Omega presented the new Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 1932, a fully integrated chronograph and minute repeater which becomes the most complicated calibre Omega has ever made. Developed with sister company Blancpain, the 1932 movement took six years to complete. A brand new movement made by hand that chimes the elapsed times recorded by the chronograph instead of the current hours and minutes as you would expect from a traditional minute repeater.

The watchmakers had to find a way to expand the existing boundaries of Omega’s renowned Co-Axial escapement. The system, developed by the brilliant watchmaker Georges Daniels, is an essential component in all of Omega’s movements. Designed to operate at a relatively standard frequency (between 3 and 4 Hz), it presented a major constraint when developing the new movement, which must beat at 5 Hz to display 1/10th of a second, like the pocket chronographs used to time the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games.
The watchmakers would also have to add three chime cams to the already complicated chronograph mechanism, include two security functions to prevent mal-manipulation, and integrate a split-seconds function. What’s more, to achieve Master Chronometer status, the calibre would have to withstand external magnetic fields of 15,000 gauss, requiring the use of 50 non-ferrous components.

The creation from scratch of a calibre like this required up to 17 patents, related to the function of t...