 | |
 O&W M1 diver model | |
| Industry | Watch manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1956  |
| Founder | Albert J. Wajs Joseph Ollech |
| Headquarters | Zurich, Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Website | ow-watch |
Ollech & Wajs(O&W) is a watch company based in Zurich, Switzerland. [1]
| | |
| O&W M1 diver model | |
| Industry | Watch manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1956 |
| Founder | Albert J. Wajs Joseph Ollech |
| Headquarters | Zurich, Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Website | ow-watch |
Ollech & Wajs(O&W) is a watch company based in Zurich, Switzerland. [1]
In the 1950s, Albert J. Wajs founded the company as a supplier of stainless steel bracelets. He partnered with Joseph Ollech in 1956 and expanded into the manufacture of wristwatches from retail space in Zurich. [2] Watches were offered by mail order from Switzerland through magazine ads to customers in the United States and UK.
The company specialized in automatic and manual-wind mechanical military and dive watches. They were sold in PX's on US military bases during the 1960s. The company's M 65 military watch was popular with US soldiers. [3] The Vietnam War era marked an all-time high in sales. Breitling Navitimer stock was used to produce Ollech & Wajs chronometer-style watches, called "Aviation". [4] During the first season of the 1970s British television series The Professionals, actors Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins wore what appear to be Ollech & Wajs Caribbean 1000 wristwatches, [5] which is 1,000m water-resistant. [6]
O&W finally ended production of OW models in the early 1980s, although business continued with the Aviation chronographs. [7] In the 1990s, the company resumed under the name A.I. Wajs. [8] and subsequently OW. New models were successfully introduced, such as the M4 diving watch and the Mirage Valjoux 7750 chronograph.
In 2006 a collector of OW became the distributor of the brand for the French market, and in 2017, Albert J. Wajs passed the company over to him. [9]
In 2019, the brand was revived with the launch of the OW P-101 and OW P-104 pilot models. [10] In 2021, the company released the OW 350CI which was created to fit the design of the Condor A350 motorbikes. [11]
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