The world is yours and it’s orange!

F%§&. This watch is simply f%§& gorgeous!

Ok, that’s perhaps not the best way to start a proper watch presentation. So let’s start from the beginning:
A few years ago, some of the guys from the Fifth Wrist crew met for the first time in real life in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and part of the agenda was a visit to ochs und junior.
In the middle of astronomical complications and perpetual calendars, one watch kind of stood out: the «Mese 2.22» with it’s radiant blue dial.
This was not lacquered or anodised but – rather unusually – PVD-coated.

While PVD dials (mostly black) have probably been around here and there for some time, I’ve noticed a whole range of new watches in recent years that feature coloured, PVD-coated dials.
 The new Europe-only Cartier Tank, Chronoswiss, Armin Strom, Jacob & Co, … it seems like a trend lately.
In this context it may be interesting to note that ochs und junior, in collaboration with «Positive Coating» from La Chaux-de-Fonds, launched the Mese 2.22 as early as 2022.

How did I get this watch?
After a podcast recording with ochs und junior, some guys from the Fifth Wrist team decided to order a «Fifth Wrist edition», a settimana with a special design.
I was part of this group, but I was unable to convince them to opt for a PVD-coated dial.
This is not only understandable as the raw dial is as cool as it fits the overall design philosophy of ochs und junior; it also turned out to be the better decision as the design of the final watch has become as unique as it is ingenious.
(It’s so much easier to judge a design than to make one yourself …)

But since I couldn’t get rid of the PVD dial idea, I decided to get myself two settimana watches.
If you think I’m crazy now, you’re probably right.

It wasn’t the settimana that triggered my love of watches, but my soft spot for independents in general and ochs und junior in particular. At some point many years ago, I stumbled across the truly ingenious moon phase watch from Ludwig Oechslin / ochs und junior. At the time, however, it was far beyond my means and so I had my eye on the ‘entry-level model’, the settimana junior … which was still out of my reach.
It was intended for children who perceive time differently and for whom the day of the week is more important than a date. Not only the day of the week display, but also the font, which is as rare as it is strange – I am a sucker for beautiful fonts, as you can see from my Slim d’Hermès, among others – ensured that the settimana kept a place in the back of my mind for years without paying rent.
(Actually, the font is not ‘designed’, but simply the one that came right out of Ludwig Oechslin‘s CNC machine).

While settimana watches are not configurable (like some other ochs und junior watches), I was lucky enough to use the momentum of the special design of the Fifth Wrist watch to get my hands on a prototype of a possible new colour variant that I could help design.
And yes, not only does the watch have the innovative PVD dial, but it also comes in my favourite colour, orange!
With the classic font!
Of course, this is very subjective, but for me this dial – although it is simple in a positive sense, like the ouj design in general – is one of the coolest dials ever.

For me, this is also the ideal holiday watch. Bright and cheerful, with a textile strap ideal for all temperatures. 
And more importantly: I don’t really need the date when I’m on holiday, I don’t want to be reminded how long it is until I have to go home again …
but I do want to know whether the shops are open, whether the museums are closed, in other words: what day of the week it is!
And that – in case you were wondering – is exactly what the seven dots do. They show the day of the week.
(And on Sunday night, within a few minutes, the dot returns to Monday through the arc of the circle; visible to the wearer through the ‘banana in the dial’ for one reason only: for fun).

Or to summarise the above:

F%§&. This watch is simply f%§& gorgeous!

Pros:

– it’s complication is pure fun

– it’s orange

– it’s extremely comfortably constructed

Cons:

– not cheap

– not an Ulysse Nardin movement like in some other ouj watches

– not very legible by night

Quality
90

Style
100

Value
80

Wearability
100