Ollech & Wajs Early Bird 24 Hour Dial Watch #OW-EARLY-BIRD

Ollech & Wajs Early Bird 24 Hour Dial Watch #OW-EARLY-BIRD

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 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 honor. 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 favorite. Despite being one of our best-known watches, it is also one of the rarest - no more than 500 Early Birds were made.

- Swiss made
- Bespoke Soprod C-125 Automatic
- 300 m / 30ATM
- Diameter (excluding crown) 39.5 mm
- Three-year warranty