Gold, Silver or Bronze- which would you rather win?

OMEGA POCKET WATCH 1932

Don’t tell China, but all three are actually gold.  As you might already know, OMEGA is the official timekeeper of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.  The company was the first to be entrusted with this massive responsibility back in 1932 for the Los Angeles Games; hence the commemoration above.  My question is, do actual Olympic medals even cost as much as these watches?

Housed in hand-crafted contemporary yellow, white or red 18-carat gold cases,  the beating heart of the “1932” is the OMEGA double column wheel chronograph with a 24’’’ (53.7mm), 36,000 beat movement calibre (assembled from restored components).  The gilt plates and bridges have been reconditioned while the 57mm white enamel dial with Arabic numerals, 5-60 minute-scale and red OMEGA name are identical to those of the chronographs used at the Olympic Games in 1932.

Not only do the Olympic Games press the limits of human ability within sport, they pioneer developments in diplomacy, engineering, and science.  While celebrating the struggle to reach the best within us all, the games remind the world that all nations are in effect, one community capable of the near-impossible.  China spent close to $41 billion preparing for the 29th Olympiad; 300 million alone on the opening ceremony.  A true testament to a world-wide festival of human achievement. 

An unprecedented precision of timekeeping was born when 30 stopwatches were provided for the 14 sports in the 1932 Olympic games.  Those historic chronographs “watched” as records fell in each of the 14 athletics, including 10 of the 11 swimming events; sounds a lot like the past week at the Water Cube. 

At this year’s Olympic (and Paralympic) Games in Beijing, Omega continues it’s tradition of excellence with sport-specific data-handling that extends to 37 venues within 28 different sports.  With 450 on-site professionals, 420 tons of equipment, 175 km (105 miles) of cables, and close to 400 scoreboards, “times” have changed slightly, but the pursuit of excellence, witch defines the Olympic legacy remains strong.    

Through the years, OMEGA has continued to break records of its own, from the world’s first independent portable and water-resistant photoelectric cell in 1945 to the world’s first photo-finish.  OMEGA then created the Omegascope, which superimposed racing times on the TV screen, and even developed the “contact pads” for swimming which recently recorded Michael Phelps and Dara Torres’s respective one one-hundredth of a second attainment and surrender of gold.

The OMEGA Pocket Watch 1932:
The case back opens to reveal the the intricate precision, protected by a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. Stamped on each case back, is the official five-ring logo of the Olympic Games.  Along with the logo is an engraved edition number and the title of “Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games” as well as the words “Limited Edition”.