Named after the eight stars emblazoned on its crest, the Constellation was launched by OMEGA in 1952. Because of its high-quality construction and unfaltering precision, the Constellation quickly became known as “the Swiss watch”.

The eight stars on the Constellation medallion represent eight precision records that OMEGA set at Kew-Teddington and the Geneva Observatory during the mid-20th century. The iconic engraving of the stars and observatory are in homage to these results, as well as the incredible accuracy that the Constellation watch offered, and still offers, to consumers

In 1957 OMEGA introduced its Professional line of watches. The line consisted of three watches that were all to become legends in their own rights – the Speedmaster, the Seamaster 300 and the Railmaster.

The Speedmaster was destined for a future of pioneering space exploration with NASA, and became known as “the Moonwatch”. The Seamaster 300 ushered in a new era of underwater discovery, while the Railmaster was OMEGA’s first commercially available watch able to resist magnetism more than 1,000 gauss, becoming a timeless symbol of earth-bound precision.

In the lead up to the 1960 presidential election, Senator John F. Kennedy received a prophetically engraved OMEGA Slimline watch from his friend Grant Stockdale. Following his victory, Kennedy wore the watch during his inauguration on 20 January 1961.

Kennedy’s Slimline watch can now be seen at the OMEGA Museum in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. It’s also a little known fact, that Jackie Kennedy wrote numerous letters in which she described her admiration for her husband’s OMEGA watch.

Nearly two and a half years before the OMEGA Speedmaster was qualified by NASA for all its manned space flights, astronaut Wally Schirra wore his own Speedmaster chronograph into space on the Mercury Sigma 7 mission. Flying into uncharted territory, Wally orbited the Earth six times in a mission that would last 9 hours, 13 minutes and 11 seconds.

As NASA’s space programme evolved, Schirra went on to record a remarkable 295 hours in space, aboard both Gemini and Apollo flights. On every one of these missions, he was accompanied by his OMEGA Speedmaster.

As part of a rapidly accelerating space program, OMEGA was one of four watch brands invited to submit timepieces for NASA certification. The chronographs were subjected to challenges that were intended to almost test them to destruction. Only one watch survived and was then certified for all manned space missions and Extravehicular Activity (EVA) – the OMEGA Speedmaster.

More than half a century after it was first qualified for space flight, the original Speedmaster Professional is still the only watch certified by NASA, and other international space agencies, for Extravehicular Activity (EVA). OMEGA is proud that the precision and reliability of its Speedmaster watches has played an active role in the rich legacy of space exploration.

Improving timekeeping for a new generation of athletes, OMEGA introduced the world’s first swimming Touchpads at the Pan-American games in 1967. The introduction of Touchpad technology dramatically increased the accuracy of swimming results, with swimmers able to stop the clock themselves.

Previously, judges had been required to look for the moment that each swimmer touched the wall. Inaccuracies and potential disputes were common as up to three judges per lane each had stopwatches and often recorded conflicting results. The Touchpads solved this problem and has been used in every summer Games since 1968.

In 1967 the De Ville dropped “Seamaster” from its name and became a line in its own right. At its launch, the De Ville generated considerable attention due to the fact that it combined OMEGA’s already-proven movements with meticulous finish and design. Simpler, slimmer and more varied, the collection was instantly appreciated for its refined form.

Since then, the timeless good looks of the De Ville have remained untouched. Inside the case, the timepieces in the De Ville family have become equally as impressive. Today, they are also equipped with OMEGA’s state-of-the-industry technology.

In a world-changing moment, the first human beings walked onto the Moon at 02:56 GMT on 21 July 1969. An essential part of each astronaut's space kit was the OMEGA Speedmaster Professional.

Qualified by NASA in 1965 as the only watch for all manned space missions and Extravehicular Activity (EVA), the Speedmaster made up an official part of each astronaut’s kit. After the Apollo 11 landing, the Speedmaster became forever known as “the Moonwatch”.

The first-ever Moonwalk lasted a total of two and a half hours, The astronauts gathered lunar samples and carried out experiments. Following in their footsteps would be ten more astronauts in the subsequent three years, each with an OMEGA Speedmaster strapped to his spacesuit with a Velcro strap.

In 1969, a new aircraft was unveiled for a new age – the Concorde SST. Extreme precision was required to meet the needs of this extraordinarily fast plane during its test flight programme. Therefore, mounted in the cockpit panels of this prototype supersonic jet, were nine OMEGA instruments used to measure time.

After successful testing of the Concorde, OMEGA time measuring instruments were made standard components for several Concordes built until the fleet was retired in 2003. Many of the Concorde crew also chose to wear OMEGA watches to keep accurate time close at hand. One of those was Captain John Hackett, the first person to pilot Concorde over the Atlantic Ocean. He wore the same model of OMEGA Speedmaster that was flight-qualified by NASA for its manned space missions.

On 11 April, at 13:13 Houston time, Apollo 13 was launched, destined for the Moon. Following a disastrous explosion of an oxygen-tank, the crew was left stranded in space with minimal power. Thankfully, they were equipped with OMEGA Speedmasters.

