With the moonswatch by storm with its release last year in 2022, and since then there has been a new craze over Omega timepieces from all over the world. Luckily for us, we live in Switzerland and and decided to give a visit to the Omega Museum in Biel, Switzerland!

This museum is high on the list for all watch-enthusiasts visiting Switzerland! Read on more for a detailed review of the Omega Museum and what you can expect to see for each exhibition.

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About the Omega Museum

The new Omega Museum was newly reopened in 2019 after moving to new premises. It offers visitors a concise brand history through an exhibition marked with interactive films and fun activities.

Where is the Omega Museum?

The Omega Museum is situated in the bilingual speaking city of Biel/Bienne.

By public transport: Bienne is 1.5 hours away by train from Geneva and 70 minutes by train from Zurich. From the Biel train station, take the bus lines 2,4,5 or 72 and alight at the stop “Omega”

By car: The Omega Museum is located at Nicolas G. Hayek Strasse 2, 2502 Biel/Bienne. You can park at the limited blue zones around the museum, which requires a parking disc with a maximum stay of one hour. Further parking spaces (paid) are also available close to the museum in Gurzelen paid parking on Falkenstrasse.

It is located 1.5 hours away by train from Lausanne and Zurich, making it an easy daytrip option!

Admission

The Omega Museum is one of the rare museums in Switzerland that is completely FREE of charge for adults and kids alike.

It is open from Tuesdays to Fridays from 11am to 6pm. On weekends, it is open from 10am to 5pm. The musuem is closed on Mondays.

Museum Tour

As soon as you enter the museum, you will be greeted by the friendly staff who will show you the way to the cloak area where you can hang your coats and jackets. Lockers are also available to store your bags if needed.

You can start the museum tour however you want, but it is encouraged to take the lift up and start first from the top floor with the Swatch exhibition, then down to the Omega exhibition.

At the start of the tour, staff will hand you an audio guide, which is available in various languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Mandarin Chinese. Just key in the number you see at the exhibition wall, and it will play with in-depth explanation on each exhibit.

The Omega Exhibition

“History of Time”

The visit starts with the “History of Time”: A 5 minute, 360-degree immersive video that travels back in time to ancient civilisation and showcases mankind’s journey with the art of timekeeping. It was so fascinating to watch how ancient civilisation humankind’s vast progress with the art of time-keeping and precision, from the first sundials, candles, water and tower clocks, tothe modern movements we see today.

Omega History

Once the video is over, the cinema doors open and you are led out through a 50m steel bracelet, with 64 treasury windows. From each of these windows unfolds the brand’s long and distinguished history.

The first window shares on the founding of the company by Louis Brandt in 1848 in the small watch-making town of La-Chaux-de-Fonds. At the side, you will also find the original work bench of Brandt with his watch-making tools!

After the Brandt’s death in 1879, his two sons – Louis-Paul and César – inherited the family business and brought it to even greater heights. Their most significant accomplishment was the introduction of the 19-ligne calibre movement in 1894.

Produced in series using revolutionary new methods, not only was the 19-ligne calibre movement extremely accurate, but every component could be replaced with modification by any watchmaker in the world. Its combination of winding and time-setting via the stem was also also groundbreaking and set a remarkable new standard in the watchmaking world.

The brothers considered their feat to be such an ultimate accomplishment, that that they decided to name the movement after “Omega” (the last letter of the Greek alphabet). This eventually became the company’s namesake, when the Brandt brothers eventually changed the company’s name to Omega Watch & Co in 1903.

Role in the Olympic Games

It was 1932, the year of the Los Angeles Olympics. This was also the year that marked Omega’s official foray into the Olympic Games as it became the first watchmaker to time an Olympic Games. Using a lone watchmaker and 30 chronographs, it timed all disciplines in Los Angeles that year.Since then, Omega was entrusted the role Official Timekeeper at almost all Olympic Games.

