Italian watchmaker Out of Order (OOO) celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023. The interesting brand has focused on relatively affordable renditions of popular Rolex-ish sport watch styles but with interesting material twists. In addition to interesting metal color treatments, Out of Order has also been one of the rare entry-level brands to offer “pre-aged” watches with a variety of “vintage ready” watches that seek to evoke collectors’ love for nostalgia and adventure. For Out of Order’s 10th anniversary, the company decided to make two different limited-edition watches that the brand says represent the two sides of the business (selling new watches that look new and new watches that look old). Each of the two limited editions of 65 watches features the same GMT design but with different finishing options. One of those options is this 10th Anniversary Ultra Brushed, and the second is the 10th Anniversary Ultra Distressed. I will say that in both instances, the “Ultra” part of the name was not necessary.
As is typically the case with Out of Order watches, the 10th Anniversary Ultra Brushed is not a perfect product, but it does seem to make up with personality. Out of Order really does know how to make a handsome watch, and the timepieces from the brand I’ve reviewed all feel touched by humans. That is very different from the sterile, industrial feel you can get from a “perfect” Swiss watch that is beautiful but can also lack a bit of soul. Some of that oddity comes from quirky design choices that you won’t always agree with. Nevertheless, those design elements add character and personality to the composition of this 10th Anniversary GMT timepiece (that otherwise might just be another lookalike diver’s style GMT sports watch. A good example is the applied plaque on the side of the case with the 2013-2023 dates on it. Why is that placed on the case if the same “2013-2023” dates are written on the dial? Actually, come to think of it, what are those dates doing on the dial? Are there not enough text and fonts on the dial already? Not counting the line at the bottom of the dial which reads “Movimento Svizzero” (Swiss Movement), the 10th Anniversary GMT watch has seven lines of text. Three of those could easily be removed.
The dial isn’t just a lot of text, but also handsome colors and depth. While the Arabic numeral hour markers are applied, the baton hour markers are recessed. The gradient “aged” brownish-gray dial and beige lume and markers are an attractive combination. There is a hint of bright sportiness in the form of the blocky red GMT hand. The dial (and bezel for that matter) is also given an impressive amount of Super-LumiNova, which can be admired in the dark. The bezel rotates bi-directionally, as a GMT-style bezel should. The matte-black bezel insert is produced from ceramic. The dial has an opening for a date window at the 3 o’clock position. Purists probably would have preferred a date-less dial. I simply would have liked for the date disc to match the color of the date a bit better. The nice-looking dial, despite some of its flaws, is a highlight of the Out of Order 10th Anniversary watch.
Despite the “Ultra Brushed” name of the watch, much of the case is actually high-polished on the sides. The brushed sections of the steel case and matching steel bracelets are just brushed. As mentioned above, I don’t understand the “Ultra” part of it. The case and bracelet are decently made in an older-school sports watch sport of watch, and the crown is so big and easy to use that this watch might as well be manually wound only (of course it has a self-winding automatic movement inside). For the most part, the case attempts to recall the look and feel (in a somewhat thicker form) of vintage Rolex military-style watches (and their kin). An interesting design is the crown, which has a matte-textured black filling, as well as the “OOO” logo.
The Out of Order 10th Anniversary watch case is 40mm wide, 14.3mm thick, and it has a 48mm long-lug-to-lug distance. The case is also water resistant to 300 meters, with a screw-down crown. Over the dial is a flat AR-coated sapphire crystal. Inside the watch is a movement that is visible through a sapphire crystal caseback window. Actually, Out of Order did a nice job with the caseback presentation. It also has a custom rotor on the movement, which has the limited-edition number of the watch on it. The movement inside the OOO 10th Anniversary GMT watch is the Swiss Made Sellita SW330-2 automatic. This is similar to the ETA 2893 and is a 4Hz, 42-hour power reserve automatic with the time, date, and 24-hour GMT hand complications. The brushed three-link steel bracelet attached to the case is nice enough, but the deployant is basic, and this is certainly a no-frills option.
The familiar look of the case design and the sporty nature of a GMT-style diver watch make these 10th Anniversary GMT watches from Out of Order hard not to like. It is interesting and poetic for Out of Order to make two different limited edition versions of essentially the same watch, but with different finishing options that help evoke the “yin-yang” personality differences of the brand. Purists will have a number of little quirks to point out in the overall design, but at the end of the day, this is an archetypal timepiece design that is hard to mess up too badly. Out Of Order had fun with these designs, but I think that for their 10th anniversary, there could have been a little bit more innovation. Though I say that remark as someone who views a very broad spectrum of the watch industry. In Out of Order’s microcosm of fans and devotees, these two limited edition 10th Anniversary watches might be exactly the right mixture of fresh and familiar that their community is looking for. As a limited edition of 65 pieces, the retail price for the Out of Order 10th Anniversary Ultra Brushed watch is 1,000 Euros. Learn more at the Out of Order website.
