We members of the watch media are quick to declare new trends and to share our observations on the changing currents in the global horological market. Like waves which grow and disappear far from the shore, or crash against a bed of volcanic rocks, what brands do and what consumers want do change often and in unpredictable ways. But wishes and desires disappear and come back indeed like the ocean’s dance and so do our interests, and the creation of a certain genre of watches, which vanish but come back, actually building up more steam to come back stronger. So it is with the niche category of ultra robust and straightforward tool watches we relish telling you long stories about on Mainspring. A type of horology which is spec’ed out to the highest standards possible whilst working with reasonable budgets for the brands to fabricate the watches and for us to purchase them. Best bangs for the bucks indeed and typically paired with singular designs to make for a full package as we’re about to see today. 

While the perpetual coming of new watch brands onto the market could be cause for worry—as the oversaturation of the market could fatigue us—the positive consequence of this phenomenon, should brands be smart enough to see the opportunity, is to push the boundaries of creativity and value further still to stand out from the busy crowd and therefore make incredible watches. Watches we either enjoy wearing because we like their designs and appreciate their spec list, or because we want (or are required) to wear robust, reliable, and affordable tool watches for our jobs and activities. Whichever reason, real or imagined, pushes you to wear something like the Ontic Utility 40 could be the reason why you’re about to read many words about it today: because I personally care about a good tool watch and because this is type of horology I for one want and enjoy wearing on a daily basis. No fuss, no frills, just a purpose and a design and mechanics to match it. Note: write down the date of November 21st, 2025.

Specifications

The story of Ontic and of the Utility 40 begins with the choice of a name for the brand: Ontic is a philosophical adjective which refers to things and entities which possess the character of being real and tangible rather than being unreal or abstract. (Read instead: what is pragmatic and true and not theoretical.) Ontic’s founder, John Hickling, is a former volunteer Mountain Rescue team member in the hills of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, England, a town nestled in a valley and located at the confluence of two rivers. There, weather conditions can sometimes be unforgiving, and given his previous side gig, John has a good notion of what makes for a good and useful piece of equipment we can rely on and what makes for a superfluous and ornamental object which people would be too afraid to use for fear it would break and scratch. So John had been looking for a tough-as-concrete, straightforward-as-a-rock type of timekeeping device which he could have used worry-free whilst hiking the steep hills of Hebden Bridge in all weather conditions. 

The idea for the brand and first collection was born and so we are presented with the Utility 40 in no less than nine versions, coming in different color schemes which refer to different things and with different types of bezels to fulfill various missions and two types of case finishing: raw titanium or DLC coated Ti. We’re looking at the Utility 40 Core Granite which is equipped with a multipurpose bezel which makes it possible to time an event (there are count-up graduations for 60 minutes,) check the time in a different time zone (on a 12-hour scale,) and orient ourselves on the field thanks to the compass markings engraved on the sides of the bezel in-between the knurling to operate it. Indeed the most versatile type of bezel I have ever come across and one which is paired with a mechanical action which is oh so very satisfying: akin to a condensed version of a ball-bearing mechanisms where the “clicks” fire off like a machine gun with crisp precision, all 120 of them, undisrupted by a total absence of backplay. 

And so the totality of the Utility 40 was cleverly designed, engineered, and put together to make for the ultimate tool watch: a flat piece of sapphire with three layers of inner anti-reflective coating; 300 meters of tested water resistance thanks to screw-down crown and case-back; a TiX-hardened titanium case (Ontic’s proprietary hardening treatment of 1,200Hv) measuring 40mm in diameter, 46mm lug-to-lug, 12mm thick, and coming with a 20mm lug width (hence the model name;) a Ronda 215 Solartech solar-quartz caliber which comes with a stated accuracy of -10/+20 seconds per month and a battery life of eight months when fully charged; a custom FKM rubber strap with fitted ends which perfectly hug the case (which I’ve never seen before, so there is that;) dual-color blocks of SuperLuminova for the hour markers and plenty of lume as well on the hands (I suppose BGW9 and C3;) and an optional TiX-hardened titanium three-link bracelet. Both fastening systems come with quick-release spring-bars. 

