One of the biggest moments at Omega was in the year 2000, recalled its president and CEO Raynald Aeschlimann. On Zurich’s Bahnhoffstrasse, the Swiss brand had opened a boutique where all Omega watch collections were available in one location for the first time.
“Mr Hayek gave me the responsibility to open our first retail store. It was like opening ourselves. It was a moment that we could meet ourselves and our end consumers. It showed the world that we were back, and that Omega is very clearly a big name in the watch industry,” said Aeschlimann, who was sales and marketing project manager at that time.
Omega was revived in the 1980s by Nicolas G. Hayek, who was also instrumental in making the Swiss watchmaking industry thrive again after the quartz crisis.
Joining Omega in 1996 was a turning point in Aeschlimann’s life. At that time he was pursuing a doctorate degree after earning an MBA and a degree in economics.
“I was very much interested in the management of pension funds because of the human part of it. Writing a PhD thesis was very academic and I thought of taking a one-year break and going into something that is more related to business,” he recalled. “It was meant to be. Honestly, I fell in love with Omega and never thought of going back to university.”
Moreover, the former investment and financial consultant was returning to his roots as his mother’s family had been watchmakers for 10 generations.
Omega’s own rich history dates back to 1848, when Louis Brandt founded a workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds. A relocation in 1880 has since made Bienne Omega’s home town.
Aeschlimann’s career at Omega took him far from the headquarters, however, as he led subsidiaries in Spain and the US. In 2001, Aeschlimann was named vice president as well as international sales, retail and distribution director; 15 years later he was appointed Omega president and CEO.
“At Omega time is flying, and it has been over 26 years with the company,” he said. “But I feel like it was only yesterday that I became CEO. Our long-term vision has brought much success and makes it easier to sustain that into the future.”
Omega’s legacies in space, sports and with the ultimate spy keeps him extremely busy.
Last January, he launched a partnership with ClearSpace to support a landmark mission to remove dangerous debris from space.
In February at Beijing 2022, the Swiss brand marked the 30th occasion since 1932 of its being official timekeeper of the Olympic Games.
Many other engagements followed throughout 2022, among them in November when the CEO came to Bangkok to open the “Omega Her Time” exhibition. By the end of the same month he was in London to celebrate 60 years of James Bond.
“Omega’s space legacy relates to me the most because I was born in the era of space exploration,” noted Aeschlimann, who was two years old when the last manned mission, Apollo 17, journeyed to the Moon in December 1972.
In the mid 1960s, the Speedmaster was qualified by Nasa for its piloted missions. The Omega Speedmaster Professional then became the first watch on the Moon when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the lunar surface on July 21, 1969.
Since then, it has been worn on all six lunar landings and earned the nickname the Moonwatch.
Omega’s president and CEO is inspired by a famous line — “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard” — from a historic speech by President John F. Kennedy at Rice University on Sept 12, 1962.
“President Kennedy’s vision relates perfectly with Omega,” he said. “When we rise to the challenge, we can prove that any dream is possible. Omega is dedicated to supporting space exploration, and we are already pursuing our next dream.”
The innovative watchmaker partnered with the European Space Agency to develop the Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer Chronograph 45mm powered by a highly precise, thermo‑compensated quartz movement, which handles many digital and analogue functions with speed and efficiency.
The titanium chronograph can track times and time zones, across Earth and Mars, while offering valuable tools for those working in the field of space research.
“With our innovative DNA and expertise, only our engineers can develop the Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer,” he said. “Anyone interested in space, or even science fiction is obsessed with Mars. To be here on Earth and able to track its movements gives the term timepiece a whole new meaning.”
