OMEGA (Ω) is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and symbolizes accomplishment and perfection - qualities that have been inherent in every OMEGA watch since the company's founding by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, in 1848. The brand's reputation for innovation and quality has led to numerous awards over the company's 150-year history, starting as early as 1900 with the Grand Prix at the Paris World Fair and continuing with the world precision record of 97.8 points at the Kew-Teddington observatory in England in 1936. OMEGA went on to be official timekeeper at no less than 21 Olympic Games, bringing numerous innovations to Olympic sports over the years, such as the first electronic timekeeping at the Helsinki games in 1952 - the same year in which the company was awarded the Olympic Cross of Merit for its outstanding contribution to sport. Because its precision and reliability, OMEGA's Speedmaster watch was chosen by NASA as its official chronometer in 1965 and 4 years later was the first watch to be worn on the moon, when, on 21 July 1969, Neil Armstrong made his giant leap for mankind. In more recent years, OMEGA has continued to build on its reputation for precision and innovation, presenting the world's first self-winding wristwatch with central tourbillon (launched in 1994) and the revolutionary coaxial escapement was developed in conjunction with renowned English master watchmaker George Daniels first offered in limited series in 1999. OMEGA owes a large part of its watchmaking excellence to the quality of its movements. These magnificent watches are highly collectible, and hold a very special place in many collectors showcases. There seems to be an aura about Omega watches that captivate this collector especially. History of OMEGA: 1825 • Birth of Louis Brandt. 1848 • Louis Brandt opened a Comptoir of établissage, a sales outlet for watches manufactures under sous-traitance. 1880 • The brothers Louis-Paul et César Brandt manufactured watches using modern procedures in Bienne. They signed their productions JURA, PATRIA, HELVETIA, CELTIC and GURZELEN. 1885 • The pallet caliber LABRADOR reached working precision of 30 seconds per day. 1889 • LOUIS BRANDT & Son became the biggest industrial company in Swiss horology, with and annual production of 100,000 watches. 1892 • Creation, in cooperation with AUDEMARS PIGUET, of the first minute repeater wristwatch in the world. 1894 • A new caliber of fob watches went into mass production and won popularity for the simplicity of its construction and the interchangeability of its parts. The banker Henri Rieckel suggested the name OMEGA. 1903 • The success of the new name led the firm to drop all other names. 1909 • For the first time, OMEGA ventured into sports chronometers, during the international balloon races, in particular the Gordon Bennett Cup. 1917 • The British Royal Airforce chose OMEGA watches for its squadrons. 1918 • The US Army followed suit in its choice of OMEGA. 1919 • OMEGA chronometers won the Neuchâtel Observatory precision prize, the first of around twenty collected by 1971. 1933 • OMEGA obtained the world record for precision. 1936 • OMEGA obtained its 2nd world record for precision. 1946 • World record for precision. 1957 • Creation of the OMEGA SPEEDMASTER wristwatch chronograph. 1965 • Following extremely exacting tests, NASA chose the SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL chronometer. 1967 • OMEGA obtained the millionth official certificate for precision for a chronometer. 1969 • On July 21, at 2H56 GMT, the astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon. He was wearing an OMEGA SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL wristwatch. 1970 •At the request of Commander Cousteau, OMEGA created the SEAMASTER PROFESSIONAL 600 (known as the PLOPROF, from “plongeur professionnel” or professional diver). This completely water resistant watch, in its “monobloc” case with bolted winding crown and won the world record for deep-sea diving. 1972 • OMEGA obtained the 2,000,000th official precision certificate. 1974 • Launch of the marine MEGAQUARTZ chronometer. 1983 • Inauguration of the OMEGA Museum, December 16. 1995 • Introduction of the first wristwatch in the world with automatic winding crown and central tourbillon. 1999 • World first with the automatic 2500 caliber inspired by an invention by the English master watch-craftsman George Daniel, OMEGA perfected the CO-AXIAL ESCAPEMENT wristwatch and started mass production. 2001 • Launch of MUSEUM collection with re-issue of PILOT’S WATCH. 2002 • COSMIC MUSEUM Collection. 2003 •Launch of RAILMASTER. Launch of MUSEUM Collection N°4. Check out the link below. There are pictures and history of vintage Omega watches: http://www.omegamuseum.com/official Comments are closed.
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Old Time WatchesI enjoy collecting mechanical (manual wind and automatic) and early electric and quartz timepieces. I take great pleasure in researching and writing about the companies and people that created these beautiful watches. PF
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September 2018
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