The must-have Macro Loupe for all watch lovers

Iconic watch art prints. Made in Switzerland, lifetime guarantee

I absolutely fell in love with this Gallet Multichron chronograph from the 1940s. It was a Sunday afternoon at a watch fair when I came across this famous Gallet chronograph, and it was love at first sight.vThey don't make them like this anymore. What a timepiece! The 20-micron plating hasn't budged, and the dial, while a little patinated, suits it perfectly.

All this to say, I think it's magnificent!

Multichron pebble

Gallet is a historic name in Swiss watchmaking, born in 1826 in La Chaux-de-Fonds in the early 19th century and long associated with an &ldquo;instrument&rdquo; mindset: timing, measuring, and supporting professions where time must be reliable and legible. The brand became especially known for chronographs and timing instruments aimed at aviation, motor sport, industrial use, and travel, with a strong export footprint, particularly toward the United States. After a quieter phase in the late 20th century, Gallet has returned to the center of attention thanks to a newly announced revival, inviting collectors to reread its heritage through the watches that originally made its reputation.
<h3>La Chaux-de-Fonds 1826: instrument DNA and an export-driven mission</h3>
Public sources place Gallet&rsquo;s origins in 1826 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, around Julien Gallet, within an environment where watchmaking was already taking shape as an industry of precision. The brand grows early as a supplier of time-measurement tools, more than as a maker of wrist &ldquo;jewelry,&rdquo; which helps explain its long-standing link to chronographs and professional-purpose watches.
That instrument orientation shows up in a lasting preference for dials that carry just enough information, useful scales, and a clear hierarchy of reading. Gallet favors visible function over prestige effects, a positioning that still feels easy to understand in a market where the chronograph is sometimes reduced to a purely aesthetic code.
Another strong marker is international reach, with a frequently mentioned link to the American market, where chronometers, stopwatches, and chronographs naturally found demand. Export shaped the product culture: the goal was not only to seduce a local taste, but to deliver tools that were understandable, robust, and adapted to real use across countries.
<h3>Clamshell: a water-protection idea for chronographs before it became standard</h3>
In collector imagination, one of Gallet&rsquo;s strongest milestones is the &ldquo;Clamshell&rdquo; chronograph concept, regularly cited as an important step toward water resistance in a wrist-worn chronograph. The concept aims to protect the tool, not to create a &ldquo;luxury&rdquo; watch: a chronograph only makes sense if it can be used without excessive worry in real-world conditions.
The key point, beyond the exact dating of individual variants, is the logic: combine chronograph function with a case construction designed to better withstand the elements. It is a pragmatic engineering approach, consistent with the instrument thread that runs through the brand&rsquo;s history and that still explains why Gallet chronographs stand out against more decorative pieces.
For today&rsquo;s buyer, the &ldquo;Clamshell&rdquo; chapter is also a lesson in vintage reading: the interest is not only the name on the dial, but the coherence between use intent and real execution. On these watches, case condition speaks as loudly as the dial: an over-polished or heavily altered example can lose part of what made it valuable as a tool in the first place.
<ul>
<li>Gallet MultiChron Clamshell &mdash; A vintage chronograph tied to a case construction sought after for its protective logic.</li>
<li>Gallet Clamshell &mdash; A market designation commonly used for Gallet tool-oriented chronographs.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Flying Officer: time zones, aviation, and a story firmly anchored in 1939</h3>
Among the watches most strongly associated with the Gallet name, the Flying Officer holds a special place because it compresses its promise into a single sentence: make time-zone calculations easier on the wrist. Specialist sources indicate production starting in 1938 and a first advertisement in January 1939, at a moment when both military and civil aviation increasingly needed practical navigation and coordination tools. The dial becomes a travel instrument, not a mere aesthetic surface.
The watch relies on an instantly recognizable combination: a rotating 12-hour bezel and a city ring indicating zones, allowing quick visualization of time offsets. Some sources connect the model to American figures of the era, which helped feed its legend and visibility. What matters is the clarity of use: once you understand the logic, the watch explains itself, and that is often what separates an icon from a standard chronograph.
