August 21, 2015 | Watches & Jewelry
The Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games unveils its new charity project and limited-edition watch to mark the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Omega Seamaster Bullhead Rio 2016 watch.
Watchmaker Omega recently announced a charity component that will accompany the one-year countdown to the 2016 Summer Olympics. The brand is partnering with Viva Rio, a Brazilian nonprofit organization that works to promote a culture of peace and social inclusion.
Every month for the next 12 months, Omega will announce a new venture designed to leave a lasting impression on the host city. The first of the 12 social action projects supports vulnerable mothers in the Costa Barros, North Zone, of Rio, where violence is high. Omega will revitalize a center where pregnant women and mothers can gain education and healthcare from a multi-disciplinary team of professionals.
Rio de Janeiro.
The Summer Olympics will mark the 27th time Omega has been involved in the Olympic Games since the 1932 Olympics. The brand’s incessant research and development into timing has yielded some of the most precise timing equipment in the world, and is renowned for creating new methods to time swimmers and runners.
To celebrate its role as the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, Omega releases special Olympic watches—usually in the Speedmaster line. While there is a Speedmaster timepiece honoring Rio, the watch we like even better is the new Seamaster Bullhead Rio 2016 Limited Edition that really brings home the colors of the country and the Olympic Rings. The blue leather strap is stitched with threads of yellow, green, red, and black—the colors of the Olympic rings—and those colors are translated onto the inner rotating bezel as well. The bullhead-like case shape is inspired by a 1969 Omega watch that was used by rally drivers. The new watch houses the Omega Co-Axial Chronograph Caliber 3113 with a central seconds hand and a 30-minute counter. The Rio 2016 Olympic Games logo is engraved on the case back. Just 316 pieces will be made, with each retailing for $9,600.
Founder and editor-in-chief of ATimelyPerspective.com, Roberta Naas is a veteran award-winning journalist in the watch industry with more than 25 years of experience. She was the first woman watch editor in the US market—breaking in to an “all boys network” with a pioneering spirit that would be her signature to this day. Naas brings responsible, factual—yet always timely and insightful—reporting of the watch industry to the forefront.
