# Ollech & Wajs M4 Diver (date Version)



## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

*Ollech and Wajs Diver M4 (Date) Review*

I'll follow the same format as seen in other posted reviews as it seems to be fairly complete. I have added some comments about my watch likes, dislikes and those I have owned previously, with which I have compared the O&W M4. I have been told that the correct pronunciation is â€œoh-lechh und viceâ€ (two syllables in Ollech and a soft â€™châ€™ sound at the end), which I did not know before. (Thanks to the forum posterâ€™s who passed this on.)

*MY WATCH LIKES*

My main â€˜likeâ€™ in a watch brand is Omega. I have previously owned an SMP black-faced quartz and thought it was just about my perfect watch from the point of view of the simple styling, solidity and clarity. When I came across O&Wâ€™s Diver range, I was immediately attracted to them, as the styling was similar to my favoured SMP. I will inevitably compare the O&W Diver to this model SMP. This may not seem fair â€" comparing a Â£145 watch with an Â£800 watch â€" but letâ€™s see how it gets on.

*THE O&W DIVER M4 styling*

Those â€˜in the knowâ€™ will recognise that the O&W M4 (none-date version) is almost a dead-ringer to the Rolex Submariner used by Sean Conneryâ€™s James Bond, in some of the earlier films. I do not know if Mr Wajs (or Roy) had this intention in mind when creating the M4 version, but it is, so there you have it. Indeed, Roy sells a version of the NATO style watch strap in the same black and grey stripes as James wore. I believe that this is a representation of the regimental colours of the General Service Corps: apparently the Bond screenwriters thought it highly likely that â€˜Jamesâ€™ could quite feasibly be serving in this regiment in his â€˜Special Servicesâ€™ role. (I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong on this point of film trivia.)










Here, James checks the time on his Submariner in Goldfinger. Notice that the strap fitted, is actually about 2mm too small!

*FIRST IMPRESSIONS*

Out of the box, my initial impression was that it is nicely weighted, compared with my SMP. The case was bright, almost looking like it was a cheap chrome plating, but parts of the case do not have this finish. The top of the case on the horns, has a pleasing (in my eyes) lightly brushed finish. I would have preferred this finish all over the case, but if you like polishing off fingerprints, you will be happy with this finish (and it is pleasing when polished). Most of these effects should be visible in the photos.

The strap looked not too bad but flexed a bit. Normally this is a sign of a cheaper bracelet, which has a bit of side-play in the links. Nevertheless, the links are solid steel, not folded, lightly brushed on the top and bottom but bright on the sides. The clasp was a little disappointing but more of this later.

*DIAL*

I prefer to have a date dial on a quartz watch, but I pondered long and hard about the non-date version of the M4 auto: I like automatics but one slight drawback is that if you change watches often and donâ€™t keep them wound then when you reset, you also have to reset the time to the correct 12-hour â€˜zoneâ€™ as well as setting the date. A minor complication I know and some may say itâ€™s not a concern and in fact, adds to the â€˜charmâ€™.

I did not want numerals because I spend a good bit of time hill-walking and find that in dark, wet and windy weather, numerals simply clutter the dial. I want to be able look at my watch and look away a split second later, knowing exactly how many minutes have elapsed since the last time I looked. (Very important when pacing!) I had initially thought that the red 24 hour markings would add a little clutter, but in practice I find that unless you look hard at the watch face, you do not particularly notice them, and at a glance you donâ€™t even see them.

http://fp.sixty40.plus.com/rlt/review01.jpg

I like the look of the minute markers on the dial, as to my mind they add to the uncluttered look of the dial; as opposed to the â€˜hemmed-inâ€™ style used on the M1 version: which to my mind makes the whole dial look smaller somehow. The 12-hour marker is an unambiguous inverted triangle, the date sits at 3 oâ€™clock and the 6 and 9 oâ€™clock markers are batons. All other markers are circular, making the whole dial a model of clarity â€" to my thinking. I would have liked to see a section of luminous baton at the 3 oâ€™clock position (aâ€™ la SMP) but this is a minor point and does not detract from the overall look.

