Creating a new watch brand in our epoch is difficult. And this difficulty stems from the fact that there are many brands on the market already and most genres of timekeeping devices have been done, redone, and overdone. Back in 2022/2023, the novelty for microbrands was reasonably-priced GMTs made possible by Seiko’s release of the NH34 caliber and of the 9075 by Miyota—respectively: caller and flyer-style GMTs. At long last, microbrands didn’t have to invest large portions of their production budgets to acquire Swiss made Sellita SW330-2’s or Soprod C-125’s, which were also coveted by many long-established independent Swiss brands. Thus, the arrival of affordable GMT calibers on the global market brought an invasion of traveler’s watches of all genres and qualities, from divers and field watches to dressier timepieces and integrated bracelet sports watches. Akin to how popular bronze cases were a few years back with microbrands and the industry’s big players, every brand on earth and their mother made a GMT. 

Roughly two years ago, two French Canadian buddies, Olivier and Frédéric, decided they too wanted to create a watch brand and debut with a GMT. Because why the hell not? A bold bet they materialized by way of the Urbanite GMT, a city-dweller-destined sporty true-GMT meant to be taken on trips near and far, and logically then they opted for Lacité as a brand name which translates to “The City” in French. This first collection comes in three variants—Slate Black, Emerald Green, and Montréal LE (the latter being sold out)—and was designed and spec’ed out to easily handle city life when the wearer is working, planning, and setting aside money for his or her next trip, and fly-under-the-radar when exploring another metropolis abroad or embarking on more adrenaline-rushing experiences. This is therefore the kind of timepiece we had to take a look at because it matches three of our subjective criteria: it is made by a new microbrand, it's legible, and is endowed with the right balance between specifications and price. 

This review will focus on the Urbanite GMT Slate Black which retails for $699 USD. 

Specifications 

When one takes a broad look at the watch industry in 2026, one will come to the realization that stuff gets more expensive not every month but everyday as it seems, and that the situation is such that it is becoming more and more difficult to find overall good microbrand watches under the $1,000 USD stress-inducing price limit which are graced by original designs. If we ask for visual singularity and good value, the response we get is a middle-finger and a gesture to go see elsewhere, either to dirt-cheap soul-less watches manufactured en-masse in the Far East which are legendary to offer the best bangs for the bucks, or to take a peak at many Western-based microbrands which are increasingly asking for more dough for their visually distinctive horological creations. There doesn’t seem to be much happening between these two extremes in 2026—with a few exceptions of course, for example Carlingue, Marloe,  and Nadir—which is why taking a first look at Lacité and studying the Urbanite GMT was necessary to see what else is there. 

As the saying goes, the function is in the name: this model is an urban-destined GMT which can be anybody’s everyday timepiece and function well whether hoping on a plane, boat, or car to go explore another corner of our big planet. As such, and knowing that Lacité meant for the Urbanite GMT to fly under the radar, it is appropriately proportioned to work with a variety of wrists: a diameter of 40.5mm, a lug-to-lug of 47mm, a thickness of 12mm, and a lug width of 20mm means it is compatible with wrists large and small and everything in-between. (For someone with a 15cm wrist would appreciate the muscular presence of the Urbanite GMT, and another person with an 19cm wrist enjoy its comfort and discreet wrist presence. Such are things friends.) On the provided black nylon strap, the Urbanite GMT Slate Black weighs 84g which is rather light and does guarantee a pleasurable wearing experience. The caliber that accompanies this lightness is the Japan made Miyota 9075 “true” or “flyer-style” caliber (4Hz/42 hours of power reserve.) 

By the very own nature of the movement within, one is indeed invited to embark on far-flung adventures to take full advantage of the 9075’s core feature: a bi-directional hour hand which clicks in place when adjusting our departure’s local time to that at our destination’s whilst keeping an eye on home time—should we care. Thus, the Urbanite GMT Slate Black was spec’ed out to cruise urban life and ace globetrotting which is why we find the following: 100 meters of water resistance made possible by way of a screw-down sapphire see-through case-back and a 6.3mm screw-down crown; a flat piece of sapphire crystal complete with several layers of inner anti-reflective coating (a flat profile means fewer chances to bang it against something;) good applications of BGW9 lume on all four hands and the applied hour markers; and both a black nylon strap better suited for adventures and a brown Italian leather one for urban settings, both equipped with quick-release spring-bars. Already we know the asking $669 USD stretches rather far. 