This part of the exhibit has some fun interactive games. There is a bobsleigh that descends down a miniature track and you get to compre your manual stopwatch accuracy with that of the Omega Official Olympic timekeeping system. Children can also have fun sprinting on the 9m running track and record the time with the Omega Official Olympic timekeeping system.

Ladymatic Revolution

There is a small section dedicated to Omega’s ladies watches.

It was pretty much a boys club in the 1950s… and the idea that a woman would place value on a technical precision watch was simply preposterous. However, OMEGA believed enough in women and thought otherwise. In 1955, it launched the Ladymatic, the company’s first ladies’ automatic wristwatch. It eventually became a phenomenal success, praised for combining compact size with elegant good looks.

NASA Space Programs

The most illustrative part of the exhibition centres on Omega’s involvement in NASA manned space programme, including the historic Apollo 11 mission and the first lunar landing.

Qualified by NASA in 1965 as the only watch for all manned space missions and Extravehicular Activity (EVA), Omega’s Speedmaster Professional was qualified in 1965 by NASA as the only watch for all manned spaced missions. was part of each astronaut’s official spacekit. With the successful Apollo 11 landing on 21 July 1969, the Speedmaster became the first watch on the moon and henceforth forever known as “the Moonwatch”. Omega Speedmasters were worn on all six lunar landings.

Here, the floor’s design made you feel as though you are walking on a lunar surface, while surrounded by mini planets each comprising different Speedmaster models.

James Bond

The last section of the exhibition is sure to delight all 007 fans, where James Bond movie posters are displayed along with the watches worn by James Bond at each movie.

Swatch Exhibition

After about an hour at the Omega exhibition, we headed downstairs to the Swatch Exhibition. There is less history/facts presented here, the focus here was more on showcasing the outstanding designs of Swatch watches over the years.

There are Swatch watches of significant years in a rotating panel, which you move by either cycling on the attached bicycle or spinning the side wheel.

There were also many special collections presented: From Valentine’s Day, Mothers’s Day, Christmas Chinese New Year, cartoon characters, even one entirely dedicated to Switzerland! One of the watches even had all the flags of the 26 different Swiss cantons on it, how cool is ithat?

I think that is what makes the Swatch brand so well-loved by all: Their designs cater for young and old, and they are always fresh, bright, funny, cool and playful. All at affordable prices.

You can even design and customise your very own Swatch watch and purchase it on the spot!

Finally towards the end, there is a fun photobooth where visitors can take a selfie and have their photos printed out as a keepsake. We proudly showed off our Swatches!

Omega and Swatch Boutiques

By now, the two exhibitions would have gotten you sold on Omega and Swatch watches…and you must be itching to get one for yourself! Luckily, both the Omega and Swatch boutiques are right next to the Omega Museum and open for visit.

At our time of visit, many Moonswatch models (Earth, Mars, Sun and Pluto) were still available and there was no queue. You would have no problem getting your hands on them in Switzerland, considering that they are still out of stock in many other parts of the world.

Summary

Overall, the Omega Musuem is very well organized and informative, and I definitely recommend it as a weekend activity as an easy daytrip especially on rainy days.

For a free experience, this rates as one of the most informative and educational we have experienced.
A trip to Biel/Bienne is worth it even if all you do is the Omega Museum.

I don’t consider myself a watch enthusiast, but even so, I found myself learning more about the Swiss watchmaking industry, and with a newfound appreciation for Omega’s role and contribution to the world of sports, manned space exploration and Hollywood.

With its Swiss heritage, cutting-edge technology and association to important global events, Omega is certainly one Swiss watchmaking that exudes global and timeless appeal.

…Who knows, I might find myself getting an Omega Constellation watch on my wrist in the near future!

More Information

Omega Musuem

Address: Nicolas G. Hayek Str. 2, 2502 Biel

If you enjoyed this post, consider checking out my other posts below:

Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds: The Swiss watch-making capital

What to buy from Switzerland? Top 10 unique souvenir ideas

This is an independent review. All opinions are my own.