Goods List
In the year 1942, the Fontana workshop was poised to produce a professional timepiece for the distinguished officers of the Italian Navy’s submarines (also known as U-boats). Though the project was ultimately scrapped, the distinctive drawings, color samples, and original materials were lovingly preserved for more than sixty years.
Sometimes the name of the manufacturer tells a lot about the watch. The name “U-Boat”, which means “German submarine”, certainly tells a lot about the watches produced by this brand. The U-Boat Thousands of Feet watches match their name – with their rugged cases and rubber bands, they remind of submarine gauges.The idea of the first U-Boat timepieces was conceived in 1942. The watchmaker Italo Fontana planned to issue watches for submariners and the Italian Air Force. He designed just what was needed for the Italian military – robust watches, with their dials easily readable day or night, under the most unfavorable conditions. But due to a change in policy, the plans of the talented watchmaker did not come true. In 1999, the grandson of Italo Fontana brought the designs of his grandfather to life and the U-Boat Thousands of Feet collection was finally introduced. Creating U-Boat watches, the descendant of the watchmaker combines innovative materials and technology with the nearly half-century old designs of Italo Fontana.The dial of U-Boat Thousands of Feet watches is made using the same technology as Panerai, a watchmaking company which is also closely related to the Italian military, uses. The dial consists from two layers: the lower one is coated with Superluminova and the upper one is cut with laser beams.The case of the most U-Boat Thousands of Feet timepieces is treated with PVD to achieve a black matte finish. The case back of the watches is screwed down with eight screws to keep the movement safe from water. Thanks to this and the screw-down crown, the watches are water-resistant to 100 meters.
In 2000, Italo Fontana, a cousin of the workshop’s late founder, realized a longtime company dream with the launch of the modern U-Boat brand.
In this year visitors of Baselworld 2010, especially fans of U-Boat were very much impressed by three new models, developed by Italo Fontana. First of all, this is the U1001 model that comes in gift stainless steel box. The U 1001 is a watch that has a cyclopean case that measures 55 mm in diameter. Thus U-Boat has broken its own record – 53 mm and now it is about to break the record of Panerai with its 44 mm watch case. The case is made out of titanium. The watch has such functions as hours, minutes and date. The watch has a power reserve of 40 hours and water resistance up to the depth of 1001 m (pay attention to the name of the model). The watch has a helium escape valve with serial number engraved on it.
The second model has quite a simple name – Rattrapante. This is an automatic split-chronograph with water resistance to 120 m. This watch seems to be suitable for a giant – the case has 51 mm in diameter. The case is 19,6 mm thick. In general this is a nice watch with all traditional characteristics of an U-Boat watch – highly readable dial, four additional dials that display date, day of week, month and even atmospheric pressure. The U-Boat Rattrapante watch is available in a limited edition of only 100 pieces.
The last, but not the least novelty by U-Boat model is the U 42 watch that is a reduced copy of the U1942 model. This is a vintage watch, however, it is made of modern materials. The case is made of titanium, the bezel and other details is made of stainless steel, also there are other materials like brass. This watch has a peculiar design due to which it seems to be really great for a person who has to work in gloves. The watch is waterproof to 300 meters. Comes in a limited edition of 999 pieces.