For today&rsquo;s enthusiast, the Flying Officer is a good compatibility test: do you enjoy information-dense dials, and are you comfortable with a very &ldquo;aviation tool&rdquo; aesthetic? The charm comes from useful density, but that density also requires choosing an example whose printing, discs, and markings remain crisp&mdash;otherwise the watch loses the very reason it exists.
<ul>
<li>Gallet Flying Officer &mdash; A time-zone chronograph that stands as a key historical reference for Gallet&rsquo;s aviation focus.</li>
<li>Gallet Flight Officer &mdash; A name often encountered across series and eras for the same functional concept.</li>
</ul>
<h3>MultiChron: field chronographs, motorsport timing, science, and &ldquo;serious&rdquo; measurement</h3>
The MultiChron name is frequently cited as a core family at Gallet because it covers a simple idea: adapt the chronograph to different uses without sacrificing legibility. This family is often linked to the 1930s through the 1960s, when chronographs became universal tools for pilots, motor racing, and certain scientific activities. MultiChron expresses instrument versatility, with a dial grammar built around reference points and measurement.
On the vintage market, MultiChron pieces appear in varied configurations (bi-compax, tri-compax, multiple scales), and with nicknames tied to uses or motorsport lore depending on collector tradition. Value is often carried by legibility and coherence: a homogeneous dial, matching hands, well-balanced registers, and patina that has not destroyed original contrast.
One more point matters: tool chronographs can age emotionally better than purely decorative watches because their reading logic remains relevant. A strong MultiChron still feels mentally &ldquo;usable&rdquo;: even if you do not time a race, you understand why the watch exists, and that sense of obviousness is a powerful driver of desire.
<ul>
<li>Gallet MultiChron 12 &mdash; A chronograph known for extended recording capability and a sport/aviation-leaning &ldquo;field&rdquo; reading.</li>
<li>Gallet MultiChron Pilot &mdash; A vintage designation associated with a legible, utilitarian intent.</li>
<li>Gallet MultiChron Regulator &mdash; A collector-cited reference tied to a distinctive instrumental reading concept.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Industry shocks, quieter years, and the rise of vintage-driven interest</h3>
Like many historic Swiss brands, Gallet goes through cycles of transformation in the 20th century, with phases of high visibility followed by quieter periods, especially when the industry faces major technological and economic shocks. The late century reshapes &ldquo;tool&rdquo; brands deeply, and Gallet follows a path where supply becomes scarcer and the name appears more often in vintage catalogs than in new-release headlines.
That relative retreat produced a paradoxical effect: it reinforced the desirability of older pieces because they remain the most direct witnesses of the brand&rsquo;s historical identity. The vintage market acts as a living archive: it highlights the most coherent models, reveals variations, and makes documentation (ads, series, cases, dials) more important than modern marketing language.
To buy a vintage Gallet intelligently, a simple method helps: prioritize dial quality and provenance, accept that servicing is often needed, and avoid &ldquo;too perfect&rdquo; examples whose restoration erased character. The best older Gallet is the one that stays honest, meaning coherent in its parts and its story, even if it carries visible traces of time.
<h3>2025&ndash;2026: Breitling acquisition and an announced revival</h3>
A recent turning point changes how Gallet is perceived: the public announcement that Breitling acquired the brand in March 2025, alongside an intention to relaunch Gallet. Available communications suggest a positioning complementary to the group&rsquo;s other brands, with an ambition to operate at a relatively more accessible level while leaning into the &ldquo;instrument chronograph&rdquo; heritage. The revival is presented as an industrial project, not a one-off tribute.
This new phase naturally raises expectations: which cases, which historical codes, what price level, and above all what degree of fidelity to the tool idea? In this kind of revival, the risk is to dilute the name into generic aesthetics; success, by contrast, is to recover the clarity of use that made Flying Officer and MultiChron so compelling. The future will be decided by coherence in the details: typography, proportions, bezel logic, dial hierarchy, and the ability to claim a distinct identity without copying a prestigious neighbor.
