It's all about the Co-Axial at Omega. Since the brand developed its in-house Co-Axial base movement in 1999, Omega has been building on it with new and more complicated movements for its annual BaselWorld novelties.
Last year, it wowed the ladies by putting the movement into their Ladymatic line. This year, it is Omega's classic Constellation that gets the Co-Axial treatment, with the elegant 27mm and a unisex one at 38mm. A 24mm Ladymatic with stars holds a quartz movement.
The Co-Axial 27mm comes with an 18ct red gold bracelet and casing set with diamonds of more than one carat and a mother-of-pearl dial with the date set at 3 o'clock. The watch houses the Calibre 8521 which features a self-winding movement in both directions.
The Constellation 38mm Day-Date introduces the new Co-Axial Calibre 8602/8612, which is the first to feature day and date indication with instantaneous jump. 'The Co-Axial movement is the key to our brand today; it's the heart of the brand message. When everything else dies down there will always be the Co-Axial,' says Omega CEO Stephen Urquhart.
He has reason to be proud of the movement. The Co-Axial has helped Omega spearhead its way into the mainland market as arguably the best-selling watch brand. While the movement cannot claim full credit, it has given Omega the confidence of being the first brand to offer a four-year guarantee for all Co-Axial watches, 'although we could easily do five [years]', Urquhart says, adding that the brand intends to produce about 450,000 pieces with the movement this year.
The brand reaped its biggest reward last year with outstanding sales that overshot the 2 billion Swiss-franc mark(HK$17 billion). Urquhart is shy about naming actual percentages when asked about the mainland's share of total sales, only conceding that it was 'a lot'.
'We are in an enviable position in China, but we have to fight to keep it going,' he says. 'The first thing we did was get the brand there through marketing and distribution, so we were there when the market finally opened up.'