he 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 the brand’s 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, the brand elayed 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 the brand’s founding year. The first 56 watches will have numbered crowns, numbers allocated in order of purchase.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Dimensions

• 39.5 mm × 12.5 mm; 48 mm lug to lug

Case

• Brushed 316L stainless steel, screwed bottom, screwed crown, rotating steel bezel; made in the Swiss Jura

Glass

• Sapphire with anti-glare treatment

Bezel

• Aluminium anodised bi colour 24-hour worldtime bidirectional friction bezel

Dial

• Hands and indexes in white Super-LumiNova®

Water resistance

• 300 m/ 30ATM

Movement

• Automatic, bespoke Soprod P125; with semi-instantaneous changes and quick adjustment using the crown; stop seconds; 4Hz 28,800 vibrations per hour; 25 jewels; 42-hour power reserve; Incabloc. Bespoke OW Zurich 1956 rotor, OW-engraved platine, custom screws, assembled for OW and adjusted in three positions. Accuracy: -7/+7 seconds per day

Strap

• Black Italian leather strap
• 20 mm Italian leather and natural linen, finished in Switzerland; with a brushed stainless steel thorn buckle, signed ‘OWZ 1956’

Bracelet

• M-Link stainless steel bracelet (optional extra)
• 20 mm medium gauge, stainless steel links, hand-brushed, with an OW-engraved adjustable deployant clasp

Origin

• Handmade in the Swiss Jura