For enthusiasts, the healthiest stance is twofold: celebrate the fact that a historic name regains relevance, and remain attentive to how heritage is translated into products. A credible relaunch must respect function as much as style, because that combination is exactly what made Gallet a distinctive chapter in chronograph history.
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
Gallet remains one of the most meaningful names if you are looking for a Swiss chronograph designed as an instrument: aviation, travel, field use, and an aesthetic built around reading and measurement. Between Clamshell, Flying Officer, and the wider MultiChron universe, the brand created a heritage where use explains design, making its vintage pieces especially compelling and still relevant. The announced revival opens a new chapter that will need to balance functional fidelity with contemporary expectations of production and service. To choose a reference, understand variations, and judge what a Gallet feels like in daily life, nothing replaces real owner experience: consult Dialicious customer reviews.
(Updated January 2026)

Ollech &amp; Wajs est une maison horlog&egrave;re suisse fond&eacute;e en 1956 &agrave; Zurich par Joseph Ollech et Albert Wajs ; d&rsquo;abord d&eacute;taillant puis acteur de la vente par correspondance, le duo a b&acirc;ti sa r&eacute;putation sur des montres &laquo; tool &raquo; robustes &mdash; plongeuses, militaires, d&rsquo;aviation &mdash; vendues aux particuliers comme aux forces arm&eacute;es, avant d&rsquo;orchestrer un retour au premier plan au cours des ann&eacute;es 2010 avec une gamme contemporaine qui r&eacute;active les signatures historiques.
<h3>Zurich, Stockerstrasse et la vente par correspondance&thinsp;: les d&eacute;buts d&rsquo;un label outil</h3>
D&egrave;s l&rsquo;ouverture de leur petite boutique zurichoise, les fondateurs s&rsquo;attachent &agrave; proposer des montres fiables &agrave; prix tenu, puis &eacute;tendent rapidement l&rsquo;activit&eacute; vers le courrier et les annonces sp&eacute;cialis&eacute;es, et cette distribution directe fa&ccedil;on &laquo; mail-order &raquo; deviendra l&rsquo;un des marqueurs durables de la marque.&nbsp;Le basculement d&rsquo;un r&ocirc;le de d&eacute;taillant vers la cr&eacute;ation de montres sous leur propre nom s&rsquo;op&egrave;re en quelques ann&eacute;es, avec des lignes d&eacute;di&eacute;es aux usages concrets (terrain, mer, cockpit) et une construction volontairement simple et r&eacute;parable, et l&rsquo;obsession est moins la &laquo; complication &raquo; que l&rsquo;endurance et la lisibilit&eacute;.
Dans les ann&eacute;es 1960, la diffusion s&rsquo;&eacute;tend aux bases am&eacute;ricaines et aux PX, o&ugrave; des montres militaires et de plong&eacute;e sign&eacute;es O&amp;W trouvent un public pr&ecirc;t &agrave; les &eacute;prouver en conditions r&eacute;elles, et cette validation par l&rsquo;usage contribue &agrave; installer l&rsquo;image d&rsquo;un outil professionnel abordable.
<h3>Caribbean 1000 et Ocean Graph&thinsp;: la profondeur, la d&eacute;compression et l&rsquo;imaginaire des grandes eaux</h3>
Au milieu des sixties, la maison se distingue par des plongeuses d&rsquo;avant-garde dont la Ollech &amp; Wajs Caribbean 1000, pi&egrave;ce record annonc&eacute;e pour 1000 m qui cristallise l&rsquo;ambition technique de l&rsquo;&eacute;poque et installe le nom O&amp;W dans le paysage de la plong&eacute;e sportive comme professionnelle, et l&rsquo;association avec des partenaires sp&eacute;cialis&eacute;s nourrit une esth&eacute;tique rationnelle et sans fioritures.
