« The Legacy of Timekeeping »
The Omega brand is closely tied to sport. This stems from extensive sponsorship activities as well as from the brand's presence as official timekeeper at prestigious sporting events, most notably the Olympic Games. These activities, which now span several decades, have become a remarkable constant in the company's history. This is also reflected in the brand's collections, which are regularly enriched by special Omega Olympic editions.
Los Angeles 1932: Omega Makes Its Olympic Debut
When the Summer Games were held in Los Angeles in 1932, they also marked Omega's debut as Olympic timekeeper. By that point, the company already looked back on more than 80 years of history. Over that time, it had increasingly focused on producing particularly high-quality, precise watches. In the first decades of the 20th century, the brand had also earned an excellent reputation as a maker of watches for specialized purposes. Alongside pilot's watches and professional dive watches, these included sports watches.
Directly ahead of its first appearance on the Olympic stage, the brand, following a cooperation with Tissot dating back to 1925, had merged with it to form the Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère, usually referred to simply as the SSIH group. In the Olympic year of 1932, the company Lemania joined as well. Serving as official timekeeper for all Olympic disciplines in Los Angeles did much to strengthen the brand's international reputation, and it also marked the start of a commitment repeatedly defined by groundbreaking innovations.
Omega as a Driver of Progress in Watch Technology and at the Olympics
A particular milestone in this regard was the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, where Omega once again served as timekeeper. That year, the Swiss became the first company in history to use electronic timing technology in sport. Omega's Time Recorder, developed specifically for the Olympics and used for the first time at an international sporting event, therefore marks not only an important advance in watch technology but also a decisive step in the history of sport. Benchmark-setting developments in this field included, for example, the OMEGAscope and the contact pad used for timing swimming events, as well as the Scan'O'Vision photo-finish camera.
In the recent past, too, at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the brand with the Greek letter was on site as Olympic timekeeper for the 27th time, following London 2012 and Rio 2016. No wonder the company proudly highlights this on its website, emphasizing that it is responsible for every single second of every competition, from the starting line to the scoreboard.
Timekeeping Through the Ages
An interesting comparison vividly illustrates how rapidly the technology has evolved: for the 1932 Olympics, a single watchmaker was sent to faraway California, carrying 30 split-seconds chronographs in his luggage. Today, by contrast, an entire army of specialists is needed to install, operate and maintain all the equipment on site.
And instead of 30 chronographs, the equipment that has to be shipped to the venue now adds up to around 450 tons.
Omega Olympic Editions – Popular and Coveted Among Many Watch Fans
It has now become a fine tradition for Omega to release an Olympic edition to mark the Olympic Games. The models in this series are very popular with many watch enthusiasts and can now be found in numerous collections. Typically, they are selected models from the current collection that differ from the other versions in certain details of design and color, while their technical specifications essentially match those of the respective "base model."
Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150 M Co-Axial Master Chronometer 41 mm and 38 mm Tokyo 2020
For the Tokyo Olympics, officially the 2020 Olympic Games but actually held in July and August 2021, Omega created, for example, the Seamaster Aqua Terra 150 M Co-Axial Master Chronometer 41 mm Tokyo 2020 as an Omega Olympic edition. It stands out at first glance thanks to its dial, which picks up the checkered pattern of the official Tokyo Olympic Games emblem. It was originally designed by Japanese artist Asao Tokolo, who drew on a traditional Japanese checkerboard-like pattern known as "Ichimatsu Moyo."
The Omega Seamaster Tokyo 2020 is available as both a women's and a men's watch. While the 38 mm women's watch has a gold-plated case, the 41 mm men's version is made of stainless steel. The chronographs do share the same caseback, however: it offers a view of the limited edition's movement. The caseback crystal is also etched with the logo of the Tokyo Olympic Games. The men's Seamaster Olympic edition 2020 comes on a patterned rubber strap, while women can look forward to leather. Shades of blue dominate both the dial and the strap. What we particularly like about these limited series is that they don't reference the Tokyo Olympics at first glance, so they can be worn comfortably every day without that association.
