OMEGA Leads Watchmaking Innovation With New Swiss Factory

Luxury watchmaker OMEGA fused its history of excellence and future of innovation with its newest factory, which sits near the brand’s headquarters in Bienne, Switzerland.

The building, designed by award-winning Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, houses the watchmaking industry’s most cutting-edge technologies in an eco-friendly husk of sustainable Swiss spruce. The five-story edifice elevates efficiency by bringing together technical capabilities and human expertise.

“We have created a truly innovative work space, but the real value of this new building is efficiency,” said Raynald Aeschlimann, President and CEO of OMEGA. “We have been able to now combine all of our assembly and testing processes under one roof. That means a complete consolidation of work that will help OMEGA to become much more productive and streamlined than ever before.”

The factory combines all steps of watch creation – from assembly to shipping – as well as the necessary stock, which rests in a fully automated 3-floor storage space. It also accommodates the horologer’s quality and technical control operations, including the METAS testing for Master Chronometer certification. Here, OMEGA will not only guarantee the precision of its watches, it will also train its staff.

“The strong tradition of investing in new technologies, new methods of production, but also in its own employees can again be seen through the achievement of this new splendid OMEGA factory,” said Nick Hayek, CEO of Swatch Group. “It reflects the brand’s commitment to the highest standards of watchmaking.”

Ready to meet the sophisticated demands of a new generation of discerning watch buyers, OMEGA’s new factory opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in early November. Some of the prominent guests at the event included architect Ban, Aeschlimann, Hayek and the Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Johann N. Schneider-Ammann.