The â€˜Mercedesâ€™ style hand-set suits the watch face very well and the time is instantly readable by day and by night. Once again, I would prefer to see the red dot on the seconds hand replaced by a luminous dot, but this is a small point.

*POWER RESERVE*

As per all other M Series Divers. I have not tested this for rated capacity, but have no reason to doubt it.

*CASE*

As stated above, the majority of the case has a highly polished finish, with the top of the horns/strap lugs having a lightly brushed finish. If I could make one change, it would be to apply this finish to the whole case, but thatâ€™s just me. Otherwise the case is unremarkable, though of a good quality and seems to be a well made, screw down affair. The winding crown is protected by shoulders on the case, and all around the case there is a small bevelled facet, providing an additional, welcome styling touch.

http://fp.sixty40.plus.com/rlt/review02.jpg

*CRYSTAL / BEZEL*

The crystal is flat and has a slight and pleasing bevel around the circumference. There is a raised magnifier above the date, similar to Rolex styling. I must admit, that I prefer the domed crystal of the SMP and would prefer not to have a magnifier; I suspect that the date would still be perfectly readable when you needed it. (When I need to be prompted for the date, I can look for it, but I donâ€™t need to be prompted every time I look.) That said, I donâ€™t mind this style too much â€" I am just being picky.

I have read reports of bezels being stiff or off-centered/poorly aligned in some (isolated?) instances. All I can say is that on my M4, it is pleasingly solid, positively ratcheted and accurately aligned, with a detent-click dead-on 12 oâ€™clock. Bezel movement is particularly important for me, as I need to move it easily when wearing gloves and I need it to stay put when set. The large luminous dot at the 60 minute mark is an essential, and seems to my eyes to be a shade brighter than the dial illumination - which is ideal. The bezel and bezel-markings are in excellent proportion to the dial I think, much more so than the SMP which always seemed oversized to me: I am sure that divers may choose to disagree, but I am not a diver.

*MOVEMENT*

The well tried and trusted ETA 2824-2 automatic movement is fitted, which is a 24 jewel, hour, minute, second, date, self-winding movement. It runs at 28,800 beats per hour (thatâ€™s 8 beats or 4hz by my calculations). The winding stem is screw-down to assist waterproofing. (Good for me as I will wear it strapped to my rucksack straps, so it will be out in all weathers). Three position stem: 1 = manual wind, 2 = date hack and 3 = time adjust. The seconds hack is on position three to allow for accurate setting to time signals. Date change is of the â€˜instantaneousâ€™ type, occurring between about 5 minutes to midnight and 2 minutes to midnight. The hand wind takes about 35 turns or so and is over-wind protected.

*WATER RESIST*

Rated at 200m, which is more than enough for the average watch buyer. My watches get wet routinely and sometimes will be continuously wet for 8 hours or so at a time, so it is still an important factor. If I have a party of Scouts relying on my timings, the last thing I need, is to find my watch has filled with rainwater. So I always err on the side of caution and â€˜over-eggâ€™ the waterproof-ness. The dial reports this as 200 meters (650 feet) and â€˜Professionalâ€™, which is an SMP aspiration, I am sure. The screw-down case-back is also engraved 20ATM.

http://fp.sixty40.plus.com/rlt/review06.jpg

*DATE*

The date is indicated by a window at 3 oâ€™clock and is black text on a white background. Itâ€™s very legible and looks good; in fact it does not need the date magnifier on the crystal in my opinion (as stated earlier). The date takes the place of the luminous hour baton and I would have liked to see a small luminous marker at this position.

*LUMINOSITY*

The hour markers, hour, minute and bezel 60/0-minute marker are all luminous. This seems to be quite long lived and certainly lasts between 11:00 PM and 7:00AM without any special attempt to â€˜charge it upâ€™ before I need it. This suits me down to the ground and means that I need to make no special effort to see the time in the dark.

