The Louis Brandt enterprise,founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland in 1848, that built the first Omega watch is now lost in a network of mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers. Still, the brand remains a awesome presence in the watch-making industry. Read more at our vintage omega watch for sale guide.
Paul Emile Brandt, a scion of Louis, acceded to the supervision of the business from his predecessors and built on their accomplishments. Indeed, he is regarded as the great builder behind Omega. The hardships brought about by the First World War, however, forced him to forge a merger of Omega and Tissot, another Swiss watchmaker based in Le Locle. This merger, the SSIH Group, eventually became the (top|primary|number one} manufacturer of finished watches in Switzerland, and number three globally.
The (financial|fiscal|monetary} debacle of 1975 to 1980 led to SSIH’s fiscal woes that it had to be saved by banks in 1981. In 1983, SSIH combined with the giant watchmaker that owns the Longines and Rado brands, the Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG). The united companies were now collectively called as the Holding ASUAG-SSIH. ASUAG-SSIH was bought by a group of private investors in 1985 and was renamed. In 1998, SMH was renamed The Swatch Group. Through all these, the Brandt family heritage, the Omega watch, remains one of the Swatch Group’s most respected commodities. 33
Such respect comes from the quality, precision, durability, innovations, and attractive design included into Omega watches. This is acknowledged in space exploration as well as in sports.
An Omega watch, the Speedmaster first traveled in space in 1963 with Wally Schirra on the Sigma 7 space mission. It was only in 1965, however, that the watch was formally adopted by NASA as its “Officially Certified Wristwatch for all Manned Space Missions.” Because of this accreditation, it holds the distinction of being the first wristwatch on the moon.
The Olympics and Omega have been partners as early as the 1932 Summer Olympics. This alliance was renewed in the 2006 Winter and in the 2008 Summer Olympics. The 2010 Winter Olympics will again be officially timed by Omega.