MINI-MOVIE: A short history of Omega, told in irreplaceable watches

Editor’s Note: Almost a year ago to the day we held our first ever Time+Tide event, the Night of Omega Firsts – a small gathering of Omega lovers, an intimate dinner looking over the Melbourne skyline, 12 irreplaceable watches that represented various ‘firsts’ for the brand and Petros Protopapas, Omega’s Museum Manager in full flight, describing them. The result was a very special evening – and a video that is well worth twelve and a half minutes of your time.

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The original concept for the event was humble enough. Get together a group of Omega loving watch people in a restaurant. Fly in some notable watches from Switzerland with an Omega representative. Discuss. Drink some wine. Happy days. What transpired on the evening of Sunday the 1st of December 2014 was so far beyond our expectations that we can still hardly believe it. It’s probably not outlandish to say that history was made. The watches were, in fact, a wide collection of Omega ‘firsts’. The first Omega dive watch. The first Omega wristwatch sized tourbillon. The first stopwatch they developed for the LA Olympic Games in ’32. The first timepiece to carry the ‘Omega’ calibre that later gave the company its name.

Over 100 years of Omega history in one room; rare pieces, super rare pieces and unique, prototype pieces.

But we’ve told you how the night went down – we’ve told you about the venue, the food, the company and the irrepressible enthusiasm of Omega Museum manager Petros Protopapas.

It’s time to show you.

To show you in the metal the watches that tell the story of one of the true greats of the watch industry – a household name, whose timepieces have been associated with practically every important event in modern history. But Omega is a brand that, as Petros was quick to point out, has a great many more stories to tell. And we can finally introduce you to the force, the fun, the fanaticism of Petros. In person. The watches are in chronological order and speak of Omega’s many accomplishments. If this whets your appetite for more detail, you can see all the watches Petros brought over here.

Enough talk. Please watch and enjoy.