Among the many challenges faced by the astronauts was manually firing an engine to correctly align the damaged craft for re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Using their Speedmaster watches the crew successfully timed a 14-second burn that saw them splash down to much relief on 17 April – 142 hours and 54 minutes after launch.

As a mark of gratitude for its contributions to “the success of human space flight missions”, as well as to the successful return of the Apollo 13 crew, OMEGA was presented with the “Silver Snoopy Award” in 1970 – a sterling silver lapel pin and certificate that represented the highest distinction awarded by NASA astronauts.

When the award was first created, Snoopy was chosen as its mascot because of his ability to keep things light in serious situations. According to NASA, Snoopy would “emphasize mission success and act as a watchdog”. The award is proudly displayed at the OMEGA Museum in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.

The Apollo 17 mission, led by Commander Eugene Cernan, was NASA’s final visit to the Moon and is remembered for several records including the longest manned lunar flight. Once again, OMEGA's iconic timepiece played an important role. While Cernan and the mission's pilot spent over three days on the Moon, the crew member who remained in lunar orbit used his Speedmaster during heat and flow convection experiments. When he returned to Earth, the Service Module Captain, who had taken his own Speedmaster along with his official kit, engraved his personal Speedmaster with the words “FLOWN IN C.S.M. TO THE MOON”, “APOLLO 17” and his signature. On the edge of the watch he engraved “HEAT FLOW EXPR” and “6 – 19 DEC 1972”.

Today, the watch represents one of the few privately-owned Speedmasters worn during the Apollo missions.

After a decade of development, OMEGA launched the Megaquartz movement, a wristwatch-sized calibre that was certified as a “Marine Chronometer”. Due to its routine variation of less than 0.002 seconds per day, it remains the world’s first and only wristwatch to receive this distinction.

In the pre-computer age, marine chronometers were crucial for maritime navigation and had bulky movements due to the need for extreme precision. They were stringently tested and certified because if a chronometer were to fail, a ship could be lost. Today, OMEGA’s Marine Chronometer can be viewed at the OMEGA Museum in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.

In 1975, the Apollo and Soyuz capsules became the first ever spacecraft to meet and dock in space. For America and Russia, it represented the possibility of thawing Cold War tensions. When Commanders Stafford and Leonov embraced and shook hands, they, and the rest of the crew, wore OMEGA Speedmasters – one side set to Houston, the other to Baikonur time.

Soon after this mission, the Speedmaster was adopted as the official watch of the Russian Space Agency, mirroring the certification extended by NASA ten years earlier. The Speedmaster is still regularly seen today upon the wrists of astronauts and cosmonauts on board the International Space Station.

By the 1970s, OMEGA had a solid reputation in the manufacture of divers’ watches. The OMEGA Seamaster Professional 200 m was one of that decade’s best. Notable for its octagonal steel case and luminous black dial, it was selected in 1978 as the watch of choice by The Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOM). This French government agency was responsible for producing the official maps and charts for divers at sea and OMEGA provided them with just the right timepiece for their meticulous and demanding work. Reflecting that support, the watch is today more commonly known as the OMEGA Seamaster Professional “SHOM”.

Off the coast of Elba, Italy in 1981, Jacques Mayol took the sport of freediving to a new level at the age of 54. Accompanied by his OMEGA Seamaster, Mayol dived to a record-breaking depth of 101 metres on a single breath of air.

During the dive Mayol took his body to the very extremes of human endurance, his heart rate plummeting from 60 beats per minute to only 27 – less than one beat every two seconds. Around two years later Mayol returned to break his own record, reaching a new depth of 105 metres

Chosen for her fashion flair and style, supermodel Cindy Crawford became an OMEGA brand ambassador in 1995. Crawford perfectly expresses many of OMEGA’s values, including quality, reliability and respect for tradition.

In her first year as brand ambassador, Crawford participated not only in advertising campaigns, but also in events and product design. Twenty years on, OMEGA’s relationship with Crawford has only grown deeper. Cindy and OMEGA recently partnered to support ORBIS International in its fight against blindness in remote communities around the world.

In Tomorrow Never Dies, James Bond battles the machinations of an evil media mogul who plans to trigger a conflict between China and the UK. Our hero relies for the first time on his Seamaster Diver 300M automatic chronometer with a blue dial. This superb dive watch was retrofitted with a detonator by a friendly Chinese spy and it also starred in the opening credits.

Signalling a turning point in mechanical watchmaking, OMEGA released the industry’s first practical new watch escapement in some 250 years – the Co-Axial escapement. Using smaller contact surfaces, the Co-Axial escapement produces less friction and requires less lubrication, making it far more reliable than traditional movements.

Developed by inventor George Daniels (1926 – 2011), the Co-Axial escapement was both a leap forward in watchmaking and a symbol of OMEGA’s on-going dedication to the pioneering spirit.

In The World Is Not Enough, Bond must prevent an ex-KGB man turned terrorist from detonating a nuclear device intended to blow up a vital oil pipeline. In Q’s laboratory, 007’s Seamaster Diver 300M is equipped with a strong light and a miniature grappling hook attached to a 50-foot (15 metres) microfilament strong enough to support 800 pounds (362 kg), options that never quite made it into the OMEGA catalogue.