OMEGA Countdown To Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

The two-storey OMEGA countdown clock tower blinked to life amidst much fanfare and anticipation at Suria KLCC, counting down to the minutes the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. This clock tower is a duplication of the actual one in Tiananmen Square. Activating the clock tower were Mr. David Ponzo, Country Manager of the Swatch Group SEA, Mr. Joseph Boudville, Brand Manager of OMEGA Malaysia, Mr. Tay Liam Khoon Executive Director of Sincere Fine Watches, and Dato’ Sieh Kok Chi, Honorary Secretary of Olympic Council of Malaysia.

As the countdown clock ticked towards the impending 29th Olympiad, more than 150 guests had the opportunity to view the OMEGA Beijing Olympic Collection, museum pieces of timekeeping devices that were actually used in the past Olympic Games and an exquisite replica of the pocket watch OMEGA delivered to the Los Angeles games in 1932, the first form of timekeeping device OMEGA presented to the Olympics. This event, jointly hosted by OMEGA and Sincere Fine Watches, will mark the beginning of a five day exhibition, from 18 June to 22 June, at the concourse of Suria KLCC.

The OMEGA Beijing Olympic Collection comprises six limited editions launched one by one at selected days leading to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The first limited edition launched was the Constellation a year before the games. Then, on 25 October 2007, the De Ville Co-Axial Chronograph Limited Edition was launched to mark 288 days leading to the games. At minus 188 days, the Seamaster Aqua Terra Limited Edition was released in the market. With only 88 days to go, OMEGA unveiled the Constellation Double Eagle Co-Axial Chronograph and De Ville Prestige Limited Editions to the world. The sixth and last of this six part collection will only be released on 8 August 2008, in line with the opening of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and will only be available in Beijing.

Beside the timepieces, the timekeeping museum pieces that OMEGA specially flew in for the five-day exhibition are also must-see items. Look out for notable timekeeping devices like the widely popular OMEGA Scan‘o’vision and the” touch pad”. These devices may look simple on the outside but within lies a complication of technical details and electronic boards that allows precision and zero room for error. For instance, the OMEGA Scan’o’vision can capture 2000 scans of digital images per second and the famous “touch pad” must be sensitive enough to detect contact with the swimmer’s body to stop his or her own time but cannot be too sensitive so as to be triggered by the movement of water.