Hands-On Review of the U-BOAT Stratos 40mm
U-BOAT has been long known for their large and bulky watches. There is certainly a clientele for these pieces, but with smaller watches becoming more and more popular, it seemed like there might be an opportunity for U-Boat to pivot, or at least expand, to offer some more widely appealing timepieces. And they did that with the Darkmoon collection, which we previously reviewed.
Well U-Boat went a step further and have no sized-down some of their classic, or Classico, timepieces. These pieces maintain the design DNA of the brand, but in a smaller, and more accessible, slimmer profile. The Stratos 40mm is a prime example of U-Boat’s entrance into smaller watches. I had the chance to have the watch on my wrist for a couple of weeks, and I have to say, I came across impressed.
The Classico Stratos takes the brooding design of the most recognizable U-Boat pieces, makes it a bit more elegant, and sizes it down to just 40mm. The Stratos keeps the most recognizable aspect of the larger models in the attached crown. However, on the Stratos, the crown is not capped. While the look remains the same, the watch can be set and wound without first removing a crown. It makes it a little simpler to operate, especially while the watch is still on your wrist. The crown guard is on the left side of the case, but that doesn’t necessarily make this watch a “lefty” watch. U-Boat places all their crowns/crown guards on the left side for practicality sake. On their larger watches, the crowns are relatively large and are prone to digging into the wearer’s wrist and causing discomfort. While this likely wouldn’t be a problem on the Stratos, U-Boat decided to stay to true to their heritage by keeping the crown on the left.
The dial is attractive and interestingly is a sandwich dial that also has applied indices. The 12, 4 and 8 o’clock hour markers are all applied, while the rest of the indices are due to the sandwich dial. This creates mutliple depths to the dial and is fairly unique in watchmaking. One would think that this dial would cause the watch to be thicker. But the watch is only 9.5mm thick. This is due to the thin hand-wound Swiss movement that powers the watch. This also means at 40mm the watch wears a little bit smaller.
If you look closely at the dial, you might notice the words “Tungsteno” at 6 o’clock. This is referencing the bezel of the Stratos which is made of polished tungsten, the strongest metal on earth. I tend to really like polished metal bezels, but am often concerned about the scratches that will inevitably occur over time. This is why I have yet to purchase a Cartier Santos, one of my favorite watches. By opting for a tungsten, U-Boat achieves the slick look of a polished metal bezel, that is also extremely scratch resistant. It makes me wonder why more (even higher end) brands have not done this.
As I have already said, the watch runs on a manual wind Swiss made movement. The watch runs at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour, has a 42 hour power reserve and 17 jewels. You can see the movement through the display caseback, that is shaped like a U.
One of my favorite aspects of the watch is actually the strap. I received the Stratos on a thick, comfortable, black, Italian-made leather strap. There is cursive writing on the strap that gives it a little extra style. This reminds me of the “Scritto” leather goods produced the Italian luxury brand Berluti (owned by LVMH). I have been a fan of this detailing on leather for years and its nice to see U-Boat do more than just the standard with the straps.
Overall, I am very happy to see U-Boat start to produce watches that are smaller (and actually fit me). While some may dismiss the brand due to their extra large timepieces, I realize that there is a subset of the market that loves these pieces. But the fact that U-Boat has been bringing their design aesthetic into more standard sized watches has me excited about the brand’s future. The U-BOAT Stratos 40mm retails for $3,400 USD.