A luxurious look back at the Omega Museum Collection 2002
The Omega Museum Collection 2002 arose from a desire to combine the traditional values of the Omega brand with the very latest technological standards. Only a few watchmaking brands can look back on so many highlights that have consitantly added to watchmaking history. Numerous souvenirs of Omega’s past are on display at the official Omega Museum. The Omega Museum Collection of watches brings back to life as limited editions some of the unique watches from the Omega museum – watches that have marked the Omega’s history and are sure to win the hearts of watch enthusiasts, officianado’s and collectors all over the world.
The first watch within the Omega Museum Collection was launched in 2001. It was a new edition of an 1938 Omega pilots watch, with its original technical specifications brought into line with the state of the art in watchmaking. After the success of this first model in the Omega Museum collection, the inspiration for the second model came forth from the first ever Omega watch with a multiple calendar complication. The original Omega Cosmic watch was first launched in 1947 and was equipped with the first Omega multiple calendar calibre, one of the most ingenious inventions in Swiss watchmaking. The Omega Museum Collection 2002 model is a replica of the square-cased version of this watch from 1951, which displays the exact time, the date, the day of the week, the month and the moon phase. Each of the four date functions can be corrected by pushers hidden in the case middle in slots that are no bigger than a pin head. Simply pressing these pushers using the special stylet provided is sufficient to adjust the display.
The design of the new Omega Museum Collection watch retains the same typical features of the 1951 original, with a square case and the tear-drop lugs that were characteristic of post-war watches. In other respects, however, the new Omega Museum Collection edition has been improved over its predecessor thanks to the latest watchmaking technology. Whereas the original had a manual winding movement and was not water resistant, the Omega Museum Collection 2002 model is self-winding and water resistant to a depth of 50 metres. The heart of the watch is the multiple calendar Omega calibre 2601 movement by Frederic Piguet. The movement is self-winding with hour, minute, small seconds, day, date, month and moon phase functions. It has a rhodium-plated finish with circular graining, Geneva wave decoration and gold-plated engravings. Thanks to its double barrel configuration, the movement offers an impressive power reserve of 72 hours.
The Omega Cosmic case and bezel are in 18 carat red gold, with a solid red gold crown. The dial is a domed square with applied facetted hour markers and applied Omega symbol. The date functions are read off from day and month windows above the centre of the dial and a date scale around the edge of the dial. The watch has diamond-polished Alpha-shaped hour and minute hands with a central date hand and small seconds hand at 6 o’clock. The upper part of the small seconds counter contains a moon phase display. This is all protected by a domed scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with multi-layered anti-reflective treatment on the inside. The dark blue dial is complemented by a dark blue alligator leather strap with 18 carat gold buckle.
Omega Museum Collection 2002 production
Production of the Omega Museum Collection 2002 is limited to just 1951 units. Each Omega Museum Collection 2002 watch is presented in a special wooden gift box with a certificate of authenticity. The classic design, combined with the luxury of gold and the complicated movement, will make the Cosmic a sought-after watch among collectors and aficionados of Omega watches throughout the world.