The Omega watch is one of the most recognized brands in the world. Seven out of ten people have heard of Omega watches. When you think of the hundreds of different watches on the market today that is a very high number. How did Omega become so famous? Let's look at the history of the Omega watch as a company and today as a flagship brand of the Swatch Group.



In 1848 Louis Brandt was an aspiring 23 year old who began making precision key wound watches from parts he would get from local craftsmen. Located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Brandt had an assembly workshop that he ran until his death in 1879. When he died he left the business to his two sons, Louis-Paul and Ceasar.

By 1903 they had built their business into one of Switzerland's largest watch companies with over 240,000 watches being built every year. They had over 800 employees. Both men died in 1903 and left the company to four young people including Paul-Emile Brandt. World War I took its tool on many businesses and in 1925 Paul-Emile began to work at merging Omega and Tissot. This was eventually done in 1930 as both companies were merged into the SSIH group.

1948 the Seamaster was created and in 1957 the Seamaster 300. In 1981 Seamaster 120 was a new brand and set a new world free dive record at a depth of 101 meters. The Seamaster is also well known for being the watch worn in the James Bond movies.

On March 1, 1965 OMEGA's Speedmaster chronograph was "flight-qualified by NASA for all manned space missions" as the only wristwatch to have withstood the entire U.S. space agency's severe tests. On 21 July 1969 - 02:56 GMT, the Speedmaster records man's first steps on the Moon's surface.

The Speedmaster became the first, and to this day, the only watch to be worn on the Moon. Because of that it earned the nickname: the Moon Watch. In April 1970 the OMEGA Speedmaster earned the "Snoopy Award" for its role in helping resuce the astronauts on Apollo 13.

Through the years SSIH was the number one watch manufacturer in Switzerland and they were the third largest in the world. Over time SSIH was a very profitable business and continued to flourish until 1975 when they began to feel the effects a recession and in 1981 they were bailed out by their banks to stay afloat.

In 1985 the holding company was taken over by a group of private investors. They renamed it SMH and quickly achieved rapid growth and success to become today's top watch producer in the world. In 1998 it was named the Swatch group and OMEGA continues to be one of the most recognizable and prestigious brands they manufacturer.

Copyright (c) 2007 Patrick Bedford