Omega of the old times went bankrupt in the mid eighties during the turmoil that swept Swiss watch industry with the introduction of the quartz watch. With the country's two largest watchmakers - ASUAG and SSIH - (SSHI was the
parent company of OMEGA S.A.) nearly insolvent, Swiss banks turned to Zurich-based Hayek Engineering, headed by Nicholas G. Hayek, to conduct an analysis of the situation to avoid folding. Hayek planed a series of co-ordinated mergers and reorganizations that resulted in the SMH/Swatch Group being born (details on note at the end of this article).
Now Omega buys its movements from high volume movement manufacturers, like ETA and Valjoux, gives them
an "Omega Caliber number" and sell them under various Omega's traditional brand names. This is how most of the formerly independent Swiss watch manufacturers operate today, exceptions becoming fewer and fewer (and VERY expensive).
