It’s well-trodden ground now that Omega and the Olympics have a long-standing relationship – arguably the most enduring sports partnership in watch history. The Bienne-based watchmaker has been timing the greatest competition on Earth since 1932, with only occasional blips where other brands have stepped in.
That said, we’re not here to delve into that relationship in any kind of depth. We’ve done it before and honestly not that much changes year to year between Omega and the Olympics, with the same branding and slight advances in technology. Instead, we’re interested in the watches.
Omega Timekeeping at the Olympics (1932)
Omega don’t often miss a tie-in, whether that’s James Bond, any sort of space mission anniversary, or major sports event, and over the years they’ve produced some of their finest work honouring the games of the Olympiad. However, even if you consider it just one watch every four years, that’s a lot of limited-edition pieces. And often, it’s a lot more than that.
So, to cut through the vuvuzela-volume horological noise, we’ve qualified things down to our favourite Omega Olympic Watches of the past… many, many years.
Omega Seamaster Olympic Cross Of Merit, Cortina D’ampezzo and Melbourne 1956
Image credit: Watches of Lancashire
Before they were awarded the Silver Snoopy, Omega were already racking up honorary awards, being presented with the Olympic Cross of Merit for their timekeeping at the 1952 Helsinki games. So, four years later, they opted to celebrate that fact with this ornate take on the classic dress Seamaster. It’s relatively pared back with its gold case and champagne dial, but with that Olympic Cross right in the middle. It’s a rare beauty.
Omega Chrono-Quartz, Montreal and Innsbruck 1976
Image credit: Watch-Spare
Quartz was all the rage in 1976 (or a death knell, depending on who you spoke to) and as electronic timekeeping was a necessity for sports, Omega mirrored that in their limited edition for the year, the now covetable Chrono- Quartz. The ana-digi display and TV shape made for a watch that at the time was futuristic and now is perfectly retro, with 1/100th second split and lap timers. It’s probably the most functionally fitting Olympic edition Omega have ever done.
Omega 50th Anniversary Split-Seconds Chronograph, Moscow and Lake Placid 1980
Image credit: Antiquorum
Celebrating 50 years of Olympic timekeeping, this stunning sports stopwatch offered a gorgeously skeletonised twist on the Omega’s original sports timekeepers – now available to well-heeled civilians. It still had the superlative 1/100th second chronograph, but with finishing that was in a league of its own. Omega do still produce sports stopwatches in this vein, but not quite in this visual league.
Omega Seamaster Polatis 1/100th, Calgary and Seoul 1988
Image credit: eBay
Similar to the Montreal Chrono-Quartz, Omega’s funky take on the Seamaster Polaris for the Calgary Games utilised an ana-digi display, if with slightly more subtlety, with small LCD screens at four and eight o’clock. The bi-colour, flightmaster-esque case is something I’d love to see Omega do more with. In fact, the only thing I don’t love about this model is those LCD screens, no matter how much sense it makes for the timekeeping tie-in.
Omega Seamaster Polaris Chronograph, Albertville 1992
Precisely what I wanted. Sure, it’s still quartz, but the pared-back amount of information, single bank of pushers and lack of LCD screens make it a much more enduringly cool watch. The 1990s is a point in Omega’s lifespan that’s often neglected by collectors and this 250-piece limited edition shows why that’s a travesty. Thankfully, that also means you can still pick one up for not too much money. Omega repeated it at later Olympics too, but the Albertville 1992 version was the one.
Omega Seamaster, Beijing 2008
There were a ton of limited editions released for Beijing 2028 – at a year, 288, 188 and 88 days before the event – but for the big day itself Omega went properly celebratory. Based on the model originally given the Olympic Cross of Merit at the Melbourne Olympics, it’s similar to the first piece on this list but a bit more refined and true to the original, albeit with a crisp white dial instead of the champagne. With lovely faceted indexes and 29 in Roman numerals – a reference to the XXIX Olympiad – underneath the handset, it’s classically charming.
Omega Seamaster 1948, London 2012
Image credit: The Watch Collector
This was among my favourite modern Omega models. At a time when the Seamaster Professional 300m and Planet Ocean were killing it among Bond fans, this ode to a specific 1948 model was a surprise. The monochromatic look with a blue small seconds, the brushed sides, it’s a watch defined by both its horological heritage and its finer details. At 39mm across, it was also a very early predictor for the modern propensity for smaller, vintage-sized watches.
Omega Seamaster Bullhead Rio, Rio De Janeiro 2016
The Bullhead as a case shape doesn’t get enough love and among Omega’s three limited editions of 2016 – the others being a Speedmaster MkII and a Seamaster 300m – it stood out. Bright blue and white with a rainbow of Olympic ring-coloured numerals and matching contrast stitching on the strap, it’s big, sporty and fun. If it were out now, I’d probably call it a perfect summer watch. These days though, it’s one of the pricier (non-stopwatch) Olympic pieces to get your hands on – though that might just be because it’s also one of the more recent.
Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope, Paris 2024
And that brings us to the modern era. Omega have released a goodly number of Olympic watches already in the countdown to Paris 2024, and by the time you read this there’s a good chance they’ve added to the line-up. I doubt it’ll be as perfect for me as the gold chronoscope. The mix of gold, silver and black – the ever-chic colourway for the Games this year – is a perfect mix with the vintage nature and triple central scales of the Chronoscope. This one you can get now for £48,500 on the full gold bracelet. At least there’s an obvious trend here. God only knows what the 2028 limited editions will set you back.
More details at Omega.