Dans la m&ecirc;me veine, l&rsquo;Ollech &amp; Wajs Ocean Graph introduit une lunette et une logique de lecture con&ccedil;ues pour accompagner la mont&eacute;e du plongeur et les paliers de d&eacute;compression, ancrant la montre dans un usage pr&eacute;cis plut&ocirc;t que dans l&rsquo;&eacute;vocation d&eacute;corative de la mer, et le cadran reste clair pour pr&eacute;server l&rsquo;instantan&eacute;it&eacute; de la lecture sous l&rsquo;eau.
Ces r&eacute;f&eacute;rences historiques, souvent cit&eacute;es et collectionn&eacute;es aujourd&rsquo;hui, ont fa&ccedil;onn&eacute; un langage fait de bo&icirc;tiers costauds, d&rsquo;&eacute;tanch&eacute;it&eacute;s s&eacute;rieuses, de bracelets adapt&eacute;s et de typographies contrast&eacute;es qui affleurent encore dans les mod&egrave;les actuels, et c&rsquo;est cette continuit&eacute; de &laquo; montre-outil &raquo; qui permet de relier le pass&eacute; et le pr&eacute;sent.
<h3>Relance contemporaine, ancrage helv&eacute;tique et cha&icirc;ne courte&thinsp;: le retour d&rsquo;O&amp;W</h3>
Apr&egrave;s avoir travers&eacute; la p&eacute;riode quartz et ralenti la cadence, la marque est reprise par Charles Le Menestrel et relanc&eacute;e &agrave; la fin des ann&eacute;es 2010 avec la volont&eacute; explicite de prolonger l&rsquo;esprit des origines plut&ocirc;t que de s&rsquo;&eacute;parpiller en s&eacute;ries cosm&eacute;tiques, et&nbsp;le bureau de cr&eacute;ation reste &agrave; Zurich tandis que l&rsquo;assemblage et les r&eacute;glages s&rsquo;effectuent dans le Jura suisse.
La d&eacute;marche privil&eacute;gie des mouvements automatiques suisses &eacute;prouv&eacute;s, une architecture de bo&icirc;te simple &agrave; entretenir, des &eacute;tanch&eacute;it&eacute;s cr&eacute;dibles et des bracelets &agrave; la fois robustes et faciles &agrave; vivre au quotidien, et le cahier des charges reprend la triade historique : fiabilit&eacute;, lisibilit&eacute;, r&eacute;parabilit&eacute;.
La relance ne se contente pas de &laquo; r&eacute;&eacute;ditions &raquo; au millim&egrave;tre : elle propose des montres nouvelles inspir&eacute;es des usages historiques, rehausse le soin apport&eacute; aux finitions et met en avant un contr&ocirc;le qualit&eacute; par &eacute;tapes, et le r&eacute;sultat vise une modernit&eacute; pragmatique qui &eacute;vite le pastiche.
<h3>P-101, P-104, Navichron, C-1000 et Ocean Graph&thinsp;: familles actuelles et usages concrets</h3>
Les premi&egrave;res r&eacute;f&eacute;rences de l&rsquo;&egrave;re r&eacute;cente prennent la forme de montres d&rsquo;aviation &agrave; taille contenue, Ollech &amp; Wajs P-101 et Ollech &amp; Wajs P-104, qui relecturent les codes cockpit dans une bo&icirc;te polyvalente autour de 39&ndash;40 mm avec saphir et couronne viss&eacute;e, et elles ciblent une lecture instrumentale et une r&eacute;sistance suffisante pour le quotidien.
C&ocirc;t&eacute; plong&eacute;e, la maison propose aujourd&rsquo;hui la Ollech &amp; Wajs C-1000 (ainsi que des &eacute;ditions anniversaires) comme incarnation contemporaine de l&rsquo;esprit Caribbean : valves, joints, fonds viss&eacute;s et traitements soign&eacute;s s&rsquo;additionnent pour offrir un instrument de mer moderne, et le cadran conserve l&rsquo;intelligibilit&eacute; qui a fait la r&eacute;putation de la lign&eacute;e.
