Addendum: The UTD-8000-CKG “Master Chief”
Author’s Note:
This will be a short article. This is being released to supplement my previous full length article on the UTD-8000 and highlight the updates of this new variant of the watch. Check out that previous article and the rest of the articles over in the SBWC Field Journal. The price of this watch as reviewed is $380 USD.
So What’s New?:
So before we get to what’s new, let's focus on what is the same. The packaging, presentation and watch dimensions are all the same. Same titanium, same module and same UltraHex. What’s new? Let’s start with the name. The RZE UTD-8000-CKG nomenclature indicates that it is “Cerakote Green”. For you videogame nerds, the color palette used on this watch is very reminiscent of a certain UNSC Spartan 117…hence in a world full of goofy watch names, I am dubbing this watch the “Master Chief”. The Master Chief features a black bezel and buttons, OD green case and golden accent disk separating the two. The screen is a golden yellow with yellow accents around the screen to indicate the different functions of the watch. The Master Chief comes on a canvas strap with matching buckle.
Thoughts and Impressions:
Much is new, much is the same. The Cerakote on the case is great, it's even and well applied and gives the watch an awesome tacticool type finish. The colors used are spot on and very cohesive and gives it a futuristic military type tool appearance when paired with the screen. I think that the introduction of Cerakote to the UTD line opens up a whole world of opportunity for RZE to collaborate with companies, brands or expand the line inhouse and make it even more appealing.
I’d like to see some better options for a strap. The canvas strap feels like a cheap oversight that does not seem to match the quality of the rest of the watch. It’s a minor thing, straps (especially for tool watches) are easy to swap. I was a fan of the elastic style strap from the standard edition of the UTD. So that is easy enough to swap over and conveniently the black material of the elastic strap is a nice match to the black bezel and buttons of the Master Chief.
All in all, the UTD-8000-CKG is a great addition to the RZE line up and hopefully marks the beginning of something more to come.
-Rico