Omega Watches – An Interesting Look At The History Behind These Deluxe Watches

Designed to the nth degree, the Omega watch brand is a staple on many a well-to-do man’s dresser; tucked safely away inside its luxurious velvet box, ensuring this extremely fine timepiece will be free from dust and scratches when not eloquently strapped to its owner’s wrist.

Now let’s take a brief but intriguing look at the history behind these luxurious watches long before they signed Hollywood A-list stars Nicole Kidman and George Clooney, as well as tennis superstar Maria Sharapova, to become their celebrity endorsers.

The fairy tale known as the Omega Watch Company actually started way back in the 19th Century -1848 to be exact, when the Omega founder, Louis Brandt, a Swiss watchmaker who resided in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, began creating his “Omega” masterpieces. Of course, back then he constructed each piece using only his bare hands by meticulously assembling each watch piece by piece.

Brandt made were pocket watches, because back then they were the timepiece that was considered to be vogue and were highly requested and cherished. In the mid 1800’s the thought of attaching a bracelet to their time piece never even crossed someone’s mind. Sadly, Mr. Louis Brandt passed away in 1879 and he left his modest company to his boys, Louis Paul Brandt and Cesar Brandt who carried on their father’s tradition of impeccable pocket watch craftsmanship. They made a decision to rename the company ‘Bienne’ in Jan 1880.

Louis Brandt passed away in 1879 and he left his modest company to his boys, Louis Paul Brandt and Cesar Brandt who carried on their pop’s tradition of impeccable pocket watch craftsmanship. They decided to rename the company ‘Bienne’ in Jan 1880.

One of the individuals was Paul Brandt, who not only inherited the Brandt family name but their entrepreneurial instincts also. At only twenty-three years old, Paul was really the oldest of the 4 who took control of the Omega watch company after the death of the Brandt siblings.

Luckily, the amalgamation between Tissot and Omega was a large success, which is why in a comparatively brief time the SSIH group grew to over fifty other firms including Lemania, Lanco and Hamilton. And in a comparatively short time period, the SSIH group has managed to position themselves as the 3rd largest producer of high end watches, as well as watch movements in the world.

Fortunately, the alliance between Tissot and Omega was a gigantic success, which is why in a relatively short time the SSIH group grew to over fifty other corporations including Lemania, Lanco and Hamilton. And in a comparatively short period of time, the SSIH group has managed to position themselves as the 3rd largest producer of luxury watches, as well as watch movements in the world. Vintage Omega watches that are still highly sought and are famous to this day.

During the Second World War, Omega built a solid name for themselves by coming out with army and pilot watches for soldiers. Other popular watches from that age were the Omega Speed master chronograph, the Omega Sea master waterproof sports watch and the Omega Constellation watches, which are all still stupendously favored.

During an economic downturn in 1980, Omega found itself once again merging with another Swiss watch giant – ASUAG, which manufactures and produces other popular Swiss watches such as Swatch, Longings and Rado. The new company that emerged from the Omega-ASUAG merger was called the ASUAG-SSIH company. Unfortunately, even the combined resources of the newly formed company was unable to fight off the economic slump that Omega was facing during that time which resulted in the newly formed company to be taken over by a private group. The ASUAG-SSIH company was renamed and shortened to just SMH which still exists today.

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