En parall&egrave;le, l&rsquo;Ollech &amp; Wajs Ocean Graph revient sous une forme actualis&eacute;e, avec sa logique de lecture li&eacute;e &agrave; la d&eacute;compression qui en fait une plongeuse de caract&egrave;re imm&eacute;diatement reconnaissable au poignet, et cette signature d&rsquo;usage distingue le mod&egrave;le dans un segment satur&eacute;.
La famille Ollech &amp; Wajs Navichron s&rsquo;adresse &agrave; celles et ceux qui veulent un chronographe &laquo; outil &raquo; lisible, fid&egrave;le &agrave; l&rsquo;esprit O&amp;W sans exc&egrave;s de complexit&eacute;, avec une ergonomie de poussoirs travaill&eacute;e et une &eacute;chelle claire pour structurer le temps court, et le dessin reste volontairement pratique plut&ocirc;t que d&eacute;monstratif.
<ul>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs P-101 &mdash; pilote contemporain, diam&egrave;tre contenu, saphir, r&eacute;sistance &agrave; l&rsquo;eau &eacute;lev&eacute;e, cadran tr&egrave;s lisible, usage &laquo; bureau-terrain &raquo;.</li>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs P-104 &mdash; variante d&rsquo;aviation avec autre signature de lunette et de marquages, m&ecirc;me esprit robuste.</li>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs C-1000 &mdash; plongeuse moderne inspir&eacute;e de la Caribbean, &eacute;tanch&eacute;it&eacute; pouss&eacute;e et lecture directe.</li>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs Ocean Graph &mdash; plongeuse instrumentale &agrave; logique de d&eacute;compression, identit&eacute; forte au poignet.</li>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs Navichron &mdash; chronographe &laquo; tool &raquo;, cadran a&eacute;r&eacute; et poussoirs francs, lisibilit&eacute; du temps court.</li>
</ul>
Au-del&agrave; des noms, l&rsquo;important est l&rsquo;usage : pilote pour la lisibilit&eacute; &agrave; plat et la r&eacute;sistance aux chocs de la vie active, plongeuse pour l&rsquo;eau et la robustesse, chronographe pour rythmer les t&acirc;ches et les entra&icirc;nements, et ce d&eacute;coupage aide &agrave; choisir une O&amp;W en fonction d&rsquo;un sc&eacute;nario r&eacute;el plut&ocirc;t que d&rsquo;un simple style.
<h3>Signature &laquo; tool watch &raquo;&thinsp;: mat&eacute;riaux, mouvements, dimensions et bracelets</h3>
Les bo&icirc;tiers actuels privil&eacute;gient l&rsquo;acier, des traitements de surface sobres, des lunettes fonctionnelles et des glaces saphir, avec des diam&egrave;tres g&eacute;n&eacute;ralement compris entre 39 et 42 mm pour pr&eacute;server la polyvalence au quotidien, et le port&eacute; se veut stable gr&acirc;ce &agrave; des cornes ma&icirc;tris&eacute;es et des bracelets ajust&eacute;s.
C&ocirc;t&eacute; motorisation, la marque recourt &agrave; des automatiques suisses contemporains adapt&eacute;s &agrave; l&rsquo;usage intensif, certains r&eacute;gl&eacute;s ou certifi&eacute;s selon versions, et l&rsquo;accent est mis sur la facilit&eacute; d&rsquo;entretien par un horloger comp&eacute;tent partout dans le monde, et cette pragmatique m&eacute;canique refl&egrave;te la vocation utilitaire des montres.
Les bracelets &mdash; acier, textile de type RAF/NATO ou caoutchouc &mdash; sont choisis pour leur s&eacute;curit&eacute;, leur r&eacute;sistance &agrave; l&rsquo;eau et leur confort, tandis que les boucles et end-links sont travaill&eacute;s pour limiter les points durs, et la modularit&eacute; permet d&rsquo;adapter la m&ecirc;me montre &agrave; des contextes tr&egrave;s diff&eacute;rents.
