OMEGA, the prestigious watch manufacturer, was founded in 1848 and since then has continually set the pace in many of the fields of watch making: from increasing precision, to creating timekeepers for competitions and sport to watches for professional use in space or underwater. OMEGA has been an important presence in world of achievements including the conquest of space, timekeeping at 22 Olympic Games as well as the winner of a host of precision records and design awards. OMEGA will be Official Timekeeper for the Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

Omega, Swiss luxury watchmaker and creator of “the Bond watch”, has opened its James Bond Exhibition to the public at Cite du Temps in Geneva, Switzerland. On display until end of January 2007 is an exclusive selection of photographs, Omega watches worn by members of the cast, and props used in the filming of Casino Royale, the 21st and most recent film adventure featuring Ian Fleming’s legendary British spy. Among the artifacts on display are a number of personal items–a book of poems, a handkerchief, a letter, keys, a bottle of perfume–belonging to Vesper Lynd, played by the beautiful French actress, Eva Green. Additional items of interest to Bond fans include the inhaler used by Bond’s nemesis, Le Chiffre, an architectural scale model of the fictional “Casino Royale” in Montenegro and, naturally, the Bond watch worn in the film by Daniel Craig, the British actor playing James Bond for the first time.

In point of fact, Daniel Craig wears two Omega watches in Casino Royale. The first is a striking black Planet Ocean, the professional diver’s watch Bond wears before he earns his notorious “license to kill”. The second is “the Bond watch” familiar from earlier films in the long-running series, an Omega Seamaster Professional. Also on view in the Geneva exhibition are producer Barbara Broccoli’s copy of the Casino Royale screenplay, Bond’s money clip and credit cards, British passports made out to Bond and Vesper Lynd, short videos with scenes from the film, and large-scale photographs from the set, many of which have not previously been released elsewhere.

The Omega James Bond Exhibition is open to the public at Cite du Temps, the Swatch Group cultural centre in the heart of Geneva, Switzerland. The historic building at Pont de la Machine 1 has been a city landmark since the 1840s. Originally constructed to supply water to the city’s new fountains and recently restructured by the Swatch Group, it has become a vital source of energy for the arts and culture in Geneva. The interactive venue accommodates cultural events, conferences, permanent exhibitions and a broad range of temporary exhibitions.

Celebrating the return of James Bond to the silver screen, Omega has released two new limited-edition Bond watches: The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Casino Royale, available in a limited edition of 5,007, and the James Bond Limited Series, an exclusive new Omega Seamaster Professional featuring the classic blue “Bond” bezel and 007 numerals at the tip of the seconds hand, limited to 10,007 pieces. Among the first Bond watches to be equipped with the exclusive Omega Co-Axial Escapement, both models are professional diver’s watches and COSC-certified chronometers.