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Reviewer: M. Wolfe aka UKWolfeman
Watch Being Reviewed: UNIQ P-47 Thunderbolt

Company Website and Info: http://uniqwatches.com/
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Uniqwatch?ref=ts&fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UniqWatches?p=s

Address and Phone:

73fl., 6, A.Kurdiani str.
0112, Tbilisi, GEORGIA
+995 577448871

History (Direct from Website): UNIQ Ltd. was established by Internationally renowned Designer Zviad Tsikolia in order to create unique, limited edition, high quality Swiss Made watches. Each model must be outstanding and part of a private collection. Moreover these series of watches should be affordable for consumer. We dedicate our watches to those vehicles, planes, ships, that played a significant role in the world history and a lot of fans admire them. Especially for those fans are created this limited edition of watches. We, ourselves, belong to the list of fans.

Model Background:
P-47 thunderbolt is a big pilot's Chronograph watch dedicated to one of the legendary and successful aircraft of all time P-47 thunderbolt which was designed by Georgian immigrant Alexander Kartveli. Special attention was paid to the eye dial which looks like a plane's dashboard and is attached to the main dial by screws. As regards to the chronometer’s hands and indexes, they are identical to the real P-47 cockpit clock WALTHAM 8 days hands and indexes.

For Historical Information about the P-47 Thunderbolt reference Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt

Image of P-47 Thunderbolt dashboard:



Image of WALTHAM 8 Day Clock:



Image of an Altimeter:



Watch Specifications:

Swiss Made
Stainless Steel 316L 47mm case
Sapphire Crystal with AR coating
5ATM Water Resistance
Swiss Ronda Quartz Movement
Includes Pilot style Genuine leather and nylon ZULU style straps
Weight: 4.1oz/116 grams
$470 USD - Shipping is currently FREE Worldwide
donated for review

Packaging: The P-47 packaging is very nice. The watch crate goes right along with the military theme of the watch as it resembles an ammunition crate. The crate is military green in color and has the watch company and watch model information painted on the outside. Internally the foam cushion protects the watch quite well as the cushion is cut specifically to cradle the watch case, crown and pushers. Slot for watch and slot for NATO strap. The user manual, warranty booklet and warranty card are also contained in the crate. Very nice packaging overall as it protects the watch well during shipment. Extremely clever.









Case (crown side): The P-47 has an oversized almost 9mm gear shaped signed crown. The crown is very bold and has a high polished finish which provides a great finish contrast with the brushed case. The watch measurement including the crown is almost 52mm. While the crown is oversized and sits low on the case it does NOT dig the wrist at all. The chronograph function pusher on either side of the crown measure almost 5.5mm. The pushers are also high polished and have a ring design near the out edge. The crown is the push/pull variety which engages smoothly and operates the time and date functions as expected for a quartz movement. The function pushers have a noticeable click when engaging and operate as chronograph pushers should.





Case (non-crown): Many watch cases do not have anything worth mentioning on this side of the case save an HEV on occasion. Some brands have the company name engraved which I personally loathe. However with the P-47 UNIQ chose a different approach which I find appealing similar to what can be found on Ulysse Nardin watches. The case is machined so that a small plate, which has the model and serial engraved, is slightly inset and attached with rivets. Looking at it under a jewelers loupe it appears a separate plate but the biggest issue could be if one of the rivets comes loose as it doesn't appear that it could be easily reattached. The lug to lug measurement is almost 55mm. The thickness of the case measures in at approximately 12.5mm. The case overall has everything anyone should expect in a pilot style watch. If you enjoy an large case without a clumsy unbalanced feeling you would not be disappointed.



Bezel, Crystal, Dial and Hands: The P-47 has a fixed bezel that has machined hash marks at each hour position corresponding with the dial. Different in appearance to the majority of pilot watches that are completely smooth in design. Sitting above the dial is a large sapphire crystal which lends to a 40mm dial opening. The sapphire crystal has an anti-reflective (AR) coating on the interior which is highly preferable to the exterior which inevitably marks up over time.

