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Ever since humans began exploring the ocean’s depths, watch companies have been creating timepieces capable of withstanding the pressures of SCUBA diving. In the 1950s and 60s, companies like Blancpain, Rolex, and Omega raced to create watches with the greatest water resistance. However, a small collaborative brand outdid them all with a watch capable of reaching a depth of 1000 meters. It took Rolex well into the next decade before they made a watch that could go beyond that. One of those collaborators was Ollech & Wajs, and the legendary timepiece was named the Caribbean 1000.
Roughly thirty years later, when the internet was still in its early stages, if you were searching the web for dive watches, there’s a good chance you came across New Old Stock (NOS) Caribbean 1000 watches by Ollech & Wajs or Jenny. In its heyday, O&W produced nearly 10,000 watches per year. There were still quite a few unused watches available, and collectors were thrilled to have access to them. Despite barely surviving the quartz crisis of the 1970s, Albert Wajs remained in charge until 2017, when the brand was sold to Charles Le Menestrel. Since then, the brand has been revived with reimagined models from the past, such as the Caribbean.
To celebrate its 60th anniversary, O&W is launching the most authentic reproduction of the original Caribbean 1000 to date, the C-1000 A. From its short, triangle-shaped lugs, affectionately referred to as ‘Vampire fangs’ by collectors, to its narrow 12-hour bezel, which is bidirectional and features the same 20-minute diver’s scale as on the original. It looks and feels the part. The dimensions are also nearly identical, with a diameter of 39.5mm (the original was 39mm) and a thickness of 15.8mm, which is not too bad considering it is water-resistant to 1000 meters. It even has a similarly tall double-domed crystal now in sapphire glass.
The movement is where things get interesting. Over the years, one movement made its way into most of O&W’s watches: the ETA2824 automatic caliber. Unfortunately, the bad news is that ETA is reluctant to provide these movements to companies outside of the Swatch Group. However, some good news is that O&W still had 56 new old stock ETA 2824-2 movements on hand. So, the first 56 examples of the C-1000 A will be numbered editions and house this venerable caliber. All subsequent timepieces will feature the Soprod Newton Precision P092 movement. This movement has a full balance bridge and a 44-hour power reserve. It is regulated in 5 positions to maintain an accuracy of within +/- 5 seconds per day.
The Ollech & Wajs C-1000 A comes on a 20 mm, yellow nylon one-piece band, made in Great Britain, hand-finished in Switzerland, with two brushed stainless steel keepers and a pin buckle, signed ‘OWZ 1956’. You can also get it on a 20 mm rubber strap, which features an embossed centimeters/inches scale, morse code, and metric conversion table. It also comes with the same keepers and buckle. You even have a choice of 2 stainless steel bracelets: their S model, which is a beads-of-rice style with a double-deployant clasp, or their M model, which is a 20mm brushed mesh bracelet with reinforced ends and an OW-engraved pin buckle.
The C-1000 A starts at $2,188.93 after currency conversion. To reserve one of the 56 Numbered Editions, email [email protected] with your full name and contact details. The watch will be available for purchase at the end of August, and deliveries will start in early October. Ollech & Wajs
