BaselWorld 2011: In search of Omega's soul

In search of its soul. Predicting what Omega will release at BaselWorld 2011 is more difficult than predicting what Rolex would do. We said the same thing last year. Omega surprised us with the release of an annual calendar complication watch and did the rather predictable thing by releasing yet another Omega Speedmaster Limited Edition commemorating another NASA related event.

The difficulty in foreseeing what Omega might be doing is because I feel it is a company in search of its soul since its near bankruptcy in the 1980's. On the one hand, its new in-house manufacture movements and drawing designs from its rich history indicate that it is trying to regain a Rolex like status. 

A blast from the past: Omega Seamaster Ploprof

On the other hand, it rather commercial approach to marketing watches, and overly diverse line-up, make it appear more like a mass producer than a manufacturer of highly exclusive watches. Adding to the diversity are Omega's Limited Edition watches which are produced in higher volumes than other watch manufacturers regular watches. Worse, you can expect the regular release of limited edition watches year after year.

Omega straddles the line of manufacturing high end mass market watches that compete with more commercial brand, and watches that live on thinner air, manufacturing smaller volumes but commanding ultra-high prices. Only Rolex really straddles this thin divider line well, and even Rolex with its constant price increases seems to be aware that maintaining exclusivity is an important thing. 

Selling high end, but still reasonably priced quartz and automatic watches, and making creations worthy of the very best in the industry is an odd place to be for a watch manufacturer.  It sells too many of its lower priced watches to stop selling those timepieces. But the high sales volume also detracts from its exclusivity. Will 2011 be the year that Omega finds it soul? We hope so, because after years of watching this industry, watching what Omega at BaselWord every year is drawing less and less of our interest.