Time to take a look at the bit more obscure once again. I truly enjoy getting my hands on watches that earned their start on Kickstarter just to see how they stack up based on specifications and price point with other watches in the same price category. Today I’m going to examine UHURU Watches which is based out of South Africa. Nick Warner, the founder, achieved full funding on Kickstarter for his first model, theย Impi. Theย Impiย was initially available in black and ivory dial options. The black dial option is no longer available so I’m going to focus on the ivory dial variation. Theย Impiย model itself pays tribute to Zulu warriors,ย which were traditionally armed with a cowhide shield and a spear. Some of the characteristics of theย Impiย model have been delivered to illustrate the shield and spear without being comical. You can read more about UHURU watches in general at:ย http://www.uhuruwatches.com/, Theย Impiย retails at $349 USD and comes with the following basic specifications:
- 316L stainless steel case
- 44mm diameter case (excluding crowns)
- Japanese Automatic movement
- Double domed sapphire crystal with anti reflective coating
- 20 ATM water resistance
Probably the first thing I look at on any watch is the case finishing. I’m not entirelyย sure why but the finish just always gives me a good feel for what I’m going to find elsewhere when inspecting the watch. Theย Impiย is constructed of 316L stainless steel with a matte almost bead blasted appearingย finish. The finishing isn’t perfectly even throughout the case,ย but overall is decent,ย so I initially had a good feeling about what I would see elsewhere with the watch. The case itself has some vintage appeal mixed with the modern in relation to the overall shape. Based on information from UHURU, the curved shape itself was a design aspect equating to the shapesย and textures of aย Zulu warrior shield. The overall appearance of the case is rather appealing. As the wearer,ย the weight of the case is also quite noticeable,ย as theย Impiย on the leather strap is rather impressive at 128 grams.
Moving on to the case specifications, the case measures 44mm and a robust 51mm including the dual crowns. The lug tip to lug tip measures 52mm and the watch is ratherย girthyย at 15mm. With the aforementioned weight, combined with the other watch specifications, theย Impiย provides substantial wrist presence and will command quite a bit of attention. The signed crowns are perfectly proportionate with the other dimensions of the case at 7mm in diameter. The 3H crown is the screw down variety and is positioned nicely between crown guards for added protection. I have to admit the crown guards caught me off guard a bit. Evenย forย the more established watch companies, crown guards tend not toย ย provide adequate protection for the crown as the crown always seems to stick out several millimeters beyond the guard edges. However, on theย Impi, the crown face is almost perfectly flush with the crown guard edges which will allow for outstanding side to side protection. The 3H crown controls the date and time complications and is quite easy to grasp with no play or wiggle when engaged. The 3H screwed down crown contributes to the overall 200 meter water resistance of theย Impi. The 9H crown controls the internal bi-directional bezel. The 9H crown is not screwed down moving rather freely indicating theย Impiย wouldn’t be ideal for any sort of timed dive.ย Due to the overall case specifications, theย Impiย is probably best suited as a casual wear type watch. If it was slightly thinnerย it would fit comfortably under a dress shirt cuff.
Next, theย Impiย is fitted with a huge domed 37mm in diameter sapphire crystal with an interior anti-reflective coating. Beneath the crystal is a good looking ivory/yellowish colored dial. The dial is extremely clean and uncluttered, perfectly sized font type, with the limitedย branding placement painted above and below center dial. Theย Impiย is not heavilyย lumedย with only a minimal amount of application found on the markers and handset. The marker illumination is negligible and the handsetย lumeย is not much better. Do not expect to tell the time in poorly lit conditions for any length of time. I have always viewedย lumeย as more of a gimmick,ย so I’m going to give UHURU a pass on this aspect. The hour and minute hands are what I consider lance or spear shaped,ย which goes back to theย Impiย model/theme corresponding to the weapon of choice of the Zulu warrior.
Outside of the strap, which I will discuss shortly, the case back itself is probably the most disappointing aspect of theย Impi. The screw down case back is fitted with a sapphire display for viewing the movement. I have to admit I was surprised that theย rearย display was sapphireย for a watch under $350. Now, if theย Impiย housed aย Miyotaย 9015,ย Sellitaย or ETA automatic movement I could easily understand showing offย the movement as some of those movements are nicely decorated. However, theย Miyotaย 8215 housed in theย Impiย is quite unappealing in appearance. I wouldย personally much ratherย haveย seen a highly engraved solid case back with the UHURU logo at the center. With that being said, the choice of movement by itself was a solid one for a first production. Theย Miyotaย 8215 has been around for a long time and is fairly reliable while not as accurate as newerย Miyotaย automatic movements. Probably my biggest gripe about the 8215 is the lack of the hacking feature in order to set the time a bit more precisely. This particular 8215 movement has been performing about as expected atย +20 seconds a day.
Finishing off theย Impiย is 3mm thick brown leather strap. The strap is fairly soft and supple lending to sufficient comfort on the wrist. The brownย leather is a perfect compliment toย the ivory/yellowish colored dial of the watch. The strap measures 24mm at the lug and tapers to 22mm at the tail and buckle.ย Personally, I hate taper but take greater issue with strap length.ย Iย have mentioned my issues with theย length of the leather straps provided by many companiesย in the pastย and there is no difference in this particular case. On my 7 ยพ inch wrist, I am typically slotting in the 3rd sizing hole depending on the climate. I prefer a decent amount of strap tail extending through the floating keeper and this strap just doesn’t meet my expectations in this area. After several hours of wear, I tend to find the floating keeper dangling around near the lug which is absolutely frustrating. If the fixed keeper was a bit more substantial in size I would probably remove the floating keeper to eliminate the hassle. The strap is finished off with a standard pre-v style tang buckle. Theย Impiย is an outstanding suitor for a nice custom leather strap so I would definitely suggest looking into that optionย if your wrist size is similar to mine or larger.
At $349 USD the UHURUย Impiย is nice looking affordable casual timepiece and in many cases probably unlike anything else in your collection. Theย Impiย will provide a great change of pace and will be a great watch for multiple strap changes based on the situation. The watch has decent specifications ranging from the sapphire crystal to the dependableย Miyotaย 8215 automatic movement. Overall, a solid first production from UHURU watches so I think the company is on the right track.ย I would like to thank UHURU for working with WatchReport.com on this review. I would like to thank you for reading my review and suggest viewing my brief YouTube video presentation on this model as well.
