Founded in 1848 when Louis Brandt, a watchmaker began making his own pocket watches. In 1879 his two sons Louis-Paul and Cesar joined the company and by the 1890s they became the largest watch manufacturer in Switzerland. The Brandt brothers started to use new methods of manufacturing with machines. Watchmaking then became more industrial in production. In 1894 Omega was launched as a brand name.
Omega has produced a number of wristwatches winning numerous awards. In the 1930s Omega became official timers to the Olympic games. In 1957 the Speedmaster was launched along with the Seamaster 300 and the Railmaster. The Speedmaster was worn during the space mission in 1962, then NASA chose the Omega Speedmaster in 1965 as the official time keeper and it was known as the Moon watch. A special production of the watch engraved with Omega Speed master - Apollo XI 1969 was made for the first moon landing.

In 1999 Omega introduced the co-axial escapement by George Daniels, watchmaker. This is a significant advance since the invention of the lever escapement as the co-axial needs very little lubrication and uses radial friction instead of sliding friction, so reducing the friction and giving greater accuracy.

Omega is still a leading brand of watch throughout the world.