We’ve seen our share of automotive-inspired watch designs , but I don’t know that I’ve seen one that draws so much literal inspiration as today’s model from Uniq.
Now, first off, who is Uniq? They’re a newer brand, established by the designer Zviad Tsikolia. His goal is is to create affordable limited-edition Swiss made watches. So, how did he do? Let’s have a look and you can judge for yourself.
This particular model we’re looking at is the M21, one of the first models from the brand. Why M21? It’s actually drawing inspiration from the GAZ M21, which was a popular car in the 50s and 60s. Of course, Mr. Tsikolia didn’t rely on his own memories of the car for this design – he enlisted the help of Ivan Paderin, who literally wrote the book on the vehicle.
So, what does that mean for the design of the watch? Well, a lot of the design actually owes itself to the car itself:
- The bezel and the domes crystal mirror the headlamp is inspired by headlamp of GAZ M21.
- The crown was inspired by radio volume handle; the star in the center of the crown is from a main detail of the grill
- From the side view, the lug shape is reminiscent of the hood and grill’s shape.
- Finally, the case back looks just like the hubcap
And of course, rather than a 12 at the top of the dial, you’ve got it showing 21. Obviously, all of these details show an attention to detail that anyone who appreciates the GAZ would appreciate. Now, I’ve never seen the car, but as a watch, I found a lot to like.
And that’s where we’ll leave things for today – tomorrow, we’ll cover how the watch does in day-to-day usage.
