Ollech & Wajs Regatta Chronograph - Blue Dial - Valjoux 72 - VERY RARE - 1960s

Albert Wajs was twelve when he arrived in Switzerland as a refugee. His family could not afford a watch, but Zurich was full of them, and he rarely passed a dealer's window without stopping to study what was behind the glass. In 1956 he and Joseph Ollech opened their own shop on Stockerstrasse, with a counter barely a meter long. They sold Omega and Breitling at first, then began buying Swiss components piece by piece and assembling watches under their own names.

Wajs understood the people he was building them for, and he chose the parts with those people in mind: movements from Valjoux, cases from Maison Étienne, dials from Frères Lender in Le Locle and hands from Universo. Diving watches went into scuba magazines, chronographs into aviation publications, and the whole range was advertised in Army Times, Navy Times and Air Force Times. By the Vietnam years O&W was turning out as many as 8,000 to 10,000 watches a year, much of it for American servicemen. The skill was in choosing the right combination and putting it in front of the person who needed it.

A yacht race is already moving before the gun. The boats circle behind the line looking for clear wind and room to accelerate, because crossing early can mean turning back through the fleet and crossing late gives the start away. On the thirty-minute register at three, the first five minutes are cyan and the next five are pink. For a ten-minute start, the chronograph could be started at the warning signal and those two blocks carried the countdown to the gun. Past ten, the register returns to blue for ordinary timing. The rest of the dial is a deep blue sunburst, with snailed blue registers, a red kilometer scale and warm yellow-green tritium, all framed by a black bakelite bezel. In low light the blue sits dark and restrained. In direct light, rays spread out from the center and the colored regatta sector stands clear of everything around it.

In September 2023, at ninety-three, Wajs wrote to a collector about the movements O&W had used more than half a century earlier. As far as he remembered, the company made only "50 or 100" chronographs with the Valjoux 72 in the early 1960s, before moving to the 7736, the 7733 and eventually the Landeron 48. He was counting all of O&W's Valjoux 72 chronographs, not those with this blue dial alone. The movement had a much larger life elsewhere: it powered early Heuer Carreras, while Rolex developed its caliber 722 from the Valjoux 72 for the early Daytona. At O&W, Wajs remembered only 50 or 100 examples before the company moved on to less costly calibers.

The dial has survived well, with clear printing, complete tritium and strong color across the registers. The bakelite bezel shows surface wear and aging around its markings, the domed acrylic crystal has light marks, and the steel case carries scratches from use, with heavier wear across the caseback. The long faceted lugs remain well defined, and it comes on a beads-of-rice bracelet. Inside, the seventeen-jewel Valjoux 72 carries the LBA import code for the United States, and the inside of the caseback is stamped OLLECH - WAJS. The watch runs, and its service history is unknown. Across the movement bridge, engraved in gold, are the same two names that began together in that small Zurich shop: OLLECH + WAJS.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

All sales final.