* The OW Rallychron is a love letter to the golden era of motor racing and the legendary circuits that bore witness to the most memorable moments in the sport’s history. One of the defining features of this era was the sheer diversity of racing circuits and the challenges they presented and the bezel of the Rallychron features hypothetical historic ‘perfect lap’ times for 11 of the world’s most iconic race tracks, which was devised In collaboration with Hervé Charbonneaux – classic car collector, rally driver, historical rally promoter and author.
* The greyscale colour scheme of the dial is a nod to the monochromatic news photography that captured the trackside action in the 60s and in contrast, the tips of the chronograph hand and the 30-minute timer hand are finished with Orange Super-LumiNova®. The Rallychron reprises the heritage chronograph case, characteristic of OW’s best-known chronos from the 60s and 70s and its distinctive black-and-white chequered baton hands are a reference to the universally recognised racing flag. As well as minute and hour timers, the watch has a tachymetric scale – a prerequisite of all racing chronos – which is used trackside to measure speed and distance between competitors.
* Under the hood of the Rallychron is a custom-engraved automatic Valjoux 7753 – a descendant of the historic Valjoux 72 movement that powered the best Swiss chronographs of the 60s and 70s (including several OWs) and comes fitted with a highly durable M-Heritage medium-gauge, stainless steel mesh bracelet, with OW engraved thorn-style buckle.
Movement: Automatic Chronograph with Date
Case Dimensions: 39.5mm x 15.3mm, Stainless Steel
Dial: Grey with Luminous Hands and Indexes
Glass: Flat Sapphire Crystal
Strap: 20mm Heritage Stainless Steel Mesh Bracelet on Pin Buckle
Water Resistance: 30 ATM
Reference: Rallychron
The Re-Birth of Ollech & Wajs.
The name Ollech & Wajs began in 1956, when Zurich resident Albert Wajs decided to partner with his friend Joseph Ollech and open a luxury watch shop, initially retailing Breitling and Omega before launching their own brand: Ollech & Wajs Zürich.
By the 1960s the Ollech & Wajs range consisted of men's chronographs, diving watches (in particular the Caribbean 1000, which was, as its name suggested, the first 1000m water resistant diving watch), military watches, much appreciated by American soldiers who ordered OWs for entire battalions during the Vietnam war and also pilot’s watches, which the French Air Force commissioned for active use.
Ollech & Wajs, now under new ownership have returned to the company's heyday and strive to manufacturer high quality, Swiss made sports watches with a nod to the classic designs of their 60s predecessors. All OW watches have a 90% Swiss made origin and are designed at their headquarters: Ollech & Wajs Precision A.G. on Bergstrasse in Zurich and then individually assembled and adjusted in Haute-Sorne, in the Swiss Jura.