Design 

In the past few months I have reviewed more watches with black cases that I have ever done in my career, an experience which I didn’t know how to feel about at first because I’m classic, a bit old-school, and prefer naked stainless steel cases (i.e. I am profoundly boring.) But now I embrace black cases with more enthusiasm especially when they are paired with a black dial and a black strap as it creates an ultra stealthy timekeeping device perfectly suited for urban and travel life. If full-black watches work for Special Operators then they ought to work for us civilians and modern explorers, whether we rough it up or travel in glamour. (For instance, I adored the HTD Phantom LE and Earthen Company Summit Overcast MKII for these reasons.) Because, when such case treatment is well executed and paired with a finely designed dial, it comes with the added benefit of offering superlative legibility which many of us praise and yearn for in a watch we are meant to wear everyday and for everything. And legible the Urbanite GMT is. 

Our exploration of this model’s design specificities thus begins with the dial—the heart and soul of any timekeeping device. All the way in the back we find a matte black textured dial Lacité describes as mimicking gravel found on many urban landscapes, which I describe as looking akin to melted plastic. Regardless of what you or I see in it, finding such texture on a dial is the telltale sign we’re dealing with a tool watch, however one endowed with an everyday personality. Within the dial there is an oblong octogonal date aperture at the three o’clock, composed of a large electric blue frame and a little arrow pointing towards the white-printed numerals on an electric blue date wheel. (Adding the arrow helps in finding the date window quicker.) Applied onto the dial we find hour markers made of polished surrounds and large real estate of lume, shaped like rounded teeth and Arabic numerals. The latter are paired with lance-style polished hour and minute hands and an electric blue seconds one with a dash of lume at its tip. 

Amongst these hands there is the GMT hand, whose body is hollowed out and painted in a gunmetal color, and equipped with a chevron-like tip painted electric blue as well and lumed. It was designed this way to be discreet yet legible, and for that reason the dual-colored angled rehaut is where we find both the minute track and GMT scale, discreetly embedded one with the other, where their markings are painted in a light grey color to be visible just enough. Evidently, Lacité went full-steam with the stealthy look, so that it is the hands telling the local time and the hour markers that stand out the most, whilst the GMT functionality is relegated to the background for those moments we actually need it without calling attention to itself. For the same reason therefore, the black PVD-coated stainless steel case was assigned a simple profile and geometry: chamfer-less lugs, slab-sided flanks, small crown-guards protecting the 6.3mm crown, and a chiseled fixed bezel within which the flat piece of sapphire is perfectly flushed. 

The Heart of the Matter

We watch enthusiasts, collectors, and professionals, all sound like broken records because we can often be heard saying the watch market is saturated and there are just too many brands out there. And that is objectively true. There is no need for a new watch brand in 2026, for a new Miyota-9075 equipped GMT sports watch today, and timekeeping devices have not been needed since the late 1990s when computers became an integral part of home life and that more and more of us started to walk around carrying cellphones in our backpockets. And frankly, there is no objective need for Mainspring either. So, and as I’ve said before on my personal echochamber, as long as we are doing something that is not essential, might as well do it well. In 2026, and in the microbrand watch world, this means two essential things: (1) please, please, please, give us something we haven’t seen before which actually embodies your personal vision for horology; (2) please, please, please, make that personal vision for horology attainable to us your customers. 

Lacité, with the Urbanite GMT Slate Black, as fulfilled these two subjective wishes with flying colors: not only is this model visually interesting and different from what we commonly see on the market today—full-black true-GMTs don’t run around the streets in abundance like Squirrels in Central Park—but it is also technically sound, versatile, and appears capable to indeed handle urban life as well as the exploration of near and far places on earth—discreetly so as noted. Moreover, $669 USD is a fair price to ask for it, and what is perhaps the most astonishing about this sum of money is the fact that it is billed from a brand established in a rich city in a first-world country were affordable timepieces are rarely found nowadays. (Regardless of where their watches are made, Western-based brands often overcharge for their timepieces in order to sustain a certain lifestyle.) In other words, and on many accounts, Lacité did bring some novelty in the popular genre of sporty true GMT timekeeping devices which is more than welcome.

Conclusion 

Oh glorious are the days when we can take a look at a new microbrand for the first time and a good first collection on top of that. The Lacité Urbanite GMT Slate Black is many good things as we saw above, and it comes with the additional bonus of being readily available on the brand’s website, another pet peeve many of us have against micro and small independent brands whose inventory is never in inventory. Again, $669 USD for a Miyota 9075 flyer-style GMT caliber, 100 meters of water resistance, good lume, two straps, and a singular design is a fair price to ask in 2026 which is why we ought indeed to tell you about this model. 

Thanks for reading.