<h3>Positionnement, prix, distribution et profils d&rsquo;acheteurs</h3>
O&amp;W occupe aujourd&rsquo;hui un segment &laquo; outil de qualit&eacute; &raquo; : finitions soign&eacute;es mais sans ostentation, fiches techniques coh&eacute;rentes, contr&ocirc;le qualit&eacute; serr&eacute; et communication ax&eacute;e sur l&rsquo;usage plut&ocirc;t que sur le prestige, et le rapport contenu/prix vise la cr&eacute;dibilit&eacute; d&rsquo;un instrument plut&ocirc;t que la posture luxueuse.&nbsp;La distribution m&ecirc;le vente directe en ligne et r&eacute;seau restreint de partenaires, comme <a href="https://bit.ly/4igLuis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Horel</a> &agrave; Bordeaux (France) ou <a href="https://bit.ly/4p27od0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">La Vitrine Horlog&egrave;re</a> en Belgique, avec un discours p&eacute;dagogique sur l&rsquo;h&eacute;ritage et les usages, et&nbsp;ce canal court facilite la coh&eacute;rence tarifaire et la relation avec l&rsquo;atelier.
Le public typique r&eacute;unit des amateurs de montres &laquo; &agrave; faire &raquo; plut&ocirc;t qu&rsquo;&laquo; &agrave; montrer &raquo;, des plongeurs loisirs, des voyageurs qui appr&eacute;cient la solidit&eacute; et des utilisateurs professionnels qui veulent un objet fiable et r&eacute;parable, et la marque parle &agrave; celles et ceux qui pr&eacute;f&egrave;rent la preuve par le port&eacute;.
<h3>Guide de choix&thinsp;: sc&eacute;nario d&rsquo;usage, lisibilit&eacute; et ergonomie</h3>
Commencez par d&eacute;finir l&rsquo;environnement principal : eau, cockpit, bureau-terrain ou sport chronom&eacute;tr&eacute; ; si l&rsquo;eau domine, une Ollech &amp; Wajs C-1000 ou une Ollech &amp; Wajs Ocean Graph seront naturelles, tandis que P-101/P-104 conviendront aux lectures rapides et aux cadrans &eacute;pur&eacute;s, et le chronographe Navichron servira aux temps courts et aux routines fractionn&eacute;es.
Validez ensuite la lisibilit&eacute; : contraste aiguilles/fond, taille des index, absence de surcharge, visibilit&eacute; de la minuterie et coh&eacute;rence de la lunette avec l&rsquo;usage r&eacute;el, et faites le test &laquo; un m&egrave;tre/un coup d&rsquo;&oelig;il &raquo; en lumi&egrave;re naturelle avant d&rsquo;arr&ecirc;ter votre choix.
Enfin, essayez la montre pour jauger l&rsquo;assise (corne-&agrave;-corne), la couronne dans la paume, la souplesse du bracelet et le tomb&eacute; g&eacute;n&eacute;ral avec vos manches et vos activit&eacute;s, et gardez la version que vous oubliez le plus vite une fois port&eacute;e.
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
Ollech &amp; Wajs demeure identifiable par sa vocation d&rsquo;outil : des montres pens&eacute;es pour l&rsquo;usage, lisibles, robustes et suivies par une cha&icirc;ne suisse claire. Entre plongeuses h&eacute;riti&egrave;res de la Caribbean, pilotes modernes et chronographes de travail, la gamme s&rsquo;articule simplement autour de sc&eacute;narios r&eacute;els. Pour d&eacute;cider, partez de votre terrain d&rsquo;emploi, testez lisibilit&eacute; et confort, puis ajustez mati&egrave;re et bracelet ; vous obtiendrez un instrument pertinent qui vieillit bien. Pour croiser ces rep&egrave;res avec des retours d&rsquo;exp&eacute;rience, appuyez-vous sur les avis clients Dialicious.
Consultez le <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/top/les_meilleures_marques_de_montres_suisses">Classement des meilleures marques de montres suisses</a> dont Ollech &amp; Wajs fait partie.
