I write a lot about tool watches, usually with the connotation that the watch in question has a narrowly-defined purpose for which it was designed. A dive watch has three hands, a rotating 60-minute scale, bold hour markers, and lume throughout to help a diver track their time underwater. When done well, there’s little extra there to be concerned with. Such tool watches are like a durable Phillips-head screwdriver – highly useful for their intended function, but with some limitations when asked to do more. A three-hand dive watch doesn’t easily measure elapsed time beyond one hour.
Why so much discussion of tools? Am I merely getting old and waxing nostalgic about watching Home Improvement as a child? No, my reflection on tools and how I actually use them stems from my experience wearing Momentum’s reissue of their cult-favorite UDT. Often, when I’m working on something, I’m not likely to grab one hyper-specific tool but something multifunctional that will carry me through multiple steps of a project. A multifunctional tool doesn’t have to be excellent at any specific task but good enough at the variety of functions it possesses. The UDT is similar – it is not your typical tool watch but rather a multitool watch.
This new UDT is a modern update to the Chronosport UDT (the owners of Momentum owned Chronosport as well), The original watch launched in the early 1980’s, with the intended use as a multifunctional tool for military units. For the movie buff watch nerds, the Chronosport UDT featured in Rambo II – let’s hope Momentum’s sequel to the UDT is better executed than that film. If you are curious about more of the history of the UDT watch and military units, Momentum has a short overview on their site.
Though the new UDT has advanced technology within, the overall package is unassuming. The case is the familiar Monnin style that Momentum also used for their popular Sea Quartz reissue. Though it is 42mm in diameter, the fairly short 47mm lug-to-lug and 11.7mm thickness help the UDT wear very comfortably, as is common for this case design. The curves of the case, and the ion-plated matte finish, combine for a softer aesthetic – even the transitions that define the chamfer on the outer surface of the lugs are subtle. The case finishing is fit for purpose, and plenty good for a sub-$400 watch.
A side note on the case, if you’re reading, Momentum design team: use this setup to make a Sea Quartz chronograph, please, and thank you.
The right side of the case carries the three pushers that operate the UDT’s multiple functions. Each pusher screws in, revealing a red inset line that provides a visual cue to know when the watch is fully sealed. The pusher at 3, nestled between the crown guards, selects which function is in use on the digital screen, while the pushers near 2 and 4 actuate the selected function. The relatively small diameter of the pushers, combined with the crown guards, made it challenging for me to utilize the mode selection crown while wearing the watch. Not impossible, but difficult enough that I didn’t change modes much, and when I did, quickly removed the watch to change functions. I wouldn’t object to another millimeter or two of crown diameter to make it easier to change modes while wearing the watch.
For the first few days I wore the watch, I had some difficulty with all of the pushers. Even though I could feel them depressing as intended, that movement didn’t result in a corresponding action on the digital screen. This issue seems to have abated with increased use, but some additional quality control would be welcome to ensure there aren’t continued issues with the components that enable proper use of the movement’s capabilities.
Once I was able to get the pushers working, I got to explore the functions of Momentum’s horological multitool. These include analog and digital local timekeeping, digital day and date indication, a second time zone that is set manually (not by pre-programmed time zone options), a stopwatch, and an alarm. All of these functions are enabled by the solar ana-digi Epson AB12A movement that Momentum modified for use in the UDT. When I asked the brand about their decision-making regarding the movement, they explained that they chose to modify a base movement in order to keep the new UDT functionally similar to previous versions while maintaining reliability and a simple user interface. By starting with the AB12A, Momentum was able to keep features like auto-synching of the local analog and digital time displays and solar charging without utilizing a much thicker movement.
From my use, they did a good job of threading the needle to keep the UDT comfortable to wear, and easy to operate relative to its functional complexity. There are only two functional changes I’d love to see: a backlight function for the digital display and an analog seconds hand. The former would, quite obviously, make it easier to read the digital display in low lighting, which is challenging in its current form. The latter would help when using the digital display to show a second time zone, as was my preference. In this mode, the digital readout loses the running seconds indication present in the local time readout in favor of a “T2” designation to show what mode is in use, not as an homage to the excellence of Terminator 2 (actually, a good sequel). The addition of an analog seconds hand would allow the user to continue to track the movement of seconds without having to change back to local time mode. That said, there aren’t many times in life in which I need to measure the passage of seconds, so consider this more as a preference than an impediment.
True to the current UDT’s progenitors, the dial is legible and clean, even with all of the available functions. The analog time is tracked via two scales – the outer graphical 12-hour scale and an inner scale that includes Arabic numerals for 24-hour time telling. The inner scale is fully hashed but compressed and flattened where it abuts the digital display. The outer scale loses six markings where it intersects the same display. I’m not convinced that it is functionally necessary for both scales to be so detailed – a similar effect could be achieved with just the Arabic numerals inset from the printed 12-hour bar markers – but the execution is done well and adds nice visual detail.
Obelisk hour and minute hands round out the analog time function, a safe and sensible choice. These hands are wider than the hands of previous UDTs, which allows for more lume in their central channel and more fun brightness in the dark. I’d love to see Momentum keep the thickness of these hands but switch to an all-white, full-lume coating to be more in line with the crisp white printing on the dial and maximize contrast.
That printing sits atop a semi-transparent dial plate that enables light to reach the photovoltaic receptors that power the UDT’s solar movement. If you want to know more about how this technology works, Momentum has a useful guide. The dial plate doesn’t have the ever-present shine and glare of other solar watches I’ve encountered, thanks to a matte texture and minimal transparency. There’s still a cool effect in direct sunlight, wherein you can see the light receptors below the dial plate. It’s a party trick when you want it, but otherwise unobtrusive. The final printed elements are Momentum’s combo graphic and text logo above the pinion and the UDT Solar model designation below. To my eye, the logo is placed a little too far from the pinion for optimal visual balance, but that is also firmly rooted in preference.
I’m glad Momentum placed the digital display on the lower portion of the dial, which looks better balanced to me than other ani-digi models in which the screen sits at the top of the dial. I’m also glad they utilized a positive (dark on light) digital display. As cool as negative (light on dark) displays are, I find them harder to read.
Surrounding the dial is a 120-click rotating bezel with a 60-minute elapsed-time scale. The bezel’s action is light but precise, as is its printed text. 10-minute intervals are marked with bold-font Arabics, and the intermediate 5-minute markers are finer hashes. Some of the older UDT models were fully hashed for the first 15 minutes, which would play well on this new iteration.
You can purchase the UDT with a variety of bands, including a black or red Tropic-style rubber strap, a black or tan NATO-style strap, and a deliciously 80’s black accordion-style rubber strap. The one I had on hand came with the red Tropic-style strap, which was well made, soft, and didn’t have any of the weird smells frequently present with rubber straps. I don’t think there is a bad choice here, and the 20mm lug spacing means you have abundant options in the market. My favorite option was a black RAF-style single-pass – full stealth, maximum comfort.
With the UDT, Momentum has successfully built on the… momentum of their Sea Quartz reissue, again pulling from the brand’s archives while updating the quality and capability to modern standards. There’s more room for improvement with the UDT than I found with the Sea Quartz, but it is also a much more complicated watch and, therefore, more complex to engineer and produce. Knowing how quickly Momentum improved some of the initial foibles of the Sea Quartz reissue, I’m optimistic that they will improve on some of the quality challenges with future UDT releases. Without any improvements, the UDT still offers a lot of capability for a reasonable price, a multitool to help you handle all of life’s timing needs.
To learn more or to purchase a Momentum UDT, check out the model’s landing page.
