A 24-Hour Worldtime Watch Returns

Most heritage reissues promote you a sense, not a perform. They copy an previous dial, borrow an previous identify, and let nostalgia do the remainder. From time to time one brings again one thing genuinely helpful as a substitute.

🛒 Worth: CHF 1,956 (About $2,435)
The place to Purchase: Ollech & Wajs

That’s the case with the Ollech & Wajs Early Chicken EB-24, a mechanical watch whose hour hand circles the dial as soon as each 24 hours as a substitute of twice. Midday sits on the prime, midnight on the backside, and the entire day is seen at a look. For pilots, radio operators, and anybody who thinks in 24-hour time, it makes quick sense. For everybody else, it takes a few week to regulate, then rewards you with a special strategy to see the day.

The timing is deliberate. The EB-24 marks Ollech & Wajs’s seventieth anniversary and went on sale at 19:56 CET on June 30, 2026, a nod to the model’s 1956 founding. The primary 56 examples ship with individually numbered crowns, allotted so as of buy.

The unique Early Chicken arrived in 1965, the identical 12 months Intelsat I, nicknamed Early Chicken, grew to become the world’s first geosynchronous business communications satellite tv for pc. O&W borrowed the identify and the 24-hour concept, however the model says the watch was constructed for US pilots and radio operators serving in Vietnam, the place a military-time dial and second-time-zone bezel have been genuinely helpful.

The 24-Hour Trick

A traditional mechanical watch splits the day into two 12-hour laps. The EB-24 doesn’t: its hour hand makes one full journey across the dial in 24 hours, so studying it feels nearer to a mission clock than a gown watch.

The bezel provides the second half of the trick. O&W makes use of a crimson and blue anodized aluminum 24-hour worldtime bezel. Rotate it and you’ll observe a second time zone, successfully turning it right into a twin time zone watch, whereas the principle dial retains your native 24-hour time. True 24-hour mechanical watches are uncommon sufficient that this doesn’t really feel like one other classic diver in a brand new colour.

The Historical past Is Higher Than the Common Launch Story

Intelsat I dealt with business telecommunications between Europe and North America from 1965 to 1969. O&W says that included reside protection of the Gemini 6 splashdown, Apollo 11 moon touchdown footage, and, as one of many satellites relaying the 1967 Our World broadcast, the primary reside international efficiency of The Beatles’ “All You Want Is Love.”

The wristwatch aspect is extra grounded. The unique was offered from Zurich by means of black-and-white adverts in Military Occasions and Stars and Stripes, so consumers noticed the utilitarian pitch first and found the crimson and blue bezel solely within the field. O&W estimates not more than 500 have been made, which is why classic examples floor principally in collector circles.

The Specs That Have an effect on Each day Put on

On the wrist it’s a brushed 316L metal case, 39.5 mm throughout and 12.5 mm thick, with a pleasant 48 mm lug-to-lug. Sturdiness is the shock: a sapphire crystal, screw-down crown, and 300 m water resistance give it extra on a regular basis credibility than the pilot backstory suggests.

The dial does the true work. A black 24-hour dial with white Tremendous-LumiNova stays legible in the dead of night, and the bi-color bezel turns bidirectionally to trace a second zone. Beneath is a bespoke Soprod P125 computerized (4 Hz, 25 jewels, 42-hour reserve, -7/+7 seconds a day), a real 24-hour motion somewhat than a standard caliber carrying a novelty dial. It ships on a black Italian leather-based strap, with a 20 mm M-Hyperlink bracelet as a paid additional. Pricing is CHF 1,956, about $2,435.

Adjustments From the 1965 Authentic

This isn’t a one-to-one remake. The brand new watch is bigger, thicker, computerized, and extra waterproof, which might be the best name for a contemporary on a regular basis watch at CHF 1,956 ($2,435).

Who It Is For, and Who Ought to Skip It

Purchase the EB-24 when you like device watches and wish one thing that doesn’t appear to be each different black-dial sports activities watch. It’s particularly compelling when you use 24-hour time at work, journey throughout time zones, or acquire O&W, for the reason that authentic is uncommon and this brings again what made it memorable.

Skip it in order for you prompt readability in a traditional format, or when you want a US direct checkout right now, since O&W says direct US gross sales are briefly unavailable and consumers ought to use licensed sellers. Skip it too in case you are primarily paying for a bracelet, as a result of the listed value contains solely the leather-based strap. It is usually a demanding first mechanical watch, for the reason that 24-hour show asks extra of the wearer.

Sensible Options

If you’re comparability buying, begin with our Greatest Citizen Watches of 2026, our 10 Greatest Sports activities Watches Below $300 in 2026, and our 7 Classic Fashion Dive Watches Below $500 Value Gathering.

Execs and Cons

The EB-24’s strongest asset is its true 24-hour show, backed by actual provenance within the Intelsat I connection and Vietnam-era army gross sales. It wears properly at 39.5 mm, and the construct, with sapphire, a screw-down crown, 300 m water resistance, and the bespoke Soprod P125, outclasses the backstory.

The catch is identical 24-hour show: it takes adjustment and won’t click on for everybody, particularly anybody who desires prompt legibility. And at CHF 1,956, about $2,435, that is fanatic territory somewhat than an off-the-cuff purchase.

🛒 Worth: CHF 1,956 (About $2,435)
The place to Purchase: Ollech & Wajs

The place This Leaves You

The Early Chicken EB-24 works as a result of it’s bizarre for a cause. The 24-hour dial will not be ornament, the bezel is not only a colour development, and the watch’s actual viewers was individuals who wanted a transparent 24-hour readout. Don’t purchase it as a primary mechanical watch, and don’t purchase it in order for you the quickest look on the time. However when you already know why a 24-hour dial appeals to you, it is likely one of the extra attention-grabbing Swiss tool-watch releases of the 12 months.

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(as of July 3, 2026 14:35 GMT -05:00 – Extra informationProduct costs and availability are correct as of the date/time indicated and are topic to vary. Any value and availability data displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] on the time of buy will apply to the acquisition of this product.)