Midget
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2002
- Messages
- 2,807
It's been just about a month. Maybe a little less. I've worn an O&W MP2, mechanical windup pretty much the whole time. It's here.
http://www.westcoastime.com/oweta20milst.html
LUME*
First off, I really didn't like this watch when i got it. The primary buffs about this watch were that it had new tritium paint on it and it was a windup movement. If you did some searching in these forums, there were some earlier posts of me bitching about how dim the tritium was.
Change of heart. The tritium IS sort of dull, BUT. I was previously spoiled by the superluminova found on seiko watches. That stuff is friggin bright!!!! There was a post earlier where i took some pics comparing the luminescence of the O&W, seiko, and hamilton. Someone on this forums was kind enough to host my pics, but I'm a big jerk and forgot what hes screenname was.
Anyhow. The tritium is certainly bright enough. It just takes your eyes 5-10 minutes in the dark to "adjust." but once you've been in the dark (which is when you'll be needing the lume anyhow), you'll be able to see the dial pretty much clearly. worked great when i was in the woods last weekend, works great when walking on a dark street, the light even keeps me awake some nights. yes, i just lay in bed at night and gaze into this beautiful, green eye glowing back at me... ahh, my precious.... ok, anyhow. places it does NOT work- movie theaters, night driving, dusk/dawn, since you're looking into light, so your eyes really aren't adjusted.
one thing i notice.. the hands are CONSIDERABLY less bright than the numbers. and also, given ambient light, the hands tend to "charge" while the numbers don't. i'll be really angry if the numbers/dial is tritium paint, but the hands are just the old luminova...
MOVEMENT*
onto other stuff. the windup has become sort of a pain in the ass. It was cool when i was thinking about it, it was cool when i first bought it. i wind this thing every morning, and well.. i wish i could just slap it on my wrist and go. i know, it only takes like 6 seconds to wind, but... i'm so lazy..
but the watch is accurate. real accurate. like +4 seconds/day, pretty much.
AESTHETICS*
beautiful dial. I like looking at this face. i enjoy looking at this face. i'm obsessed. plain, simple, unique.
i really wish it had a day/date.
the red seconds hand is COOL.
CASE*
lug width is 18 mm, so that means i can't have a Rhino strap (20mm), which sucks because i love rhinos. but that's preferance.
i wear this fitted with the standard, black, NATO strap. one warning, i know a lot of you CUT that extraneous piece off of your NATOs. do NOT cut it if you mount it on the O&W MP body. The crown is quite abrasive (for the windup), and you will need that little extra padding that the extra strap piece will provide. If you cut it, the watch will ride pretty much flush with your wrist, and the crown will RUB against your skin. and it starts to hurt after a bit.
CRYSTAL*
domed mineral crystal. i'm almost certain you can get this fitted w/ a sapphire one from bill yao (mkiiwatches.com). but i'm sticking with the domed mineral. as some of you may know, i do NOT baby my equipment (see pics of my old, now dead, seiko 5). after about a month of wear, this watch has suffered it's FIRST scars. there are two slight scratches that run over the 9oclock area. I don't know how they got there. but other than that, the crystal has taken everything i've given it, which has not been much, recently.
MISC.*
it's sort of loud. Last thursday, being the nerd i am, i was all alone at the library, 6:30am. silence. as i was writing, i could hear the escapement in the movement beating. it was like a metronome. music to my ears.
i'm obsessed.
42 hour autonomy. no matter, because i habitiually wind it when i wake up.
WATER RESISTANCE*
Howard marx (westcoastime.com) said this watch was not water resistant, and that it could only take slight moisture, like rainfall. several other people concured, at the O&W forums. same thing from bill yao. neil at chronomaster.co.uk said it was water resistant to 3 ATM.
i say, screw it. i've worn this in the shower every day. today, i washed my car. i'll let you all know if it breaks.