(Mise &agrave; jour Ao&ucirc;t 2025)

Ollech &amp; Wajs is a Swiss watch company founded in 1956 in Zurich by Joseph Ollech and Albert Wajs; initially a retailer and then a mail-order operator, the duo built a reputation on robust tool watches&mdash;divers, military pieces and pilot instruments&mdash;sold to civilians and service members alike, before orchestrating a modern comeback in the late 2010s with a contemporary range that revives the brand&rsquo;s historic signatures.
<h3>Zurich, Stockerstrasse and mail order: the beginnings of a tool-driven label</h3>
From their small Zurich storefront, the founders soon moved from selling other brands to shipping their own watches by post, and this direct &ldquo;mail-order&rdquo; route became a lasting hallmark of the company.&nbsp;The shift from retailing to making watches under their own name took only a few years, with dedicated lines for concrete use cases (field, sea, cockpit) and constructions that favoured simple, repairable mechanics, and the focus was less on &ldquo;complication&rdquo; than on endurance and clarity.
In the 1960s, distribution extended to US military PX stores, where O&amp;W military and dive watches were tried in real-world conditions by service members, and this usage-led validation helped cement the image of an affordable professional instrument.
<h3>Caribbean 1000 and Ocean Graph: depth, decompression and the great-waters playbook</h3>
By the mid-sixties the brand stood out with cutting-edge divers, notably the Ollech &amp; Wajs Caribbean 1000, a thousand-metre-rated watch that crystallised the era&rsquo;s technical ambition and lodged the O&amp;W name in both recreational and professional diving, and partnerships with specialist makers fed a rational, no-nonsense aesthetic.
In the same spirit, the Ollech &amp; Wajs Ocean Graph brought a bezel and reading logic tailored to ascent and decompression stops, rooting the watch in a specific task rather than mere maritime d&eacute;cor, and the dial stayed clean to preserve underwater glance legibility.
These historic references&mdash;often cited and collected today&mdash;shaped a language of stout cases, serious water-resistance, practical bracelets and high-contrast typography that still surfaces in current models, and this through-line of &ldquo;tool first&rdquo; connects past to present.
<h3>Contemporary relaunch, Swiss anchoring and a short chain: O&amp;W&rsquo;s return</h3>
After weathering the quartz era and slowing down, the brand was revived in the late 2010s by Charles Le Menestrel with the explicit aim of extending the founding spirit rather than scattering into cosmetic runs, and&nbsp;design remains in Zurich while assembly and adjustment take place in the Swiss Jura.
The approach favours proven Swiss automatic movements, serviceable case architecture, credible water-resistance and bracelets built for comfort and durability, and the specification re-embraces the classic triad: reliability, legibility, serviceability.&nbsp;The comeback is not a millimetre-for-millimetre facsimile exercise; instead, it offers new watches inspired by historic use, upgrades finishing and emphasises stepwise quality control, and the outcome is a pragmatic modernity that avoids pastiche.
<h3>P-101, P-104, Navichron, C-1000 and Ocean Graph: today&rsquo;s families and real use</h3>
The first modern releases took the form of compact pilot watches, the Ollech &amp; Wajs P-101 and Ollech &amp; Wajs P-104, which reinterpret cockpit codes in versatile 39&ndash;40 mm cases with sapphire and screw-down crowns, and they target instrumental reading and all-day resilience.
On the dive side, the brand offers the Ollech &amp; Wajs C-1000 (along with anniversary editions) as a contemporary take on the Caribbean ethos: seals, casebacks, and careful treatment combine into a modern sea instrument, and the dial retains the intelligibility that made the line&rsquo;s reputation.
In parallel, the Ollech &amp; Wajs Ocean Graph returned in an updated form, with its decompression-centred readout making for an instantly recognisable diver on the wrist, and this task-specific signature sets it apart in a crowded segment.
The Ollech &amp; Wajs Navichron family serves those who want a readable, work-ready chronograph true to the O&amp;W spirit, with well-judged pushers and crisp scales for short-time duties, and the design stays deliberately practical rather than showy.
