Omega has had a long standing relationship with the Olympic Movement, over 75 years in partnership with the Olympics has led to the Swiss watch maker’s name becoming synonymous with Olympic Timekeeping.
The Omega Seamaster Olympics 2012 Model
Since first being entrusted with the official timekeeping of all events at the games in 1932, the company has provided incredibly reliability and accuracy. Originally using stop watches and chronographs developed by their subsidiary Lémania, the brand has pioneered many aspects of sports timekeeping.
One of the original pioneering designs that Omega is responsible for is the world’s first portable, water resistant and independent photoelectric cell which was debuted in 1945. This was then followed by the worlds first ever photo finish camera, name the Racent Omega Timer from 1949, this major innovation solved the huge problem of crowded finishing lines in races. In 1952, Omega became the first company to provide electronic timing for a sporting event, with the Omega Time Recorder, which was accurate to within 0.05 seconds in 24 hours.
At the same games, Omega was awarded the Olympic Cross of Merit due to its “exceptional services to the world of sportâ€. By 1961 Omega had created the Omegascope which allowed the time of all competitors followed by the TV cameras to be superimposed onto the TV screen.
In 1967 Omega released “contact padsâ€, which were used in swimming competitions, and to this day remain in use at all the major swimming events around the world. By 1990, the brand was expanding sports timekeeping to the masses, with the Scan’O’Vision, a low cost version of Omegas latest photo finish camera.
With such a long history of working with the Olympics, Omega releases a watch especially for each Olympics. The Omega Olympics Watch is always eagerly anticipated by watch enthusiasts, as often the watch has a unique design compared to other similar Omega watches.