Below the sapphire crystal is an awesome two-tone military green (Khaki) dial. While the rest of the watch is fantastic I feel the dial is where this watch is more unique than many other pilot style watches. The dial layout was inspired by and has some strong resemblance to the WALTHAM 8 Days clock which was pictured previously in the review. The sub-dials are slightly darker in color compared to the larger portion of the dial and receive their design inspiration from instruments attached to the P-47 instrument panel. The main dial is extremely legible with large lumed numerals at every hour position. Company name and model painted on the dial above center and the Swiss Made designation painted on surrounding the 6 position. The chapter ring surrounding the dial has various style markers painted on at each minute position. The sub-dials are applied with screws furthering the resemblance to the various instruments on a P-47 instrument panel. The small seconds is at the 2, 10 hour counter at the 6 and the 30 minute counter at the 10. One really cool aspect of the sub-dials is that the 30 minute counter is attached in a tilted position showing further inspiration from how altimeters could be attached to a planes instrument panel. Definitely not something you will see on most pilot style watches.

The design of hands on the watch is another cool feature also showing inspiration from WALTHAM 8 Days clock and other instruments on the panel of a P-47. The hour and minute hands are sword shaped and the chrono sweep hand appears identical to the second hand on the WALTHAM 8 Days. The sub-dial hands are identical in design to the hands found on altimeters which was pictured earlier in the review for reference. All of the hands have some lume on them even the small sub-dial hands and are white filled which assists in giving the dial a nice crisp appearance. I greatly appreciate all the attention to detal in the dial work.





















Case Back and Movement: The case back is high polished with a P-47 Thunderbolt etched in the center along with various specification information such as Water Resistance, Sapphire Crystal, and Model etched around the outer edge. I find it extremely appropriate to have a rendering of the watch inpiration on the case back. Under the case back is a Swiss Made Ronda 5040D quartz movement that powers the P-47. As far as quartz movements go one of my favorites and more reliable that I have experienced over the past few years. I would love to see what a heavily engraved case back would look like with the P-47 image, but of course that type of machining would greatly impact the overall cost.





Straps: Great strap options are provided with the P-47. Each watch comes with a leather pilot strap and a color coordinated NATO. The NATO is nice quality and has the the UNIQ brand logo stitched on it. The rings are brushed to match the case finish. I'm not a huge NATO fan but appreciate UNIQ providing an alternate strap option with the P-47 for those that prefer a NATO over leather.

The leather strap is fantastic and one of the nicest stock straps with which I have had experience. I compare it as equal to the leather pilot straps that I have seen included with higher priced pilot watches such as Steinhart. The strap measures 22/22mm in width and is 3.75mm thick. The stitching is obviously machined as it is extremely precise throughout the strap. The strap has 3 keepers. One floating and two fixed one of which is stainless steel. Due to the keeper layout you can be assured the tail of the strap is not going to come out and flop around in the wind which is a fantastic feature. The strap comes with a fairly standard spring bar Pre-V buckle that is engraved with UNIQ branding. The strap length measures right around 135/80 but seems longer but that could be a result of hole placement. The strap is extremely comfortable and should fit somewhere up to an 8 - 8 1/4 inch wrist with some tail to spare based on the length measurement. Those with 8 + inch wrists may want to remove the floating keeper as I do not believe it will be necessary. UNIQ obviously listened to feedback from previous models and stepped it up in this area.

















Wrist Photos (7 1/2 - 7 3/4 inch wrist):







Lume: UNIQ chose C1 Superluminova for the P-47. The lume application is quite significant and glows extremely bright on initial charge. However, with C1 the lume fades rather quickly. The afterglow is still quite prevalent hours later so in a dark room you should still be able to tell the time. I have commented many times in the past that I didn't feel lume is completely necessary on a pilot watch and my position is unchanged for the most part. I believe UNIQ made a good decision with the C1 to maintain the white markers and hands as the watch just looks cleaner to me at least. The upgrade option would be BGW9 to maintain the white coloring and clean appearance but then production costs would be slightly impacted. Well done overall look by UNIQ.