<ul>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs P-101 &mdash; contemporary pilot, compact diameter, sapphire, strong water-resistance, very legible dial for desk-to-field wear.</li>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs P-104 &mdash; aviation variant with a different bezel and markings signature, same robust intent.</li>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs C-1000 &mdash; modern diver inspired by the Caribbean, serious water-proofing and direct readout.</li>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs Ocean Graph &mdash; instrumental diver with decompression logic, strong identity on the wrist.</li>
<li>Ollech &amp; Wajs Navichron &mdash; &ldquo;tool&rdquo; chronograph, open dial and assertive pushers, clarity in short-time work.</li>
</ul>
Beyond names, what matters is use: a pilot for flat-plane readability and shock tolerance in active life; a diver for water and sturdiness; a chronograph to pace tasks and training, and this split helps pick an O&amp;W by real scenario rather than by style alone.
<h3>Tool-watch signature: materials, movements, dimensions and straps</h3>
Current cases prioritise steel, sober surface treatments, functional bezels and sapphire crystals, with diameters largely between 39 and 42 mm to sustain daily versatility, and on-wrist stability comes from disciplined lug spans and well-matched bracelets.
Mechanically, the brand uses modern, Swiss automatic calibres suited to intensive use&mdash;some adjusted or certified depending on versions&mdash;while ensuring that any competent watchmaker can service them, and this pragmatic mechanics reflects the utilitarian brief.
Bracelets&mdash;steel, RAF/NATO-type textile or rubber&mdash;are chosen for security, water-readiness and comfort, with buckles and end-links designed to minimise hot-spots, and modularity lets a single watch adapt to very different contexts.
<h3>Positioning, prices, channels and buyer profiles</h3>
O&amp;W sits in a &ldquo;quality tool&rdquo; segment: tidy finishing without ostentation, coherent spec sheets, tight quality control and messaging anchored in use rather than prestige, and the value proposition seeks instrument credibility rather than luxury posturing.
Distribution blends direct online sales with a small partner network and a didactic narrative about heritage and use, and this short channel supports coherent pricing and a clear link to the workshop.&nbsp;The core audience mixes owners who prefer watches to &ldquo;do&rdquo; rather than to &ldquo;show,&rdquo; recreational divers, travellers who prize sturdiness and professionals who need reliable, serviceable objects, and the brand resonates with those who trust proof of wear over glossy claims.
<h3>Selection guide: use case, legibility and ergonomics</h3>
Start by mapping your main environment&mdash;water, cockpit, desk-to-field or timed sport; if water rules, a Ollech &amp; Wajs C-1000 or Ollech &amp; Wajs Ocean Graph is natural, whereas P-101/P-104 suit quick, uncluttered reads, and the Navichron chronograph serves intervals and structured routines.
Next validate legibility: hand-to-dial contrast, index size, minimal clutter, minute track visibility and bezel logic that matches how you actually use it, and run the &ldquo;one-metre/one-glance&rdquo; test in natural light before deciding.
Finally, try the watch to judge stance (lug-to-lug), crown feel in the palm, bracelet suppleness and how it sits with sleeves and tasks, and keep the version you forget the fastest once strapped on.
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
Ollech &amp; Wajs remains identifiable by its purpose-built vocation: watches made for use&mdash;readable, robust and supported by a clear Swiss chain. Between divers that channel the Caribbean legacy, modern pilot pieces and work-ready chronographs, the range is organised simply around real-world scenarios. To choose well, start with where you&rsquo;ll wear it, test clarity and comfort, then tune material and strap; you&rsquo;ll land on a capable instrument that ages well. To square these cues with long-term ownership feedback, a helpful compass remains Dialicious customer reviews.
Consult the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/top/the_best_swiss_watch_brands">Ranking of the best Swiss watch brands</a> of which Ollech &amp; Wajs is part.
(Updated August 2025)

Gallet MultiChron Owner Review : Addictive, delicate and charming

Multichron pebble

Where to buy your Gallet?

YOU ARE :

Customize your Gallet with our selection of accessories:

Eagle Eye Watches

Iconic Switzerland