The M2Z watch is not a diver, but some kind of Italian passion: “Oh, mia bellissima, how wonderful you are, I’m in love, I’m all on fire – but damn it, how hard it is to live with you day after day.”
Who are you, beauty?
And it's not clear. The Italian micro brand M2Z has no history, no legend, no intelligible positioning - and this is a blunder. Brew, for example, has a positioning: "watches from coffee lovers for coffee lovers." D1 Milano talks a lot about himself. But M2Z does not say anything and seems to be "freezing" from buyers.
The M2Z website lists the only model DIVER 200 in 8 color options (we have red-blue M2Z-200-007 on the review). On the watch and on the website it repeats many times: “Designed in Italy”. Combined with the Seiko NH35 movement, the workhorse of inexpensive micro brands, it's almost guaranteed that the M2Z diver is made in China.
But made with high quality, with attention to detail and great design!
Frame. Spectacular hero who does not like diving
The advertising stamp “With this watch you will not go unnoticed” is just about M2Z. Their dimensions are heroic: 46 mm in diameter, 56 mm from ear to ear, 17 mm thick. Six of the eight options are bright and catchy (however, with such sizes, even a discreet watch with rose gold PVD will catch the eye).
The monocoque case is machined from a single piece of steel, that is, the back cover is not removable. On the one hand, fewer gaps - better water resistance (officially declared WR200 without an ISO diving certificate). On the other hand, the monocoque is more difficult to maintain: to get to the mechanism, you need to remove the glass and dial.
A bright detail is the protection of the crown in the form of a light cap made of anodized aluminum.
The crown under it, on the contrary, is monumental: it is spring-loaded and sits on a tall, almost 3 mm threaded footer - it will not leak. I think it’s impossible to accidentally turn off the crown: you turn it off on purpose with difficulty, prying it with your nails. In addition, it is covered by the most powerful influx of the hull. Given this, the function of the cap is rather decorative.
The manufacturer writes that the protection is removable - indeed, a fixing screw is visible in the lower right ear. I wonder why the hole under it was stuck from the front, and not the back side? And it is also interesting that the right lower eyelet is laid on: with several screws it is attached to the colossus of the one-piece body.
It is inconvenient to use the crown: it turns away with difficulty, it is difficult to take it because of the influx and the overhanging cap. And when the arm is bent, the influxes with protection rest against the wrist. To avoid this, the crown is sometimes moved "by 4 o'clock". Here it seems to be also displaced, but ... See for yourself:
There is nothing to admire in the case, but there are no shortcomings either. The shapes are simple, the edges are rounded, the finish is fine satin. The polished bezel with a blue aluminum insert looks like a decoration. It's a little wobbly, but generally pleasant, at 120 juicy clicks. In general, it is almost like a real diving one: one-sided, grippy due to the thickness and deep large notch. And yet it’s not real, because on it ... there is no phosphor. They can't time a dive if it's dark underwater. And it’s not on the second hand either, which means that you can’t see under water whether the clock is running or has stopped. For watches called "divers", this is a fiasco. But for a "diver-style watch" - it's normal.
The main element on the back of the watch is a bright, thick off-center medallion with the flag of Italy. He looks fresh and pleasant. Alas, a large image of a shark distracts attention from it, and there is also a brand logo, the inscription “Designed in Italy” and service information. The mutual arrangement of the shark and the logo leaves a feeling of chaos. And in general, I personally want to remove the banal shark, and place the medallion and logo symmetrically relative to the body. Engravings are simply small, but this is a plus here: one main three-dimensional element is already there, others would be redundant.
The back side of all the watches that I held in my hands is flat. But not these. Their “back” is slightly convex, and the two lower points on it are a medallion with a flag and a center. On the hand, the convex back sits so-so - in another review, the feel of it was aptly called the "rocking ball effect." Thank you that at least short flat ears, descending just below the body, partly save the situation.
The bogatyr corps categorically does not like sleeves and noticeably pulls the hand. Worse, due to the thickness, weight and shape of the watch, it does not balance well on the hand and strives to spin on the wrist. The mass and inertia of the M2Z are palpable, so gracefully moving your hand and returning them to their place will not work: you will have to shake them from the heart. Not critical, but uncomfortable. Maybe the watch can be balanced with a massive cast bracelet - but, firstly, M2Z only goes on a strap, and secondly, I'm afraid to imagine how much they will weigh on a bracelet. Of course, if you wear your watch with the strap tight, there will be no problem; I prefer to wear them quite freely, at the very wrist, and I feel uncomfortable.
The strap, according to the manufacturer, is made of a special "aerospace" polymer - resistant to wear, sun, heat and cold, hypoallergenic. I didn’t experience extreme temperatures in this watch (I hope I won’t), but I appreciated the strap - quick-release, a little harsh, pleasant to the skin, with a fabric-like texture and real through stitching. Buckle - in PAM-style, thick and massive, with fine engraving "M2Z". The length is enough for everyday use: on the wrist of 16,5 cm, the strap fastens on the third hole out of nine. But there is no diver's extension to the wetsuit: there is no "accordion" or additional section. Following the lumeless bezel and second hand, this again hints that the Italian diver is not for diving.
