Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère (SSIH) is a former group of Swiss watchmakers comprising the brands

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

Tissot Tissot SA () is a Swiss luxury watch brand owned by the Swatch Group. The company was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot, in 1853. Tissot is not associated with Mathey-Tissot, anoth ...

and Lemania.

History

SSIH was created on February 24, 1930 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

by Tissot and Omega, to be joined in 1932 by Lemania Watch Co and A. Lugrin Co in L'Orient ( Vallée de Joux). The company specialized in the manufacture of horological complications, enabling Omega to obtain the

timing Timing is the tracking or planning of the spacing of events in time. It may refer to: * Timekeeping, the process of measuring the passage of time * Synchronization, controlling the timing of a process relative to another process * Time metrolo ...

of the 1932 Olympic Games in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. This was an important step for the development of Omega's important Sports' Watches segment with exclusive chronographs, such as the Omega Speedmaster. The merger agreement foresaw Omega's concentration on the luxury watch segment, whereas

's mission was to concentrate on the medium price range segment. In 1983, SSIH and the Allgemeine Gesellschaft der schweizerischen Uhrenindustrie AG (

ASUAG Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG; French: ''Société Générale de l'Horlogerie Suisse SA'') was the former biggest Swiss Watch Industry Group that had been created with the assistance of the Swiss Government and the Swiss Bank ...

) the other most important Swiss Watch Group, were forced by their Swiss Banks to merge into a new

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

named

Société de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie Société de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie was the name of the holding company created by the merger enforced by the Swiss Banks in 1983 of the SSIH and ASUAG, renamed The Swatch Group in 1998. Ernst Thomke, previously CEO of Ebauches SA and ...

(SMH), which has now been renamed the Swatch Group.Se
"Omega: Historique de la maison d'horlogerie Omega"
/ref> Dr. Ernst Thomke was its first CEO until 1991. He instigated a total overhaul of both

and Tissot line of products, positioning both brands successfully back into the world markets.

References

External links

Omega ''Speedmaster'' watch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Societe Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogere Defunct watchmaking companies Holding companies established in 1930 Swiss companies established in 1930 Manufacturing companies based in Geneva