Ollech & Wajs were once among the most prolific watch brands of its day, initially founded in 1956 by Joseph Ollech and Albert Wajs. That founding date makes 2026 the brand’s 70th anniversary and so they’ve dug through their archives to find a heritage model to relaunch in celebration of the occasion. The heritage model they landed on is reportedly the favourite watch of Albert Wajs himself: the Ollech & Wajs Early Bird – a watch that celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.
The Early Bird was created in 1965 to coincide with the launch of the Intelsat I satellite, which was itself nicknamed ‘Early Bird’, hence the name of the watch. The ‘Early Bird’ was the world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite, meaning that it takes 24-hours to complete one orbit of the Earth and always appears over the same part of the Earth at the same time each day. It pioneered inter-continental communications across the Atlantic from 1965-1969, including transmitting the footage of the Apollo 11 moon landings.
There are two primary ways in which the Early Bird watch pays tribute to its namesake. First, it uses a 24-hour display where the hour hand rotates once per day instead of twice per day as in a normal 12-hour display. This is a tribute to the 24-hour orbit of the satellite. 24-hour displays like this are relatively rare in mechanical watches, most often seen in single hand watches or the Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute, which is also a space-themed watch.
The second tribute is the dual time zone bezel, which allows the watch to display the time in multiple time zones simultaneously. It features a red-blue split between AM/PM and while you might think it’s based on the popular Pepsi bezel of the Rolex GMT-Master, you would be mistaken. The ‘Early Bird’ satellite was itself red and blue and so the colours of the watch are drawn from that. Having the scale split AM/PM 12 to 12 instead of day/night 6 to 6 does help differentiate it from the Pepsi too.
For the case, the Ollech & Wajs Early Bird is based on the existing OW pilot’s watch models like the M-52B AF. That means it measures 39.5mm in diameter with a thickness of 12.5mm and while it is a pilot’s watch base, it still rocks a 300m water resistance rating so it could survive an ocean splash down. However, while the case is based on those pilot models, the movement inside is different in order to accommodate the 24-hour scale.
The movement in question is the Soprod P125 instead of the P024. Specs-wise it has a 42-hour power reserve, which is an improvement over the P024’s 38-hours. Obviously the biggest difference is the double 24-hour hands, it also goes without a date window. I like that it’s dateless because it keeps the dial more uniform without interruption.
In terms of price, the Ollech & Wajs Early Bird is CHF 1,956 (approx. £1,825) in tribute to the brand’s year of founding, 1956. It has also been launched at 19:56 CET for the same reason. Whether you’re a space fanatic, a frequent flier who needs a dual time zone or a military vet who still wants to use military 24-hour time on your watch, the Early Bird is an attractive timepiece.
Price and Specs:
More details at Ollech & Wajs.
