The Early Bird Gets...

A 24 hour watch!

Courtesy of Ollech & Wajs

Point of full disclosure - I am responsible for Ollech & Wajs (OW Zurich) in North America. So this will be just the facts on this. But before I go into watch journalist (if ever an oxymoron was coined) mode, I am going a wee-bit enthusiast. From the time I started working with Charles and OW, I have begged, pleaded, even tried to bribe him to make an updated version of the Early Bird. We previewed it at Time to Watches in Geneva, and we are now ready to release it. End of behind the scenes fan-boy update ; )

This is the Early Bird -

Courtesy of Ollech & Wajs

- Ollech & Wajs EB - 24
- Bespoke Swiss made Soprod P125 24-hour, Automatic
- 300 m / 30ATM
- Dimensions 39.5 mm × 12.5 mm
- Lug width 20mm
- Relaunches 19:56 (CET) 30th June

Here is the release as it went out to the OW Collector's Club:

In 1965 Ollech & Wajs launched the eponymously named ‘Early Bird’, 24-hour dual-time-zone watch, which paid tribute to a satellite of the same name.

The Intelsat I, or ‘Early Bird’ as it is better known, was the world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite, and handled all commercial telecommunications transmissions between Europe and North America between 1965 and 1969. This included the live transoceanic TV coverage of the Gemini 6 splashdown; footage of the Apollo 11 moon landing; and the first ever performance of ‘All You Need Is Love’ by The Beatles, live to a global audience of 700 million people. Early Bird changed humanity’s relationship with distance. It made the Atlantic feel smaller by enabling near-instantaneous communications between continents. Before Early Bird, the world was connected by cables. After Early Bird, it was connected through space. It marked the moment the world became truly connected and became one of the defining technological milestones of the twentieth century. The Early Bird satellite was decommissioned in 1969, but it remains in silent in orbit today, more than half a century after its launch.

Albert Wajs wanted to pay tribute to this landmark moment of modern engineering by creating a watch in its honour. The 24-hour ‘military-time’ dial reflects the time taken for the satellite to complete one orbit of the Earth. The blue-and-red metallic bezel echoed the colours of the satellite itself. 

However, unlike its namesake, the Ollech & Wajs Early Bird was not made for outer space. It was created specifically for military personnel, particularly pilots and radio operators, for whom a 24-hour ‘military-time’ dial would be invaluable. Most of the original Early Birds were ordered direct from Zurich via adverts in black-and-white newspapers like the Army Times. The new owners were pleasantly surprised when the watch arrived to see that it had a blue-and-red bezel, not grey tone as the ads suggested. Of all the watches that carried the OW monogram, the Early Bird is said to be Albert Wajs’s personal favourite. Despite being one of our best-known watches, it is also one of the rarest - no more than 500 Early Birds were made. Though 24-hour time is widely used all over the world today, 24-hour mechanical Swiss watches are seldom seen. The reimagined ‘Early Bird’ EB-24 has an automatic, 24-hour movement, meaning unlike a conventional watch, the hour hand only completes a single revolution in a full day. This feature allows the wearer to view all 24 hours of the day at a glance while simultaneously tracking a second time zone, an indispensable feature for pilots, international travellers and professionals communicating across continents. Last year marked the 60th anniversary of both the Early Bird watch and the launch of the satellite that inspired it. Given the special place the original watch holds in Albert Wajs's heart, we delayed its reintroduction until 2026, the platinum anniversary year of Ollech & Wajs itself. The EB-24 will be priced at 1,956 CHF, also a nod to our founding year The first 56 watches will have numbered crowns, numbers allocated in order of purchase. It will be available to order worldwide from 19:56 (CET) Tuesday 30th June 2026 at www.ow-watch.com