Omega Wristwatches and Chronographers

Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond Collectors Edition Chronographer

Omega Introduces Two New Watch Collections

The twenty-fourth Summer Olympic Games in Beijing were sufficient occasion for its official timekeeper to introduce two watch collections with some special limited editions in 2008. The brand name Omega has been inextricably linked with sports timekeeping under the banner of the five Olympic rings since 1932. it is impossible to consider the remarkable success of the tenth Olympic Games and the unequaled athletic performances that took place there without mentioning the role played by Omega’s timekeeping in this international event.’ With these words William M. Henry, technical director of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932, thanked Omega for its first assignment as official timekeeper. The Swiss representatives had brought thirty mechanical stopwatches with them to California, astonishing officials there with timekeeping more precise than anyone had ever seen to that point. In 1948, Omega installed the Racend Timer at the finish line of the London track. This ‘magic eye’ was a camera connected to a set of mechanical stopwatches and controlled by a photo cell. The first quartz time recorder system followed in Helsinki in 1952, and then in 1968 in Mexico the first fully electronic timekeeping system was officially in place in all disciplines. The Photosprint finish-line camera took the place of handheld stopwatches and was able to produce a photo print of the finish with superimposed finishing-time lines—only thirty seconds after the end of the race. With these advances, Omega revolutionized sports timekeeping.

And yet timekeeping at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing has broken all previous records. Twenty-eight disciplines competed at thirty-seven different venues, with up to twenty races taking place and being timed simultaneously. It was a monumental achievement to keep track of everything and deliver accurate race results in extremely close fields—all with a margin of error of zero. The race times were not only determined, but were also recorded, processed, and presented in a great variety of formats—and were even projected as gigantic real-time displays in the stadium. A command center formed the timekeeping activities’ hub and the point where all information converged from 420 tons of equipment shipped from Europe to Asia, including 81 large and 322 small scoreboards and 65 TV transmitters. The center was linked to all signal sources in the entire stadium, delivering not only the official television transmission, but also graphic interpretations of the race results, split times, starter lists, rankings, and informational graphs to broadcasting agencies around the world.

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New Omega Watch Collections Introduced During the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Omega launched the first watches of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Collection one year before the Olympic torch was lit in the Bird’s Nest Stadium. The first of the limited editions was based on the Constellation ‘95, one of the brands best-selling models. Some 888 timepieces each in yellow and rose gold were issued as men’s and ladies’ models, as well as 2,008 models in a two-tone stainless steel and yellow gold edition.

The Omega De Ville Co-Axial Chronographer

Omega presented the De Ville Co-Axial Chronograph Ladies Limited Edition, a chronograph with a richly jeweled bezel and dial, on October 25, 2007—exactly 288 days before the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. This timepiece is available as a limited edition of 288 watches each in yellow, rose, and white gold. Precisely 188 days before the games began retailers placed two limited editions of the Seamaster Aqua Terra in showcases, limited to 2,008 timepieces each.

Wrapping up Omega’s horological festivities, eighty-eight Seamaster XXIV models were sold each day during the Olympics, available only during the two-week duration of the games. This model pays homage to the Seamaster XVI, originally issued on the occasion of the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.

Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronographer

Timeless Omega Chronographs

The Timeless line is reminiscent of the Omega chronographs mentioned above, which started a tradition at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. While the Beijing Collection comprises solely variations on other models, Omega offers watch fans a technically extraordinary watch in the Timeless’s Speedmaster Five Counter Chronograph. The real eye-catcher on this timepiece is its five totalizers arranged on the dial in the form of the Olympic rings. The Speedmaster Date and Speedmaster Broad Arrow keep to a modest look with a clean color scheme and numerals in vintage design. Both the Olympic rings adorning the second hand’s counterbalance and the historical Omega logo offer the only discreet indications that this watch is part of the Timeless series. The Seamaster Planet Ocean includes all of the features of the classic diver’s watch, and only unobtrusively hints that it, too, is part of the special collection. Omega rounds out the Timeless line with a few men’s and ladies De ‘Ville models.

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