Line History
In the mid-1960s Ollech & Wajs became one of the go-to suppliers of simple, rugged field watches for the US armed forces, distributed also through the military PX stores found on US bases. The M65 line achieved particular popularity among troops deployed in the Vietnam War, with supplies that, according to industry sources, reached, at their peak, several thousand pieces a year: a surprising figure for a company that today numbers only a handful of people, and one that shows just how heavily that conflict weighed on the brand's commercial history.
In 1969 O&W made the K-101, a commemorative watch created for the US Army's 2nd Infantry Division — nicknamed "Indianhead" after its emblem featuring a Native American chief — then stationed along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas following its deployment in Vietnam. The black dial with high-contrast indices and the rotating bezel with a countdown scale became the reference aesthetic language for the brand's entire family of military watches in the years that followed.
The line's modern reissues, produced under Charles Le Menestrel's ownership, directly draw on these historic codes: the MK-102 relaunches the K-101 with the 2nd Infantry Division's insignia and the "DMZ69" inscription on the dial, while the MV-82 offers a variant dedicated to the 82nd Airborne Division, with the unit's distinctive beret and a compass bezel designed for terrain orientation. Both are fitted with an automatic Soprod P024 caliber and produced in numbered, limited series.
Technical Specifications
Main Executions
The M65 line's oversized crown, designed from the start to be operated even with combat gloves on, is a practical detail the modern reissues have faithfully kept: a small feature that says a lot about the nature of these watches, designed for real operational use rather than aesthetics.