News To mark its 22nd participation in the Olympic Games, Omega is launching a commemorative pocket watch, as well as a new advertising campaign focusing on the key role of timekeeping in these international games.
On November 23 at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Omega has launched a new print ad campaign featuring a series of posters celebrating "Great Moments in Time" and the key role of sports timekeeping at the Olympic Games. The first company ever called upon to time all events at an Olympic Games, Omega supplied 30 chronographs for the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and from 1932 through the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games has served as Official Timekeeper at a total of 22 Olympic Games.
The Great Moments in Time posters highlight great human stories at the Olympic Games. One such story features Canadian alpine skier Diana Gordon-Lennox, who finished last in the Alpine Combined event at the 1936 Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and received a standing ovation for her troubles - she had completed the final two runs with a broken arm and only one pole. At the 1956 Olympic Winter Games, held in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Anton Sailer finished an incredible 6.2 seconds ahead of his nearest rival in the Giant Slalom, a gap so large he assumed Omega's timekeepers had made a mistake. They had not, and Sailer thus recorded the greatest margin of victory in the history of Alpine Skiing at the Olympic Games. One of the most famous of all "Great Moments" was the heart-stopping gold-medal ice hockey match at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, which saw a team of U.S. college students defeat the heavily favoured Soviet Union team by a score of 4-3.
On the same day and at the same place, Stephen Urquhart, President of Omega, unveiled a new exclusive timepiece from the Museum collection: a gold pocket watch which is an "improved" reproduction of the chronographs used in Los Angeles in 1932. Accompanied by Nick Hayek, president of the general management of the Swatch Group, he presented this historic piece to the president of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge).
The Omega Pocket Watch 1932 is powered by the calibre 3889A, a high performance movement with an integrated rattrapante chronograph mechanism controlled by a double column wheel. The 24" (53.7 mm) movement, assembled from restored and enhanced components, beats at 36,000 alternations per hour, enabling measurements accurate to 1/10th of a second, and has been certified by COSC as a chronometer. The Omega Pocket Watch 1932 will be available in a limited edition of 300 pieces. The movement is housed in yellow, gold or red watchcases (100 of each); the white enamel dial is a faithful replica of the 1932 design. The case back opens to reveal the movement, protected by a scratch resistant sapphire crystal. Stamped on the case back is the official five ring logo of the Olympic Games. The title "Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games" and the words "Limited Edition" are engraved on the case back, along with the edition number of each piece for each of the yellow, white and red gold editions.
After Turin, Omega will also be the official timekeeper at the Paralympic Games (Turin, 10-19 March 2006), the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and those in Vancouver in 2010. Moreover, an announcement concerning subsequent Olympiads appears likely, since according to Nick Hayek, Stephen Urquhart and Jacques Rogge, negotiations are proceeding apace.
December 06, 2005
