All the boys and girls love Utinam (UTI)
A month ago I had never heard of UTI. I have heard of many brands, but this one flew way under my radar. They were not small or inconsequential, but they are gone now and you may have to be middle-aged and French to remember them.
Hector Levy began making clocks and ladies watches in 1905. He sold them out of a house on Rue de Sebastopol in Paris, with a factory in La Chaux de Fonds. By 1907 Georges Meyer took over the firm and the name Utinam was first used.
The Meyer, Levy, and Utinam names were used on all manner of clocks and watches. Utinam means "As G-d wills." With the rise of anti-semitism the Utinam (or UTI) label was used exclusively after 1940.
(Here is a nice little history of the company in French.)
I had to search for anything on UTI. They were a family concern for 70 years. By 1984 they had made their last watch. One interesting thing about them is that they did collaborations with many larger brands: Breitling, Blancpain, Glycine, Universal Genève, and Lemania. I guess collaborations aren't a new thing.
Mine is in the French skin diver style of the 1960's. It has a push-pull crown and is probably water resistant to a light rain shower. The bakelite bezel is faded. It will not win any awards. The Lorsa P75 (a solid French movement) has been keeping good time thus far. I wrote a little more about this over at the Escapement Room.
Watch this and tell me if you don't fall in love (just a little):
Restitutor Orbis. Aristocrat of beauty. Autocrat of time. (Trying to perfect trolling over at theescapementroom.com)
I think it’s cool.
Some very cool watches and thanks for sharing. Love learning about French watches. Now if you excuse me, I need to go eat a bowl of yogurt and chase it with some cranberry juice for some reason.
Some cranberry juice will clear that right up.
Some very cool watches and thanks for sharing. Love learning about French watches. Now if you excuse me, I need to go eat a bowl of yogurt and chase it with some cranberry juice for some reason.
Oh hahaha we made the same joke, you beat me to it.
Lol @AllTheWatches and @88MilesPerHour thot the same....if it continues I'd say see a doctor...🫣
I will say tho, good write up and I'm learning a lot of interesting brands from these posts @Aurelian .
Vary cool, this middle aged French guy from Minnesota loves it!!!
Makes you wonder. A 100 years from now if all the current hot brands with made-up names were found again but had a different context.
"Ughhhh doc I need you to check my rolex. It isn't working as good as it used to. my partner can attest to that"
Never heard of the brand. That is a very nice skin diver. If asked, I had taken it for an early 70s cause of the case shape and the accent color.
Never heard of the brand. That is a very nice skin diver. If asked, I had taken it for an early 70s cause of the case shape and the accent color.
I think it is late 60's but that is because the Lorsa was improved by 1970. I think the best that I can say is 1967-72.
I think it is late 60's but that is because the Lorsa was improved by 1970. I think the best that I can say is 1967-72.
That seems to be the timespan for the ”70s” sport watches I been interested in lately.