Hands-on Review: Ollech & Wajs 8001 Tundra Blends Brutalism with Nature

Swiss Independent brand Ollech & Wajs has revisited its integrated bracelet watch, the 8001, with the help of Norwegian Architectural Design Collective MIR. And it’s a beast!

Ollech & Wajs 8001 Tundra Overview

It’s a little-known fact that Ollech & Wajs was one of the first companies to include an integrated bracelet sports model to its lineup, the 8000 (a TV- dial chronograph) released in 1973, only a year or so behind Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak. In 2022, to mark the 50^th anniversary of this watch, Ollech & Wajs released the 8001, a three-hander that draws inspiration from the tonneau case and distinctive bracelet integration of the archive watch. Of course, this modern reference uses more modern materials and has better specifications. Oh, and it amplifies the level of ‘brutalism’ to eleven!

The 8001 Tundra is a further evolution of the 2022 reference, bringing subtle changes including a new dial colour and bezel design. Released with the help of Norwegian Architectural Design Collective MIR, the watch explores the relationship between architecture and the environment, in particular, the rugged landscape of its namesake, the ‘Tundra’ (one of the coldest biomes on planet earth). The word Tundra comes from the Finnish for ‘treeless plain’. The industrial case and engineered bezel of the watch are said to represent industrial architecture, whist the green dial is said to represent scenic nature, mimicking the juxtaposition often found in Norwegian architecture.

The Ollech & Wajs 8001 Tundra is a limited edition Swiss-made watch that features a Swiss automatic movement. And when they say limited, they mean limited. Just 56 pieces will be made, yes 56! The retail price is CHF 1956 (approx. $2200 USD, €2070 EUR, £1720 GBP at time of writing) and the warranty period is a respectable three years. Hats-off to Ollech & Wajs too, as the price includes shipping, duties and taxes regardless of what part of the world you’re in. This will be a real boon for many buyers as it takes the uncertainty out of costing and effectively makes the asking price more competitive than first appears.

Case and Wearing Experience

It’s important to be clear about something from the offset here. The 39.5mm 316L fully brushed stainless steel case makes no attempt to shy away from its brutalist approach to design. Unlike most watches where the thickness would typically taper towards the lugs to help the watch wear better, there is no taper here. In fact, there are no lugs in the conventional sense. Instead, you’ll find just one very short and stubby centre lug at each end of the case to which the bracelet is attached.

Considering its whopping 300 meters of water resistance, the Tundra isn’t an overly thick watch at 12.7mm, and the lug-to-lug is incredibly short at just 40mm. However, these dimensions don’t give the true picture. A truer lug-to-lug measurement, taking into account the protruding end links, is 52.5mm, although the end links do partially articulate downwards, so I’d say the watch probably wears like it has a lug-to-lug of around 50mm. It weighs in at 171 grammes sized for my 7.25-inch wrist.

In terms of styling, every side of the watch is dead straight. There is a barely perceptible downturn to the case, but that’s it – nothing else to help it conform to the wrist, no undercuts to give the illusions of slimness, no bevels to soften the lines, nothing! The Tundra wears its thickness and masculinity as a badge of honour. This continues with the three-link bracelet which is 27mm wide at the watch head and 22mm at the clasp. When you look at the watch on your wrist, you’re faced with a huge expanse of bracelet with wide and tall individual links. Whilst the end links do taper in thickness from the watch head to the bracelet, there is an abrupt contrast between the two, as is befitting of a Brutalist watch. There is also a visible gap between the bracelet at the watch head due to the design. I’m not sure if this is intentional design choice, but I don’t mind this aesthetic.

In case it’s unclear by now, this is an imposing watch that wears big and feels big! The combination of blocky case, wide bracelet, tall span across the wrist and weight means that the watch wears and looks more like a 42mm watch. In an emergency situation the Tundra could certainly be hurled at perpetrators in self-defence!  

As is usual for Ollech & Wajs, the case is very well done. Everything is very crisp and precise, including the fixed bezel, which is laser-engraved with thick baton-shaped markers denoting each hour/five minutes and thinner batons at minute intervals. The flat sapphire crystal sits slightly proud of the bezel and is coated with an anti-reflective treatment. The 7mm unguarded screw-down crown is very grippy and precise but feels utilitarian in use rather than refined. The bracelet is attached to the watch head by screws. Bracelet articulation is good and individual links are attached by single-sided screws. The 12-sided screw-down closed caseback has chamfered edges, features the OW logo at its centre and is also engraved with specifications.

