Every millisecond counts when it comes to the high-speed, adrenaline-rising sport of bobsleighing. With roots planted in the Swiss ski town of St Moritz dating as far back as 1897, the sport has become one of the most exciting events since the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924.
Watchmaker Omega, the official timekeeper of the Olympics and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), has been creating unique precision instruments over the years to test the speed and keep time at these events.
Over the years, Omega has refined the technique developed to time the event. Kits are set up at no less than six points in a particular route to record time and allow athletes to minotaur their progress and identify how and where they can speed up. The data generated from this invaluable technology, developed by Omega, enables bobsleigh athletes to hone their performance.
Before this technology was available, the sport was timed the old fashion way- with a stopwatch.
Paying homage to the heritage of the winter sport and marking the renowned partnership between the watchmaker and IBSF, Omega launches a dedicated timepiece that draws inspiration from vintage timers. Using an in-house Co-Asial Master Chronometer movement, Omega combines a tachymeter scale, pulsometer scale and telemeter scale functions to create the Speedmaster Chronoscope.
Along with the three snail scales, the chronograph also has a small-seconds counter plus 60-minute and 12-hour counters. The layout across the silvery dial nods to the chronographs of the 1940s, and its stainless steel, 43mm case lends it that stopwatch aesthetics.