| |
Louis-Paul and Cesar Brandt
both died in 1903, leaving one of Switzerland's largest watch companies
- with 240,000 watches produced annually and employing 800 people - in
the hands of four young people, the oldest of whom, Paul-Emile Brandt,
was not yet 24! Considered to be the great architect and builder of
OMEGA, Paul-Emile's influence would be felt over the next half-century.
The economic difficulties brought on by the First World War would lead
him to work actively from 1925 toward the union of OMEGA and Tissot,
then to their merger in 1930 within the group SSIH, Geneva. Under his
leadership, then that of Joseph Reiser beginning in 1955, the SSIH Group
continued to grow and multiply, absorbing or creating some fifty
companies. By the seventies, SSIH had become Switzerland's number one
producer of finished watches and number three in the world.
Weakened by the severe monetary crisis and recession of 1975 to 1980,
SSIH was bailed out by the banks in 1981. Switzerland's other
watchmaking giant ASUAG, principal producer of movement blanks and owner
of the Longines, Rado and Swatch brands, was saved in similar fashion
one year later. After drastic financial cleansing and a restructuring of
the two groups' R&D and production operations at the ETA complex in
Granges, the two giants merged in 1983 to form the Holding ASUAG-SSIH.
In 1985 the holding company was taken over by a group of private
investors under the strategy and leadership of Nicolas Hayek.
Immediately renamed SMH, Societe suisse de microelectronique et
d'horlogerie, the new group achieved rapid growth and success to become
today's top watch producer in the world. Named Swatch Group in 1998, it
now includes Blancpain and Breguet. Dynamic and flourishing, OMEGA
remains one of its most prestigious flagship brands.
In 1999 Omega made history by introducing the first mass-produced watch
incorporating the revolutionary co-axial escapement invented by English
watchmaker George Daniels. Considered by many to be one of the most
significant horological advancements since the invention of the lever
escapement, the co-axial escapment functions with virtually no
lubrication thereby eliminating one of the shortcomings of the
traditional lever escapement. By utilizing radial friction instead of
sliding friction at the impulse surfaces the co-axial escapement
significantly reduces friction, resulting in longer service intervals
and greater accuracy over time. Omega is now part of the Swatch Group.
|
 |
