Roll Call: Who's got an Ollech and Wajs??

Midget

Midget

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Jun 1, 2002
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Hi, just wondering who here has an O&W watch, and if so, what model??

I just picked up my MP2081 today from the post office. Inital reviews coming soon. But as it stands now, I have a few questions, so I need a few volunteers w/ O&W experience... :)
 
My BIGGEST concern is as follows...

Ok, so I have an MP2, 2081 manual winding watch. There are no depth ratings/markings on the caseback or dial (and theres no instuction booklet/papers) w/ this watch. So, my question is, for you MP2 owners, or maybe anyone else...

Is this watch waterproof? Howard Marx @ westcoastime said "this watch isn't made for that" and in a second email "it is resistant to rain and splashing."

So.. I'm not a diver or anything... I usually wear a watch into the shower, when I'm doing dishes, things of that nature. Is this watch going to drown? I'm not letting it near water for the timebeing, but I really want this watch to be one that I can use rather than one I have to hide away every time I see h20.

So anyone with an MP2, ever touch water?





It seems to me that... a watch that's not waterproof is ****ing useless...
Expect to possibly see this one in the 'gear for trade' forums. :(
 
Hate to burst your bubble, but there is really no such thing as a Waterproof watch. Watches offer various degrees of Water *Resistance* however. The watches that offer the highest degree of water resistance will have screw down crowns to keep water from flowing in through the crown tube. A manual wind watch, by virtue of the need to wind it often, generally will not have a screw down crown. This also means it will not be as resistant to water incursion as ones that have screw down crowns. The more you wind a manual wind watch, the more wear there will be on the gaskets. That translates to less water resistance over time. So if you want to wear you new watch in the shower, I'd suggest doing it at your own risk. In fact, many watch manufacturers specifically warn against wearing watches in the shower due to the disastrous effects of soap, steam, and hot-cold water.
 
I have an O & W Cougar. It has the automatic ETA 2824-2 movement and is water "resistant" to 200m.
The only problem I had was with the hands. They were invisible at night despite being of a "luminous" compound.
The "luminous" compound of the hour hand fell out when my watch was dropped by my daughter from a height of about 4 inches onto a table.
Mr Wajs sent me the new style hands and they were fitted by Neil at Chronomaster.
They are much better - visible all night.

I like the look of the customised O&W's that MKII Watches offer.
 
Ok, so here's my story about watch gurus and the real world.

This will be long, bear with me. ;)

I have a tough time believing some of the things that the "amateur/professional fanatic" type like to profess about limitations of equipment. It's really not a bad thing, but an easy example would be right here on bladeforums.
I read all the time about people putting oil/rust inhibitor on their blades, lubricating the pivots, etc etc. And that's great, you people really know how to take care of your well-valued equipment. But then there's the real world. I've never applied oil or rust inhibitor to my blades(except for when I'm shipping them, but that's a courtesy for my buyer) and I've never had any real problem with corrosion, etc. I've seen reviews and articles about how to clean your folder, where the author meticulously takes apart his knives w/ torx wrenches, washes, wipes EVERYTHING down with tufcloth, reassembles, cuts a piece of paper, meticulously takes everything apart with torx wrenches...
That's great, I can definately see people wanting to do that. Me? I put my fixed blade on the soap dish when I'm taking a shower. I shower, it showers. It's dry by the next morning.


Similar rules apply to my watch. I read the Seiko and citizen forums (http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/78440) when I used to wear by seiko 5. A few weeks after I got this watch, i read a post/tutorial about how this guy cleans his seiko 5 (exact model as i). He takes his band off, wipes the case down with a damp cloth, then uses Q-tips w/ rubbing alcohol to swab down all the little crevices. He said something very similar to the lines of "I NEVER let this thing near submersible water."
I was shocked. Appalled, if you will. For the weeks I had this watch prior to reading this post, I wore my 5 in the shower every day. I got this watch right before a road trip to California, and it survived submersion, hiking trips through the Grand Canyon, swimming in streams at Yosemite national as well as camping, nighttime excursions to Half Moon Bay, etc., etc. (BTW, I had a GREAT time in CA :) ).

This is the best part. Being the curious novice that I am, I tried to regulate this watch myself. I opened the caseback (w/ a wrench I borrowed from the local jeweler), regulated it using my BM 770CF, and closed the caseback- tightening it down ONLY with my palms. Does that make sense?

And then here's this guy: "I NEVER let this thing near submersible water..."

Since I got back from CA I've worn this thing every day into the shower, twice into the pool... it's washed dishes, cars, been in the rain, snow...


I'm just saying, I'm looking to treat this (O&W MP2801) appropriately as a tool, not like it's some luxurious piece of art that dangles from my extremities. No pampering, yet no abuse.

I posted this thread to concur with other O&W owners. REALISTICALLY speaking, can I expect this thing to survive showers, maybe 4-5 feet of submersion? One online retailer (neil@chronomaster.co.uk) told me these watches are resistant to 3ATM. Howard Marx told me that it's resistant to rain/splashing only.

Does ANYONE have some firsthand experience with this design?



Please bear in mind, I'm not arguing here, I genuinely respect all of your opinions, and I appreciate everyone who has replied to all my newbie questions. This is just sort of... how I like to look at limitations of equipment. ;)
 
Originally posted by Midget
Ok, so here's my story about watch gurus and the real world.



Since I got back from CA I've worn this thing every day into the shower, twice into the pool... it's washed dishes, cars, been in the rain, snow...


I'm just saying, I'm looking to treat this (O&W MP2801) appropriately as a tool, not like it's some luxurious piece of art that dangles from my extremities. No pampering, yet no abuse.

I posted this thread to concur with other O&W owners. REALISTICALLY speaking, can I expect this thing to survive showers, maybe 4-5 feet of submersion? One online retailer (neil@chronomaster.co.uk) told me these watches are resistant to 3ATM. Howard Marx told me that it's resistant to rain/splashing only.

Does ANYONE have some firsthand experience with this design?



Please bear in mind, I'm not arguing here, I genuinely respect all of your opinions, and I appreciate everyone who has replied to all my newbie questions. This is just sort of... how I like to look at limitations of equipment. ;)
Click to expand...

Well, Howard is right and Neil is right.....

Here's a water resistance chart:

50 feet [15m] Get wet at your own risk.
100 feet [30m] Watch should withstand a brief hand washing experience.
150 feet [45m] Watch should withstand swimming near the surface.
330 feet [100m] Watch built to withstand underwater depths of up to 100 feet and swift arm movement.
660 feet [200m] Watch built for extreme undewater conditions such as scuba diving.

Don't forget that water resistance ratings are conducted at static pressure in a lab. Real world conditions can vary. That's why a watch rated to 30 meters is not really adequate for taking down to 30 meters depth. If you want, send me your watch, I'll throw it in my watch pressure tester and see how deep it will go before it leaks.
 
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