Revisiting on Armistice Day how the watchmaker provided vital support during both World Wars
By Rachael Taylor
In times of war, precision can mean the difference between chaos and coordination, and Omega played its role in helping soldiers to achieve the latter in both World War I and World War II.
During World War I, Omega produced thousands of rugged trench watches. These early wristwatches were adapted from pocket watch designs, and had luminous numerals to help soldiers better read the time in poor visibility, shrapnel guards, and robust cases suited for the mud and mayhem of the battlefield.
By the time World War II was wreaking havoc across Europe and beyond, Omega was the British military’s single largest watch contractor. In 1940, the Swiss watchmaker was commissioned to produce tens of thousands of watches for the British armed forces and its allies.
This contract prompted Omega to accelerate its advances in water resistance, shock protection, and anti-magnetic performance. And these innovations were tested to their limits on the front lines.
Introducing an wartime hero
RAF Pilot Officer James Meaker wearing the Omega CK2129 pilot’s watch. He died in action in September 1940 at the age of 21. Image: IWM
Among Omega’s standout wartime models was the CK2129 pilot’s watch, also sometimes known as the Weems watch after its designer Philip van Horn Weems. The watch was issued to RAF bomber crews and equipped with a rotating bezel for timing missions, and helped airmen synchronise with radio signals mid-flight. The CK2129 featured on the big screen in 2017 as the watch worn by Tom Hardy’s Spitfire pilot in the film Dunkirk.
Between 1939 and 1945, Omega delivered more than 110,000 watches to the Allied forces. In the crucible of global conflict, Omega watches earned a reputation for their unwavering dependability, even in the most difficult of circumstances.
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Main image: Courtesy of Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd
