Omega SA

Omega SA
Omega SA
Type Private (subsidiary of the Swatch Group)
Industry Watch manufacturing
Founded 1848
Founder(s) Louis Brandt
Headquarters Bienne, Switzerland
Key people Nicolas G. Hayek, Chairman
Stephen Urquhart, President
Products Watches
Parent The Swatch Group
Website omegawatches.com

Omega SA (UK: /ˈoʊmɨɡə/, US: /oʊˈmeɪɡə/) is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Omega is one of the most well-known and recognized watches in the world. Omega watch was the choice of NASA and the first watch on the Moon in 1969. Omega was the official timekeeping device of the Olympic Games. James Bond has worn it in films since 1995; other famous Omega wearers are John F. Kennedy,[1] Prince William, Buzz Aldrin, Joe Biden, George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Michael Phelps, Zhang Ziyi, Stephen Colbert and Cindy Crawford.[2] Omega estimates that seven out of every ten people have heard of Omega watches.[3] Omega is owned by the Swatch Group.

Contents

History

Foundation

The workbench of Louis Brandt with a photograph of the founder.
Omega medical chronograph with outer pulsations track, ca. 1951
Omega Seamaster De Ville, an early "waterproof" watch, with automatic movement and date, in 14k gold

The forerunner of Omega was founded at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1848 by 23-year-old Louis Brandt, who assembled key-wound precision pocket watches from parts supplied by local craftsmen. He sold his watches from Italy to Scandinavia by way of England, his chief market. After Louis Brandt's death in 1879, his two sons Louis-Paul and César, troubled by irregular deliveries of questionable quality, abandoned the unsatisfactory assembly workshop system in favour of in-house manufacturing and total production control.

Relocation

Due to the greater supply of manpower, communications and energy in Biel/Bienne, the enterprise moved into a small factory in January 1880, then bought the entire building in December. Two years later the company moved into a converted spinning-factory in the Gurzelen area of Biel/Bienne, where its headquarters are still situated today.

Their first series-produced calibres, Labrador and Gurzelen, as well as the famous Omega calibre of 1894, would ensure the brand's marketing success.

Merger

Louis-Paul and César Brandt both died in 1903, leaving one of Switzerland's largest watch companies — with 240,000 watches produced annually and employing 800 people — in the hands of four young people, the oldest of whom, Paul-Emile Brandt, was not yet 24.

Brandt was the great architect and builder of Omega.[4] His influence would be felt over the next half-century. The economic difficulties brought on by the First World War would lead him to work actively from 1925 toward the union of Omega and Tissot, then to their merger in 1930 into the group SSIH, Geneva.

Under Brandt's leadership and Joseph Reiser's from 1955, the SSIH Group continued to grow and multiply, absorbing or creating some fifty companies, including Lemania, manufacturers of the most famous Omega chronograph movements. By the seventies, SSIH had become Switzerland's number one producer of finished watches and number three in the world. Up to this time, the Omega brand outsold Rolex, its main Swiss rival in the luxury watch segment, although Rolex watches sold at a higher price point. Around this time it was viewed as Rolex versus Omega in the competition for the "King of Swiss Watch brands". Omega watches tended to be more revolutionary and more professional focused, while Rolex watches were more ‘evolutionary’ and famous for their mechanical pieces and brand.[5][6][7]

While Omega and Rolex had dominated in the pre-quartz era, this changed in the 1970s. That was when Japanese watch manufacturers such as Seiko and Citizen rose to dominance due to their pioneering of quartz movement. In response, Rolex continued concentrating on its expensive mechanical chronometers where its expertise lay (though it did have some experimentation in quartz), while Omega tried to compete with the Japanese in the quartz watch market with Swiss made quartz movements.[8][9]

Financial takeover

Weakened by the severe monetary crisis and recession of 1975 to 1980, SSIH was bailed out by the banks in 1981. During this period, Seiko expressed interest in acquiring Omega, but nothing came out of the talks.

Switzerland's other watch making giant Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG - supplier of a large range of Swiss movements and watch assemblers) was in economic difficulty. It was the principal manufacturer of Ébauche (unfinished movements) and owner, through their sub-holding company GWC (General Watch Co), of various other Swiss watch brands including Longines, Rado, Certina and Mido.

After drastic financial restructuring, the R&D departments of ASUAG and SSIH merged production operations at the ETA complex in Granges. The two companies completely merged forming ASUAG-SSIH, a holding company, in 1983.

Two years later this holding company was taken over by a group of private investors led by Nicolas Hayek. Renamed SMH, Société de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie, this new group over the next decade proceeded to become one of the top watch producers in the world.[10] In 1998 it became the Swatch Group, which now manufactures Omega and other brands such as Blancpain, Swatch, and Breguet.

Omega'a brand experienced a resurgence with advertisement that focused on product placement strategies, such as in the James Bond 007 films; the character had previously wore a Rolex Submariner but switched to the Omega Seamaster with GoldenEye (1995) and stayed with the latter ever since. Omega also adopted many elements of Rolex’s business model (i.e. higher pricing, tighter controls of dealer pricing, increasing advertising, etc.) which was successful in increasing Omega's market share and name recognition to become more of a direct competitor to Rolex.[11][12]

Movements and the co-axial escapement

In 1999, with the successful own development of Calibre 2500,[13] Omega made history by introducing the first mass-produced watch incorporating the co-axial escapement — invented by English watchmaker George Daniels. Considered by many[14] to be one of the more significant horological advances since the invention of the lever escapement, the co-axial escapement functions with virtually no lubrication, thereby eliminating one of the shortcomings of the traditional lever escapement. Through using radial friction instead of sliding friction at the impulse surfaces the co-axial escapement significantly reduces friction, theoretically resulting in longer service intervals and greater accuracy over time.[15]

On January 24, 2007 Omega unveiled its new Calibres 8500[16] and 8501, two co-axial (25,200 bph) movements created exclusively from inception by Omega.

Omega watches in space exploration

The Omega Speedmaster, or "Moonwatch", selected by NASA for all the Apollo missions

The selection of the "Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph" for American astronauts was the subject of a rivalry between Omega and Bulova.[17]

All subsequent manned NASA missions also used this handwound wristwatch. NASA started selecting the chronograph in the early 60s and automatic chronograph wristwatches were not available until 1969.

However all the instrument panel clocks and time-keeping mechanisms in the spacecraft on those space missions were Bulova Accutrons with tuning fork movements,[citation needed] because at the time NASA did not know how well a mechanical movement would work in zero gravity.

First watch on the moon

The "Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph" was the first watch on the moon, worn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Armstrong's watch is now displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.[18] Aldrin's is believed lost. He mentions in his book, Return to Earth, that when donating several items to the Smithsonian Institution, his Omega was one of the few things that was stolen from his personal effects.[19]

In 2007, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph, the Omega company unveiled the commemorative Speedmaster Professional Chronograph Moonwatch. The watch had the distinctive features of the first hand-winding Omega Speedmaster introduced in 1957. It was sold in an edition of 5,957.[20]

Notable Owners

Copyright Lawsuit

Omega is currently in a lawsuit against wholesaler Costco over grey market imports of Omega watches that challenges the legality of the first-sale doctrine with regards to international imports, Omega v. Costco.[27] This lawsuit has been granted certiorari by the Supreme Court of the United States.[28]

Sponsorship, product placement, advertising, and sport

James Bond

The Omega Seamaster, a deep diving watch. The second crown (at 10 o'clock) is a helium release valve to allow helium out of the watch after diving at great depth. The watch is similar to that shown in recent James Bond films, in which this valve is transformed into improbable hidden gadgets.

Omega has been associated with James Bond movies since 1995. That year, Pierce Brosnan took over the role of James Bond and began wearing the Omega Seamaster Quartz Professional (model 2541.80.00) in the movie GoldenEye. In all later films, Brosnan wore an Omega Seamaster Professional Chronometer (model 2531.80.00). The producers wanted to update the image of the fictional "super-spy" to a more distinctly sophisticated "Euro" look.[29]

Another possible reason for the change from the Rolex Submariner that Bond had previously worn was a change in the business environment surrounding modern high-profile films and product placement. Omega was eager to participate in high profile co-promotions/product placement opportunities, especially the James Bond franchise, to further its brand image/awareness. It accomplished this by supplying products and finance (something that the conservative Rolex company avoids, presumably because it sees no benefit for itself).[30]

For the 40th anniversary of James Bond (2002) a commemorative edition of the watch was made available model 2537.80.00 (10,007 units). The watch is identical to the model 2531.80.00 except the blue watch dial had a 007 logo inscribed across it and also machined into the caseback. The band also had 007 inscribed on the clasp.[31]

Daniel Craig, the current James Bond of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, also wears the Omega Seamaster: the Seamaster Planet Ocean (model 2900.50.91) in the first part of Casino Royale, and the Seamaster Professional 300M (model 2220.80.00) in the latter part (from travelling to Montenegro). He even goes so far as to mention Omega by name when questioned by Vesper Lynd. In connection with the launch of the film, Omega released an 007-special of the Professional 300M, featuring the 007-gun logo on the second hand and the rifle pattern on the watch face, this being a stylized representation of the gunbarrel sequence of Bond movies.[32]

Omega released a second James Bond limited edition watch in 2006. This was a Seamaster Planet Ocean model with a limited production of 5007 units. The model is similar to what Craig wears earlier on in the film; however, it has a small orange colored 007 logo on the second hand, an engraved caseback signifying the Bond connection, and an engraved 007 on the clasp.[33] In the newest movie, Quantum of Solace, Craig wears the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean with a black face and steel braclet (45mm version). Another limited edition was released featuring the checkered "PPK grip" face with the Quantum of Solace logo over it.

