Ollech & Wajs
Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "For". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Ollech & Wajs (O&W) is a watch company based in Zurich, Switzerland.[1]
History
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]
See also
References
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- ↑ http://ow-watch.com/historic.html O&W France, History
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- ↑ http://www.mark-1.co.uk/Professionals/hardware.htm The Authorised Guide to The Professionals
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- ↑ http://chronotime.ch/ Chronomaster, History of Ollech & Wajs
- ↑ http://www.chronotime.ch/about_us.htm About Ollech & Wajs
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