Ollech & Wajs M-110 AS
The name Ollech & Wajs has been around since 1956 and this Ollech & Wajs M-110 AS is a watch I was not sure I wanted to check out initially. That’s an odd way to start a review intro, but it’s true. I have been eyeing the OW 8001, and I thought this model was the same as the C-1000 Diver with just a slightly different dial and a compass bezel. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I am delighted to be able to review this beautiful skin diver/military field watch fusion.
Yes, this watch is somewhat of an anomaly. It’s a skin diver case, with 300m of water resistance, yet it’s only 12.65mm thick, has a compass bezel, radio silence markers on the chapter ring, and a massive screw-down crown. This vintage-style piece also houses a Soprod Newton P092 😬, has a domed sapphire crystal, and an army hemp canvas strap. All of this will set you back just over $1,600. 
Specifications:
- 39mm Case Width
- 48mm Lug to Lug
- 20mm Lug Width
- 12.65mm thick
- 94 Grams
- Domed Sapphire Crystal
- Soprod Newton P092 Bespoke Movement
- 300m Water Resistant
- Hemp Canvas Strap
Price $1,662
https://ow-watch.ch/products/ow-m-110-as
Now, a skin diver case combined with a compass bezel is an odd combination on paper, but in execution, it works. The skin diver style of case has always been a favorite of mine, not only for the aesthetic but because of how it wears on the wrist, how well it takes almost any style of strap, and to most people they don’t scream dive watch, even if they have a dive bezel.
So what is the deal with the compass bezel? Well, it can help you find your way, if you are lost, if you’re in the field and have no tech on you, or if your tech fails. To be honest, 99% of people who buy this Ollech & Wajs M-110 AS are probably never going to need this compass bezel, just like most of us don’t need a dive bezel, slide rule bezel, a chronograph, etc. As enthusiasts, we just like to have different complications and while this is not the first watch to have a compass bezel, and does pull from vintage-style military watches, they are somewhat rare, especially compared to your standard dive, pilot, or field watches.
Now with this Ollech & Wajs M-110 AS being a military-style tool watch or a field/dive watch combo, however you want to look at it, I look at it like the ultimate analog tool watch. With 300m of water resistance, a 7mm large screw-down crown, easy-to-read hands and markers, the compass bezel, and a sapphire crystal, this is a watch that can handle the day-to-day tasks, but can handle your time out on the trail, out in the water, or just you out in the backyard grilling and having a few beers, as you know, beer and BBQ sauce can be detrimental to lesser watches.
This entire watch is also completely satin-brushed. It’s not chamfered anywhere, it doesn’t have any dual finishes, no polishing or sandblasting, nope, its a brushed finish everywhere you look, so not only is it very “toolish” in design and finish, but it also means that marks and scratches are easy to re-finish, compared to watches with all those different levels and layers of finishes. While I wouldn’t treat this watch like a G-Shock, this is one you can use and abuse, and it won’t look so awful after a few years of wear.
Coming back to this bezel, let’s talk functionality of this Ollech & Wajs M-110 AS beyond standard timekeeping. Because this is not a dive or timing bezel, it’s a very different feeling to turn this bezel. Of course, this is a bi-directional bezel, and it turns smooth but stays in place where you put it. But if you are someone who likes to turn your bezel, much like a knife guy who will constantly flick his knife open and closed, this will not have that same ratcheting, tactile feel about it.
The crown is possibly one of my favorite aspects of this watch, and that is for a few reasons. One, it’s large. This is not a large watch at 39mm, and one of my problems with smaller watches is the crowns tend to be on the smaller side, hence they are hard to grasp and use, at least for me with medium-sized hands. That is not a problem here as you can see with the size and clearance of this crown.
But beyond that is the feel of the crown. When you unlock it and pull it out, it does so with an audible click, and just everything is so precise and smooth, and it screws down so easily and locks down with feedback to the user. The crown action is just sublime, no other way to describe it.
The matte grey dial is relatively uncluttered, and the large hands and prominent applied markers make this Ollech & Wajs M-110 AS very easy to read at a glance, and of course, I am a sucker for a date at the 6 o’clock position. The logo area is a little busy for me, I could do without the text, but that’s just me being picky. Something else you might notice is that the surrounds of the applied markers and all the hands are brushed as well. I told you, there are no highly polished parts anywhere on this watch.
But there is an elephant in this room, or maybe I shouldn’t phrase it this way, as I think these days, especially with social media and the internet that things can be blown out of proportion. The Soprod Newton P092 movement. This is a newer movement, released in 2020, and Serica was one of the first brands to use it, from all I have read and seen, there were some hacking and winding issues and some floating hand problems. This is my first experience with this particular movement, and as I talked about above with the crown action, I have not had any issues with setting the time or the date, hacking, or anything else.
Now this is also apparently a bespoke version of the Newton movement, with specific modifications from Ollech & Wajs. so that could be the difference, or not, I don’t have enough info on that to say with any authority one way or another. I can say I have not experienced any issues. The power reserve on this movement is 44 hours, so just a little more than your standard movements of 38 hours, and accuracy is listed at +/- 5 seconds, and adjusted in 5 positions.
I have read a few less-than-positive comments elsewhere about the strap on this Ollech & Wajs M-110 AS. This strap is described as a reclaimed army surplus hemp canvas, with a soft Italian leather backing, and all hand made, in Italy. This hemp canvas was manufactured in the 50’s, so it’s quite old but has a great look to it, with a faded olive green color. I did notice that the actual canvas material is pretty thin, compared to the leather underside, but this is one of, if not the most pliable straps I have ever felt or worn. This issue some have is that it is frayed, and it was intentionally frayed in its production, to give it that old-world vintage charm. It will fray more over time, and some feel it cheapens the watch.
Of course, we all have our opinions, everything is subjective, but I have long been a fan of canvas straps and think this combo of this canvas and this darker green olive leather is fantastic, and a joy to wear on the wrist.
Speaking of the wrist, as I said, this strap is quite comfortable, and I am in the 4th hole with my 7 1/2 inch (19.05cm) wrist, though don’t go thinking this is a long strap, it’s not, it just has decent hole placement. If your wrist is 8 inches, I can almost guarantee this strap will not fit you. There is always the mesh bracelet variant of this watch available, which comes in 2 different sizes, and of course, with standard drilled 20mm lugs, choosing an alternate strap shouldn’t be difficult.
That said, the short lug-to-lug and overall case shape lend this 39mm piece to wear much better on my wrist than the C-1000 I previously reviewed, and this is a piece I could easily wear every day, and even though it is a touch on the smaller size than I prefer to wear, it doesn’t feel like it, especially with that large crown and big, legible dial.
If you read or watched my previous review of this brand, you may remember I was not fond of the C-1000 lume at all. The lume itself, meaning the areas that had lume compound applied to them, were fine, but there was lume intentionally left off of certain markers, and it was just odd, at least to me. Here, we don’t have that issue, and beyond the 12 o’clock triangle being much brighter than the other markers on the dial, I was very impressed this time with the lume.
