rating of 9 is seconded only to diamond, which is ranked a 10.

Both models are fitted with brown leather straps with white contrast stitching. The leather straps have differing hues of brown corresponding to the different case sizes. What is unique about the straps are the Tungsten sleeves, which gives these timepieces an amazing aesthetic. The case back is mostly solid but carries a U shaped aperture revealing the balance wheel and the oscillating rotor of the self-winding mechanical movement.

Dial colors for these Tungsten watches are black with cream hour markers and hands, or cream with black hour markers and hands. As with many U-Boat watches, only the 4, 8, and 12 are represented by Arabic numerals. The true seconds counter at the 3 position is also unique to this collection. The chronograph function uses the subdials at the 12 and 6 to display its readings. Completing this watch is a quaint date aperture at the 9 position.