Overall, this watch is for SURE worth the 150.00 i paid. i see a lot of threads in and out of this forum with people asking "looking for a new watch" or "which watch?" and i would formally like to cast my vote for the O&W MP2.
let me know if you have any questions. i'll take some pictures if i ever get off my ass.
hope it helps.
http://www.westcoastime.com/oweta20milst.html
LUME*
First off, I really didn't like this watch when i got it. The primary buffs about this watch were that it had new tritium paint on it and it was a windup movement. If you did some searching in these forums, there were some earlier posts of me bitching about how dim the tritium was.
Change of heart. The tritium IS sort of dull, BUT. I was previously spoiled by the superluminova found on seiko watches. That stuff is friggin bright!!!! There was a post earlier where i took some pics comparing the luminescence of the O&W, seiko, and hamilton. Someone on this forums was kind enough to host my pics, but I'm a big jerk and forgot what hes screenname was.
Anyhow. The tritium is certainly bright enough. It just takes your eyes 5-10 minutes in the dark to "adjust." but once you've been in the dark (which is when you'll be needing the lume anyhow), you'll be able to see the dial pretty much clearly. worked great when i was in the woods last weekend, works great when walking on a dark street, the light even keeps me awake some nights. yes, i just lay in bed at night and gaze into this beautiful, green eye glowing back at me... ahh, my precious.... ok, anyhow. places it does NOT work- movie theaters, night driving, dusk/dawn, since you're looking into light, so your eyes really aren't adjusted.one thing i notice.. the hands are CONSIDERABLY less bright than the numbers. and also, given ambient light, the hands tend to "charge" while the numbers don't. i'll be really angry if the numbers/dial is tritium paint, but the hands are just the old luminova...
MOVEMENT*
onto other stuff. the windup has become sort of a pain in the ass. It was cool when i was thinking about it, it was cool when i first bought it. i wind this thing every morning, and well.. i wish i could just slap it on my wrist and go. i know, it only takes like 6 seconds to wind, but... i'm so lazy..
but the watch is accurate. real accurate. like +4 seconds/day, pretty much.
AESTHETICS*
beautiful dial. I like looking at this face. i enjoy looking at this face. i'm obsessed. plain, simple, unique.
i really wish it had a day/date.
the red seconds hand is COOL.
CASE*
lug width is 18 mm, so that means i can't have a Rhino strap (20mm), which sucks because i love rhinos. but that's preferance.
i wear this fitted with the standard, black, NATO strap. one warning, i know a lot of you CUT that extraneous piece off of your NATOs. do NOT cut it if you mount it on the O&W MP body. The crown is quite abrasive (for the windup), and you will need that little extra padding that the extra strap piece will provide. If you cut it, the watch will ride pretty much flush with your wrist, and the crown will RUB against your skin. and it starts to hurt after a bit.
CRYSTAL*
domed mineral crystal. i'm almost certain you can get this fitted w/ a sapphire one from bill yao (mkiiwatches.com). but i'm sticking with the domed mineral. as some of you may know, i do NOT baby my equipment (see pics of my old, now dead, seiko 5). after about a month of wear, this watch has suffered it's FIRST scars. there are two slight scratches that run over the 9oclock area. I don't know how they got there. but other than that, the crystal has taken everything i've given it, which has not been much, recently.
MISC.*
it's sort of loud. Last thursday, being the nerd i am, i was all alone at the library, 6:30am. silence. as i was writing, i could hear the escapement in the movement beating. it was like a metronome. music to my ears.
i'm obsessed.
42 hour autonomy. no matter, because i habitiually wind it when i wake up.
WATER RESISTANCE*
Howard marx (westcoastime.com) said this watch was not water resistant, and that it could only take slight moisture, like rainfall. several other people concured, at the O&W forums. same thing from bill yao. neil at chronomaster.co.uk said it was water resistant to 3 ATM.
i say, screw it. i've worn this in the shower every day. today, i washed my car. i'll let you all know if it breaks.
Overall, this watch is for SURE worth the 150.00 i paid. i see a lot of threads in and out of this forum with people asking "looking for a new watch" or "which watch?" and i would formally like to cast my vote for the O&W MP2.
let me know if you have any questions. i'll take some pictures if i ever get off my ass.
hope it helps.