Summary: I continue to be impressed by the offerings of UNIQ. Quite a few of their offerings seem to have a military inspiration. The P-47 is the second offering from UNIQ that I have had the pleasure of seeing and it is no different with a strong military inspiration paying tribute to a significant World War II aircraft. I have found the quality of UNIQ watches, including the P-47, in relation to the cost to be quite appropriate. With the P-47 you get a watch with a ton of wrist presence that has quality specifications for under $500 and only 100 total produced in each color variation.

I enjoy the theme for the P-47 in making the watch have a strong resemblance to the instrument panel of an actual P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. I am extremely pleased with the detailed dial and the cool military aspects integrated into the design. While the watch is big and bold if it wasn't comfortable then all would be for naught. The P-47 comes through with flying colors in the comfort department with a very nice leather strap and an alternate NATO. A big plus is providing a leather strap that will comfortably fit someone with over an 8 inch wrist. The watch while significant is very well balanced on the wrist and only weighs 116 grams.

Could there be improvements? Sure. There could always be improvements or upgrades with any watch. While it doesn't really bother me and it isn't completely necessary I'd love to see a screw down crown and BGW9 lume would be fantastic. That's it. I really do not have anything negative to say about the P-47. Well done overall by UNIQ and keep the cool designs coming. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.



If not fond of the military green dial the P-47 also comes in two other dial color variations a black and a blue:

 

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I saw this watch in person and it is awesome. I'm currently planning on picking up a blue P-47. I think it looks so hot on the blue NATO strap. I can't wait until I add it to my GAF and my collection. Well done....UNIQ!!!!
 

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What a cool watch. I never heard of this brand before but the P-47 looks like an excellent model to start with. I will do a little googling now to check out other colors and other models but the green Thunderbolt above looks fantastic. Its not that I wouldn't love one; its more that I want to see more (like a kid checking out the whole shelf of candy bars before deciding).

Thanks so much for the excellent review and pics, Mike. Kudos to Uniq for covering all the areas and staying in the theme of the aircraft and also for having a nice long strap. I am not a big nato fan but when it is done right, I do really like the look a lot. It also just seems right with a pilot style case. Love all the keepers, too. Straps and keepers are sometimes overlooked it seems but not here. V Nice, Uniq!
 

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Discussion Starter · #8 ·
What a cool watch. I never heard of this brand before but the P-47 looks like an excellent model to start with. I will do a little googling now to check out other colors and other models but the green Thunderbolt above looks fantastic. Its not that I wouldn't love one; its more that I want to see more (like a kid checking out the whole shelf of candy bars before deciding).

Thanks so much for the excellent review and pics, Mike. Kudos to Uniq for covering all the areas and staying in the theme of the aircraft and also for having a nice long strap. I am not a big nato fan but when it is done right, I do really like the look a lot. It also just seems right with a pilot style case. Love all the keepers, too. Straps and keepers are sometimes overlooked it seems but not here. V Nice, Uniq!
Hi Nate. Thanks for the comments. Knowing your likes for watches and straps this would be up your alley. Bold significant case and pretty sure the strap length will work. A lot of people are also liking the blue model which I haven't been able to see in person but the Facebook pics look real sharp. If you snag one post it up.
 

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Hi Nate. Thanks for the comments. Knowing your likes for watches and straps this would be up your alley. Bold significant case and pretty sure the strap length will work. A lot of people are also liking the blue model which I haven't been able to see in person but the Facebook pics look real sharp. If you snag one post it up.
I did find a nice P-47 pic in blue, Mike, and can see why its a hotty:

http://thecgacompany.com/Uniq/Uniq-P47-Mens-Watch.-Blue-Dial


By the way, have you seen the Caterham 7 yet? Its got a very unique look (not just Uniq).
 

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Discussion Starter · #12 ·

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Great review and nice watch. Not a big fan of the green but I know it ties into the color of the plane it represents. I would love to see it with the green NATO strap and a black face to match the dials on the airplane...that would look great.
 

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