Glass Celebrates… Omega watches

OMEGA, the prestigious and innovative Swiss watchmaking company, has been embarking on a journey of creating enduring timepieces since 1848. While setting high standards of quality and precision in the industry, the spirit of the house flourished into one of the most world-renowned watch brands.

Omega has achieved countless conquests; they are the only watch brand ever to go into outer space with NASA, and 27 Olympic Games to date have used Omega timekeeping, including Rio de Janeiro this year.

From making pocket watches in an assembly workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland to inventing technologies that solved problems which perplexed watchmakers for centuries, over 165 years Omega is a watch brand that has made its mark in history.

Omega founder, Louis Brandt

1848 Louis Brandt creates a pocket watch assembly workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

1889 After relocating the brand to Bienne, Louis Brandt & Fils becomes the largest watch company in Switzerland, with 600 employees and an annual production of 100,000 pieces.

1932 Omega times their first Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Since then, some of the most important sports events throughout the world have been timed by Omega.

Omega at the Olympics

1943 With its 30 mm wrist calibre, Omega becomes the official watch supplier to the British Royal Air Force during WWII.

The Speedmaster Chronograph by Omega was used by NASA as its official watch

1965 After testing several watch brands under conditions of zero gravity and magnetic fields, the NASA space programme choose Omega’s Speedmaster Chronograph as its official watch.

1994 Omega launches the world’s first wristwatch with a central tourbillon.

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra

2013 The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra is launched, equipped with a Co-Axial calibre 8508, the world’s first truly anti-magnetic mechanical watch mechanism.

Omega watches

2015 The Omega Globemaster becomes the first watch to earn the Master Chronometer certification. To earn this, a watch must pass eight rigorous tests set by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology. The Master Chronometer sets yet another benchmark in the watchmaking world.

by Sara Hesikova