Sports sponsorship

Omega has frequently been the official timekeeper for the Olympics, beginning with the 1932 Summer Olympics. It was the official timekeeper for the 2006 Winter Olympics and for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and did the same for the 2010 Winter Olympics.[34] For the 2008 Olympics, Omega brought out an Olympic edition with its logo on the second hand. Olympic swimmer and multiple gold medalist Michael Phelps is an Omega Ambassador and wears the Seamaster Planet Ocean. Omega is also the official timekeeper for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.[35]

Providing support to Emirates Team New Zealand and representing the team's official watch, in 2007 Omega introduced the Seamaster NZL-32 chronograph, with the name suggested by the name of the boat that won the America's Cup in 1995. The watch was developed in cooperation with Dean Barker, skipper of Team New Zealand and Omega Ambassador.[36]

Omega also sponsored a number of golf tournaments.

Watch models

Rare Seamaster chronometer in stainless steel case w/ rose gold markers, Ca. 1949
The Seamaster Planet Ocean 600 M diving watch is currently Omega's newest version of the Seamaster Series.

For men

For women

See also

Factory 1b.svg Companies portal
  • Société de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie
  • Joseph Reiser
  • Ernst Thomke
  • Nicolas G. Hayek

References

  1. ^ JFK’s Omega Wristwatch acquired for the Omega Museum
  2. ^ Omega Ambassadors
  3. ^ Omega Seamaster VS Rolex Sea Dweller[dubious ]
  4. ^ Richon, Marco. 2007 Omega: A Journey through Time.
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ [3]
  8. ^ [4]
  9. ^ [5]
  10. ^ According to the DowJones Market Bulletin of January 18, 2008.
  11. ^ [6]
  12. ^ [7]
  13. ^ Omega Co-Axial 2500
  14. ^ See Europa Star technical notes.
  15. ^ Phillip Woodward, Performance of the Daniels Coaxial Escapement (PDF), British Horological Institute Horological Journal, August 2004 (retrieved on 2007-02-21).
  16. ^ Omega 8500 hour vision
  17. ^ Alan A. Nelson, "The Moon Watch: A History of the Omega Speedmaster Professional", NAWCC Bulletin, February 1993.
  18. ^ Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronographs Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, 2004.
  19. ^ Alan A. Nelson, "The Moon Watch: A History of the Omega Speedmaster Professional", NAWCC Bulletin via [8], February 1993 issue (retrieved on 2007-02-21).
  20. ^ Omega Speedmaster's 50th Anniversary
  21. ^ [9]
  22. ^ [10]
  23. ^ Xin Hua News
  24. ^ OMEGA Watche, Michael Phelps
  25. ^ OMEGA Watche, George Clooney
  26. ^ OMEGA Watche, Nicole Kidman
  27. ^ Omega v. Costco 541 F.3d 982 (2008)
  28. ^ http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2010/04/19/certiorari-granted-in-costco-v-omega/ SCOTUS grants Cert
  29. ^ "James Bond's Choice: The Omega Seamaster", commanderbond.net, 2004-03-29 (retrieved on 2007-02-21).
  30. ^ "The 007 Connection", chronocentric.com (retrieved on 2007-02-21).
  31. ^ Lara Magzan, "The business of Bond...James Bond", CNN/Money, 2002-11-25 (retrieved on 2007-02-21).
  32. ^ Devin Zydel, "Omega Presents James Bond Exhibition in Geneva", Commanderbond.net 2007-01-06 (retrieved on 2007-02-21).
  33. ^ Devin Zydel, "Omega Casino Royale Limited Series Planet Ocean Watch Announced", commanderbond.net 2006-11-05 (retrieved on 2007-02-21).
  34. ^ "Official Timekeeper Omega unveils the Vancouver 2010 Countdown Clock", Olympic.org, 2007-02-13 (retrieved on 2007-02-21).
  35. ^ LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES
  36. ^ Omega Seamaster for Team New Zealand

External links


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