The thing that lets the watch down in my opinion is the bracelet clasp, which has lots of sharp edges, is extremely long, looks ugly when extended and isn’t very comfortable. This is a real shame as everything else on the watch feels up to Ollech & Wajs’ usual high standards. In addition to the twin triggers that release the clasp, you use the smaller buttons on the side to extend and retract the clasp without tools. This eight-position ratcheting system gives 22mm of on-the-fly adjustment and works like a dream. However, this comes at the expense of design aesthetics as the extendable section isn’t hidden and isn’t made up of standard bracelet links! Instead, there is a section of plain metal that extends out. This section is only ever hidden when fully closed, which means you have a choice to make when sizing the bracelet. You could size it so that the ratcheting is set to the middle anchor point (as per more common on-the-fly adjustments systems), giving you the freedom to expand or contract the bracelet for the best fit.  However,this would mean that the plain extendable section of metal would always be visible. Or you do what I did and resize the bracelet so that the watch fits you when the clasp is fully closed. This gives you a seamless look, but effectively makes the extension function redundant. If you choose the later option, you may not be able to get the perfect fit, as no half-links are provided for the bracelet and the full links are quite large. Of course, if you’re fine with the look, then there is no issue. It all comes down to personal preferences. I personally would have preferred a shorter conventional clasp with micro-adjust holes. As it stands, I tend to think this type of clasp serves more as diver’s extension, rather than being a truly integrated mechanism for on-the-fly adjustment.

One positive about the clasp is that I do like the symmetry Ollech & Wajs has created by matching the extendable section with an identically proportioned section the other side, effectively splitting the clasp into three, with the engraved branding (‘OWZ’, the OW logo and ‘1956’) being distributed across the sections.  

The Dial and Handset

The Tundra’s gorgeous double-lacquered organic green fumé dial has a slightly pearlescent finish and has been executed to perfection. Unlike some fumé dials it has a beautiful soft gradation that is pure in colour and goes from a lighter tone in the centre to a dark green at the outer, which is achieved without simply adding black to achieve the darkening effect.

Working from the outside in, a simple minute track is printed in white. Applied and brushed baton-shaped indices are used for the 3, 9 and 12 o’clock markers, whilst the remaining hour markers are printed, including a short index at 6 o’clock to leave room for the framed, black-on-white date window.

The applied markers are filled with white Super-LumiNova® luminescent compound for enhanced visibility at night. However, with only three identical lume strips visible, it does make orientating the watch to read the time tricky. I’m surprised that lume hasn’t been applied to the printed indices, although maybe the simple lume design is part of the Brutalist charm?! In keeping with the style, the brushed hour and minute hands are baton-shaped and filled with Super-LumiNova. The lume is split in two on the minute hand. The seconds hand is tipped with a lume-filled arrow with needle tip.

White printed dial text comprises the brand logo at 12 o’clock above the pinion and three lines of text below the pinion ‘8001’ ‘300m’ and ‘COSC’. Finally, Swiss Made straddles the 6 o’clock index. Daytime legibility is excellent with clarity being enhanced by the anti-reflective coating that’s applied to the sapphire crystal.

The Movement

The Tundra uses a chronometer-certified, deluxe version of the Soprod Newton Precision P092, a calibre first introduced in 2020. The bespoke automatic, date-only calendar movement has 23 jewels and a 44-hour power reserve. stop seconds; 4Hz 28,800 vibrations per hour. The unique COSC certification serial number of each movement is engraved onto the main plate, assuring that it has undergone and passed stringent testing. Each watch also comes with its own Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres certification papers.

The choice of movement is an interesting one as not many brands offer it, and the fact that Ollech & Wajs go to considerable effort to ensure impeccable timekeeping shows a level of detail not often found in cheaper watches. It also explains where some of the cost comes from. The watch has a closed caseback so you can’t see the movement, but if you were to take the caseback off you’d find a suitably ‘functional and sturdy-looking’ movement in keeping with the aesthetics of the watch, although the rotor is emblazoned with very attractive deeply embossed branding, which looks to be very well done.

Final Thoughts

The ruggedly handsome Ollech & Wajs 8001 Tundra is a niche watch and as such it’ll probably be a love it or hate it watch for most people. If you’re into brutalist design, like masculine watches with considerable wrist presence, or have big wrists then the Tundra has a lot going for it. It’s durable, instantly recognisable, has better water resistance than most dive watches, and is fitted with a very precise COSC certified movement. The only downside is the clasp, which doesn’t feel like it belongs on a watch at this price point. It’s also huge and not very comfortable, especially if you need to wear it extended. I wouldn’t recommend the watch for those with smaller wrists or the faint-hearted, as it’s a true colossus of a watch that wears much bigger than its dimensions would suggest, due to the blocky case and wide bracelet.

Ollech and Wajs always go their own way and that’s never more evident than in this watch. Its appeal is going to be limited, but I love the fact that the 8001 Tundra is so uncompromising about its brutalist design. The case and bezel have a real engineered look about them that suggest they’ve been hewn form a solid block of steel. The dial is attractive and executed to perfection and the extremely limited nature of the watch ensures that, even in a roomful of watch geeks, you’re almost guaranteed to be the only person wearing one. The question is ‘are you brave enough to take it on?’.