The first visit to the Omega factory with L'Orologio Club, on 12 and 13 May, offered five die-hard fans of the brand the chance to discover the Biel production plant, inaugurated just five years ago, where all the watch assembly operations take place, right up to quality control. The sequence of operations that lead to the birth of an Omega watch can be observed live thanks to the particular construction of the factory, which is built around a sort of central courtyard and houses the mechanised parts warehouse, which occupies up to three floors of the building.
If the manufacture has amazed Club enthusiasts, the renovated Omega museum opened to the public in 2019 has fascinated and won them over for good. The immersion in the brand's history passes through an introduction to the measurement of time thanks to a 360° video from which one emerges ready to discover Omega's role in this saga, parallel to the development of civilisations. Leaving the circular projection room, one finds oneself in an environment that offers different keys to interpretation: chronological or by themes. The chronological narrative is entrusted to a series of 64 showcases, arranged along the scale reproduction of a 50-metre-long three-link bracelet. Here, one can retrace the evolution of the brand from 1848 to 2019, passing through all the inventions of the House. There are numerous interactive contents, such as the reproduction of the first 9 metres of an athletics track, equipped with all the timing equipment, where you can 'compete' and experience the photo finish. Or reproductions of the Moon Rover and the Cape Canaveral mission control centre.
The programme set up by Omega for our Club was completed by the VIP Watchmaker Course, an activity usually reserved only for VIP clients and the brand's sales staff: a lesson in dismantling and assembling a movement, right up to its casing, to which the entire second day of the factory visit was devoted.