*CROWN*

http://fp.sixty40.plus.com/rlt/review03.jpg

Knurled and screw down. It's positive and solid in use and does not tend to dig into the back of the hand. It is also well protected by the horns on the case, so is unlikely to get damaged by a knock.

*BRACELET*

http://fp.sixty40.plus.com/rlt/review04.jpg

This is a reasonable quality, solid-link bracelet in stainless steel. However, I am not particularly keen on the deployant clasp as it seems a bit lightweight and does not inspire confidence. It does really need the extra security clasp I think, as I am not confident that it would remain closed otherwise.

The divers-extension may a bit gimmicky at this price point and feels a little weak. I feel that more expense should have been directed at specifying a better deployant clasp and forgetting the diverâ€™s extension. I also do not like the way that the clasp-back is styled to look like the strap links. This just ends up looking tacky in my opinion: In my opinion, a better solution would be to leave it plain and brushed, like the SMP.

http://fp.sixty40.plus.com/rlt/review05.jpg

I donâ€™t think I am being hypercritical or unfairly comparing it with an Â£800 watch on a Â£100 plus bracelet. I have recently had in my possession a Â£50 Timex Chronograph that had a stainless steel, deployant clasp bracelet, and the clasp was very similar to an SMP, and better quality in my mind than the one on the M4.

*NATO â€œBondâ€ STRAP*

My first modification was to fit a Bond NATO strap and I must admit, I love this combination and canâ€™t see me ever taking it off. The chrome strap bands contrast nicely with the strap material, and provide extra â€˜highlightsâ€™ to the bright chrome finish on the watch, making a pleasing overall ensemble.

Incidentally and as said earlier, this strap fitted to a M4 non-date version is a surprisingly faithful copy of James Bondâ€™s â€˜originalâ€™ Rolex Submariner, for those who want a pre-Brosnan, â€˜originalâ€™ Bond watch, to cock a sneer at â€˜Johnny-come-latelyâ€™ SMP owners. (Only joking guys!)

http://fp.sixty40.plus.com/rlt/review07.jpg

IN CONCLUSION

An excellent quality watch and certainly a lot of timekeeper for the money. In the short time I have owned it, I have grown to love it more and more and donâ€™t regret buying it for an instant: It sits nicely on the wrist, looks the business and is suitable for work, rest and play. I want another one, so that I can keep one in pristine shiny condition, and have another that I donâ€™t mind getting knocked about a bit on Cadair Idris or Moel Siabod.

But it will need to be on another strap for me. I am sure that the supplied bracelet will be just fine as a dress watch bracelet and it does look OK, apart from my comment about the embossing on the clasp-back. But as a sports watch bracelet, the clasp just does not seem strong enough. The diverâ€™s extension is a bit gimmicky, is a weak point, and to my mind, superfluous at this price point.

The Ollech & Wajs M4 Diver is an excellent watch and I recommend it. In my opinion, it deserves a better bracelet and it would still be superb value at Â£159 or Â£169 in order to pay for one.


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## Wardy (Jul 23, 2003)

Thanks for the review and pics ESL. I have been pondering a M4 purchase for a while and this has certainly nudged me a little further towards reaching for the wallet!


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Good review ESL ... I wonder if I could get a M4 on with a 12 hour bezel?


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

> Good review ESL ... I wonder if I could get a M4 on with a 12 hour bezel?


Duh ... thats the M6


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Great review george. Does look rather special on bond.


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

I got an Ollech & Wajs M6 version from Roy, it's basically the same watch as tyhe M4 but with a 12 hour bezel instead of the standard 60 minute bezel.

I find the 12 hour bezel ideal for travelling, the only thing I was concerned about was the red 24 hour numerals on the dial, I neddn't have worried as you don't notice them.

Overall I haven't much to add to the above review of the M4, except I have no complaints about the bracelet.

The watch itself is great value for money, I wouildnt hestitate in recommending it.


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## equis (Mar 8, 2008)




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