Price? £599/$782 USD on the rubber strap and £99/$129 USD for the bracelet. 

Design

But John’s desire to create a tool watch that could do it all went beyond procuring the best components $782 USD could buy, as he indeed went beyond his wish to build the horological equivalent of a K2 Black Panther tank to design a watch whose design is as singular as is the geography and topography of where he is from. In other words, the Utility 40 is a tough SOB and visually extremely compelling, as it is endowed with a highly legible and singularly designed dial, a thoughtfully built and finished case, and a few more details we’re about to discover. So the case is made of hardened titanium but has the appearance of stainless steel—the alloy is as bright as steel even though titanium cases generally have with a darker tint—and showcases finely polished chamfers which travel from one lug to the other on the left side of the case and which terminate on the outer edges of the crown-guards on the right side. The noticeable width of the chamfers remind me of those found on the best examples of Monnin-style cases which is delightful.

The aforementioned lugs are very short and stubby, angled down towards the wrist, though rendered delicate for having an overall smooth-pebble-like appearance, a visual effect that certainly comes from the magnificent polished chamfers. Moreover, the case between the lugs has a flat profile so that it hugs the wrist as naturally as any watch could, giving the overall impression that the Utility 40 is glued to the wrist like a military-grade suction cup. So obviously the Ontic comes with a distinct purpose-driven and purpose-first appearance whose final visual translation on the case can be seen in the design of the crown: 6.7mm in diameter and endowed with an alternation of deep grooves and precisely machined horizontal lines which make it superbly easy to grab and operate, and I imagine whilst wearing gloves as well. Lastly, the bezel inserts perpetuates the utilitarian theme of the watch as it is made of brushed ceramic (the brushing is noticeably visible) and all markings are deeply incised within the material and fully lumed. 

And so we are left with the exploration of the dial, the pièce de résistance if you will. (I’m French, I can use that expression.) Again, John went big otherwise he would have had to go home. What I first saw, surprisingly perhaps, is the pyramidal pattern of the dial texture which is a clever way to hide the solar cells collecting light to transform it into power to make the Ronda 215 tick for eight months in total darkness. This pattern is rather pretty to look at and aids in creating the superb contrast between the dial and hands + markers combo. The hour and minute hands are shaped like road markers or monuments, almost entirely covered with blue-glowing SuperLuminova, the seconds hand about a third. Then the hour markers are made of blocks of green-glowing lume and in the shape of tapered triangles, doubled at the twelve, and which morphed into brackets to frame the deeply set date aperture made of white numerals printed on a black disc. (Earlier prototypes had a white date disc but John changed it to make it more discreet.) 

The Heart of the Matter

In the introduction I strung many words together to make a point about the everchanging trends in our niche world of horology. Trends which do indeed come and go but from which a certain type of watches emerges again and again and again: tool watches as purpose-driven as Border Collies are obedient, as tough as chromium is hard, and as legible as the clearest of night sky is in the world. And today we put one of the best new examples of this type of watch under the microscope, the Ontic Utility 40. While I sometimes can question the validity of a brand’s name and vision statement, I have no shred of a doubt about what John intended to do with the brand and first collection, and what he indeed managed to accomplish: a tool watch that can take the most violent of beatings whilst remaining one of the easiest watches to read under a downpour and swimming in the largest of mudpools. And for £599/$782 USD I will tell you that John didn’t skim on the good stuff to make the Utility 40 indeed reliable and as real as possible. 

Conclusion

So the date you had to write down is November 21st, 2025, the date at which the Ontic Utility 40 will be made available for pre-order to those who subscribed to the newsletter on the brand’s website. By doing so you get early access to order the watch, additional perks, but there will be a limit of 400 watches to be purchased this way. Then orders will open to the broader public on November 24th so with the possibility of having to wait a little longer to order the watch should the 400 of the first batch be secured by the subscribers of the newsletter. And before I forget: Ontic will be making a couple of changes to the Utility 40: brighter lume on the hands so that they match the intensity of the lume blocks, and larger minute markers on the bezel to make it easier to time an event. So, I would say an overall excellent package for the asking price of £599/$782 USD and a neat bracelet which you should order along. 

Thanks for reading.