Clock face. Perfection
Personally, I was fascinated by the clock face. I admire them every time I pick them up. For him, he is ready to forgive an uncomfortable fit and hellish thickness. It is made qualitatively and interestingly, and you can admire every element.
Digit M2Z-200-007 is the magic of two elements, water and earth. From the water here is a deep blue color. From the ground - a deep pattern. It resembles a radial sunburst, but voluminous and uneven, like cracks in desert salt marshes. It does not shine and even at a cursory glance creates the effect of dark depth.
Along the edge of the dial there is an elegant white edging with a concentric guilloche, which sets off the main blue color. At the 3 o'clock position there is a green-red-blue inscription: "Designed in Italy". It looks more interesting than, for example, the standard "Swiss made" at the bottom of the dial.
The date aperture is framed by a red metal applied frame, in harmony with the “12” mark and crown protection. And the date disk is dark, to match the dial. Excellent, M2Z!
Large marks (overhead, metal, polished in a mirror) are filled with lume to the brim. They are glued evenly, lum without streaks, there are no manufacturing flaws - beauty! The layout of the marks, one might say, is classic: a triangle on the “12” mark, risks on “3”, “6” and “9”, circles on the rest - you have seen a similar one from Rolex, Tudor, Seiko, Oris and many more manufacturers. M2Z read the classics in their own way: the long lines are rounded and harmonize with the circles, and the massive triangle by 12 is filled with red paint.
The dial is very deep: at least three millimeters. Of course, such a well increases the thickness of the clock, but how beautiful! And the metal polished sheer welt, if you lean towards it, reflects marks and risks.
Arrows I would call the most stylish element. Many brands use the Rolex design with a three-pointed star, simply copying it head-on. And M2Z greeted the grandee with an elegant reference, implementing the idea in their own way. Here, the three-ray star is implemented in terms of “techno”, “skeleton” and “stealth” – only the flat white tips of the hands are visible above the rich dial, and their bases dissolve in the general blue. At first, it is unusual to determine the time, but after an hour it passes.
I really like the design of the second hand. The second is generally rarely used for thematic decor. Probably the most famous examples are the Rolex Milgauss zipper and Morse code on the Hamilton Khaki Field Murph. Well, M2Z has an Italian flag at the tip of the second hand - it looks elegant, light and pleasant.
The lume on the M2Z marks is not bad, on the arrows it is much weaker, as if there are half as many layers. And this is illogical, because you can understand time by one arrow, but vice versa - you can’t.
The dial is covered with a sapphire crystal, which sticks out a fraction of a millimeter above the bezel. If you fight for hours on underwater reefs, this is bad. And if you scratch on the office table, it's good, because the sapphire will protect the soft aluminum bezel insert. Again it turns out that this watch is not for diving. By the way, the description does not say about anti-glare, but a characteristic blue-violet tint is caught in the glass. I suppose that there is an anti-glare here, but a single layer.
Caliber. NH35, what else can I say?
The watch is equipped with the Seiko NH35 automatic caliber, an unbranded version of the Seiko 4R35, one of the most popular movements among micro brands. Calibercorner.com reports that the NH35s are now manufactured at TMI, Seiko's factory that supplies calibers to third-party customers. At the same time, the M2Z website says that there is a Seiko NH35. I wonder if this site is wrong or if the new divers are made with Seiko calibers from old stock? However, you can find out only by disassembling the monocoque.
The NH35 is an entry-level caliber, and you shouldn't expect miracles from it: 24 jewels, 21 semi-oscillations per hour, a power reserve of 600 hours, and a passport accuracy of -41/+20 seconds per day. Is it good or bad? Well, the Swiss "workhorse", ETA 40-2824, even in cheap versions, is better in passport accuracy and slightly inferior in power reserve. But it costs 2-3 times more.
Functionally, the NH35 has everything you need: stop-seconds in the third position of the crown, fast date advance in the second, manual winding in the first, shock protection. The real accuracy of my copy met the passport parameters: from +10 to +14 seconds when I wore the watch, and a little more than +40 seconds when it just lay on the table for a day, gradually eating up the accumulated plant.
And the NH35 is also considered reliable, which is important for a difficultly collapsible monocoque.
Summary
Design: Definitely good. Interesting, independent, makes references to famous watches, but does not copy them. The watch looks bright, attractive and informal.
The quality of the: very good. There is nothing daunting in the watch, but everything that is there is done impeccably.
Features: Sufficient for daily use, but not for diving. This is a diver style watch, not a diver.
Convenience: on a thin wrist - the watch is uncomfortable. On a powerful hand - you need to try it on: they will probably fit better, but the elements of the crown can still press.
Compatibility: There are restrictions (informal style and short or wide sleeves).
Price: not the most rational purchase for your money.
I would not take this watch as the only one - there are too many questions about convenience and compatibility. You can’t dive in them, although you can swim and dive quite well. But I wouldn’t go to the sea in them either, because it’s inconvenient to actively wear the M2Z for a week or two.
I see them as city hours of the day off - at least the third in the set, in a good mood. In such a scenario, all the problems will turn out to be insignificant (they won’t have time to tire, the lum is not needed), and there will be a lot of pleasure.
Such is the Italian weekend marriage.
