# M-5 First Impressions



## m58dh (Aug 22, 2004)

I recieved my M-5 in the mail a few weeks back. At first it was collecting dust because I was so overjoyed with the simplistic beauty of my new RLT-5. I couldn't tear the RLT off my wrist, hence every other watch in my collection was starting to collect dust.

After neglecting the M-5 for about a week I pryed the RLT from my wrist and made a conserted effort to wear the M-5 long enough to give it a proper evaluation.

First let me state that I haven't been caught up in the trend towards enormous watches. For over 5 years I collected nothing but vintage dress watches and as you're probably aware, most vintage dress watches are under 35mm, that's always been a perfect size for me, my largest vintage is only about 42mm lug to lug. Because of this, my first reaction to the M-5 was, "it's kind of big for me!"

My M-5 came on a bracelet, it's a rather large one and should fit even a giant of a man. My intentions were to put it on a strap so I withheld any further opinion on how comfortable it would feel when wearing it, until I could replace the bracelet. I initially chose a "Vicenza II," then switched to a Bros "Montana" both straps compliment the watch rather well but the Montana gave it a slightly more dressier look.

The watch build is great. It's amazing how some manufacturers can build great watches that retail for under $300.00. I'd Initially intended to have the case bead blasted, but I rather like it as it is. It isn't gawdy and doesn't call unecessary attention to it. I do intend however, to ship it off to Bill Yao for a dial and hand conversion. In my opinion the Mercedes (or stick & ball) hands don't balance well with the dial. The GMT bezel makes the face appear to be out of proportion (the hands look to small). In addition, the arabic numbers in combination with the GMT bezel looks a little busy for my taste. I intend to have Bill replace the dial with his Mil-sub date dial. I believe that this combination will give the watch an appearance that rivals watches costing hundreds more.

When wearing the watch I noticed an interesting phenomena. The longer I wore it, the nicer it looked on my wrist. By the end of the first day, it appeared to be much smaller than it actually is. I didn't notice any discomfort, nor did I have the urge to switch to another watch. This was strange to me because I recently purchased A Poljot "Arctic," a Hamilton "Khaki Mechanical," and a Citizen square dress watch. The first two are also 38mm and the later is 37mm, all three of the watches seem way to big on my wrist especially the Poljot, none of them have seen any significant wrist time to speak of, but the M-5 doesn't look as large on my wrist as the others did and it's actually slightly larger at 39.5 and 45mm lug to lug!

After wearing the watch for a few days I observed that it was keeping excellent time. I'm not one that can tell you how many seconds plus/minus it gained or loss per day, all I know is that when I set it according to my televisions cable box, it was still dead on two days later. Something else I noticed was that it took very little movement to start it going the first day and it seems to store up power very well, between the second and third day I switched to a different watch. When I picked up the M-5 on the forth day it was still chugging along keeping great time. The only watch that I've seen start so easily is my Orient power reserve. Orient's are known for taking very little effort to get them going.

By the end of the week I came to the conclusion that all the hype that the M-5 and other Ollech & Wasj watches recieve is well deserved. Overall it is a nice package. The watch appears to be rugged yet stylish. Because of the conversions that are available, it's also a versatile watch. While it will not be my primary wristwatch of choice (still love that RLT-5) I do forsee it recieving some significant wrist time. I'm an outdoorsman and I also have a teenager in sports, this watch along with my newly purchased CWC G-10 will get the call when situations dictate the use of a watch that can take the bumps and bruises I put it through and still look great.

The M-5 would be a good deal at $400.00. At $255.00 (through Westcoasttime) it is a steal. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a rugged, versatile timekeeper that doesn't need to be pampered.

I'll update my observations after I've had the dial/hands conversion performed, I may even have pictures to post if I get off my lazy duff and buy a digital camera.

Michael


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## abraxas (Oct 21, 2003)

Thanks. That was very helpful.

john


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## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

Good review: I had an M4 for a while and I'm starting to miss it.









Must get another O&W soon...


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## TimD (Feb 7, 2004)

She's being well looked after George, just put her on a Black Rhino.

Cheers,

Tim.


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## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

Nice review, Michael. If you can photograph watches as well as you review them, we're in for a treat!


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## m58dh (Aug 22, 2004)

Thanks Nalu! I'm in the process of purchasing a digital camera. It's hard for me because I shot with 35mm for so long and hate seeing my Nikon collecting dust. I should have bought a Digital camera by now but my daughter plays high school sports and I had to bite the bullet and buy a camcorder just a few hours ago.

Michael


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## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

TimD said:


> She's being well looked after George, just put her on a Black Rhino.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> ...


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