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Omega

Swiss maker of the Speedmaster Moonwatch and the Seamaster.

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3 pieces

The house

Omega

Founded
1848
Country
Switzerland
Based in
Biel/Bienne

Louis Brandt began assembling watches in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848. The name the company now carries came from a movement: the Omega calibre of 1894, accurate and — more importantly — built from interchangeable parts, so it could be serviced by any competent watchmaker anywhere.

Omega spent the twentieth century attached to things that had to work. It timed the Olympic Games from 1932. NASA qualified the Speedmaster in 1965 after testing chronographs to destruction, and it was on Buzz Aldrin's wrist on the lunar surface in 1969.

Its modern argument is technical rather than nostalgic. The Co-Axial escapement, invented by the English watchmaker George Daniels and put into production by Omega from 1999, reduces sliding friction in the one part of a mechanical watch that wears fastest. Since 2015 the watches are certified as Master Chronometers by METAS, the Swiss federal metrology institute — a standard Omega helped write and still the most demanding one any brand submits to in volume.

Known for

  • Speedmaster Moonwatch310.30.42.50.01.002

    Flight-qualified by NASA in 1965; unchanged in its essentials since.

  • Seamaster Diver 300M210.30.42.20.01.001

    The modern dive watch, and the one Bond wears.

  • Aqua Terra220.10.41.21.03.001

    The everyday Omega — dress watch proportions, 150m of water resistance.

Before you buy one

Speedmaster references are a thicket: the hand-wound Moonwatch is a different watch from the automatic Speedmasters that share the name. Decide which you want before you shop.

Omega's own extract from the archives is cheap and settles authenticity of dial, case and movement for a given serial. On a Seamaster, check the helium escape valve actually turns, and on anything pre-2000 budget for a service — a Co-Axial is not a drop-in repair for a general watchmaker.

Luxigate doesn’t authenticate pieces. For anything you’re serious about, have it checked independently before you pay. How buying works

Last revised 22 Oct 2026.