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Before being called OMEGA, this company was first established in 1848. and existed only as a small workshop, opened by the young watchmaker Louis Brandt in the Swiss city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Louis Brandt was passionate about precision and he set about developing the most accurate watches he could. After Louis Brandt’s death in 1879, his two sons – Louis-Paul and César – took over the family business, inspired by their father’s love of watchmaking and precision.
The big moment came in 1894 when the Brandt brothers released their new movement known as the 19-ligne calibre which was produced in series using revolutionary new methods and instantly set a new standard within watchmaking. It was not only extremely accurate, but every component could be replaced without modification by any watchmaker in the world. The perfected combination of winding and time-setting via the stem and crown was also ground-breaking and is still widely used today. The brothers crowned their new achievement “Omega”. Like the last letter of the Greek alphabet, the “Omega” movement symbolised an ultimate accomplishment. They considered it to be the “final word” on watchmaking success.
The success of the 19-ligne “Omega” calibre was so great that the brothers eventually changed the name of their entire company to OMEGA Watch Co in 1903. By then, OMEGA had become the largest manufacturer of finished watches in Switzerland.