Hands-On With The Oak & Oscar Atwood Flyback Chronograph
Today, almost a year after its introduction, we’re taking the Oak & Oscar Atwood flyback chronograph for a spin. Unlike my colleague Mike, I’m not very familiar with the Chicago-based brand, which has been in the watch business for 10 years. Next to the Atwood, the brand currently also offers the Humboldt GMT and the Olmsted 38. I think it’s remarkable that a company offers (only) three models and that one is a flyback chronograph. You don’t see that often, so I’m looking forward to checking it out.
Mike wrote about the Atwood when it came out last year, and he also introduced the Wind Vintage Edition of the watch. However, I don’t think he shared his hands-on experience with it yet, so let’s get to business.
The Oak & Oscar Atwood in the hand
I’ll just go over the watch’s specs quickly here since Mike already detailed them in his articles. The Atwood has a 39mm stainless steel case with a 46mm lug-to-lug length and a 12.9mm thickness, including the domed sapphire crystal up top. In the hand, the Atwood feels like a compact watch that packs a bunch of nice features. The case has a fully brushed finish. That means there are no polished bevels whatsoever, making it feel like a proper tool watch. Drilled lug holes add to this strong character.
The same goes for the three-row bracelet that the Atwood comes with. It also has an all-brushed finish, and its links fully articulate for optimal comfort on the wrist. The safety-latched folding clasp features an on-the-go toolless micro-adjustment system for when your wrist swells or shrinks. While the bracelet doesn’t come with quick-release spring bars, a tool does come with the watch, so by using that and the lug holes, it shouldn’t be a problem to swap out the bracelet for the included green textile NATO strap, for example.
A hand-wound flyback chrono
Mike already pointed out the unusual choice of movement for the Atwood last year. It’s still far from a common choice since I don’t recall seeing this AMT5100M movement inside any other watch yet. In my eyes, that makes the Oak & Oscar Atwood cool and distinct. Even better, it offers a flyback function for lightning-fast resetting and restarting of the chronograph. You can wind the movement with the large push-pull crown at 3 o’clock. The process feels quite smooth, and a full wind should give the watch enough power to keep ticking for 58 hours.
The chronograph pushers on either side of the crown also feel very smooth when operated. I found that especially nice in combination with the flyback function because it made me want to push the reset button repeatedly. It’s just so cool to see the central chronograph hand jump back and instantly start sweeping again. The Sellita-manufactured movement runs at a frequency of 28,800vph and features 23 jewels. It’s visible through the exhibition case back, which screws into the mid-case, helping keep the watch water resistant to 50 meters.
A powdery white panda dial
Another cool feature is the Atwood’s sandwich dial. There are three variants to choose from. One is the white and charcoal panda I had in the office, and there are two inverted panda options. One is mainly navy blue, and the other is charcoal. All dials have a powdery matte finish, and the white is very white indeed. A nice detail is that all the hands have the same powdery finish as the dial. The orange central chronograph hand nicely matches the rest of the colorful accents on the dial as well.
Both the hour and minute hands are filled with Super-LumiNova BGW9, just like the minute track. This is an interesting lume application, and while perhaps not the most practical, at least it provides some nighttime legibility.
On the wrist
The Oak & Oscar Atwood fits my 17cm (6.7″) wrist very well. As mentioned, it’s a compact package with fairly short lugs, which will work well for wrists of many sizes. What also struck me is that it’s quite a modest watch. It’s not blingy because the case has a fully brushed finish and houses a completely matte dial. It’s a true sports watch in that sense. The orange accents add to that sporty character and make it stand out a bit more.
Final thoughts
For US$2,650 on the sturdy stainless steel bracelet, the Oak & Oscar Atwood is a great deal in my book. Although the watch has an all-matte finish, it’s executed very well. The action on the pushers also feels much smoother than on several more expensive chronographs I have tried. Oak & Oscar throws in an additional textile NATO strap, a strap-changing tool, and a canvas watch pouch. If that isn’t a complete package, I don’t know what is.
Let me know in the comments below what you think of the Oak & Oscar Atwood flyback chronograph.
