1920s A 1920s, electromechanically-controlled briefcase, containing six stopwatches that were used in the early Games

当十分之一或千分之一秒可以决定或毁掉一项事业时，时间就是一切。自1896年在雅典举行第一届现代奥运会以来，时间测量一直是该项目的枢纽。这是一项严肃的工作，对认真的计时员。

在百余年的赛事历史中，有几个手表品牌承担了这个任务。瑞士汽车运动计时器Heuer(1985年获得了标签前缀)是20世纪20年代的自然合作伙伴，而Seiko也是几届奥运会的计时员。但总部位于贝尔的欧米茄(Omega)是联系最紧密的品牌，2012年伦敦奥运会标志着它作为官方计时员的第25次亮相。

这也不仅仅是品牌代言活动：追求更精确的时间是让手表世界运转良好的原因，但官方计时员正在接受审查，以开发出不仅能胜任工作，而且做得更好的设备。因此，附属手表公司一直在体育计时技术上投入大量资源。

此外，由于欧米茄主持了长达一个世纪的变革-当时边线的秒表持有者不情愿地让位于电子计时器，然后是数字方式-该公司作为技术先驱的角色令人印象深刻。该公司的工程师们花了几十年的时间，开发出一套不仅设计精巧-不妨碍观众对跨过终点的运动员的看法-而且符合运动员、官员和数以百万计在电视上观看奥运会的人的要求的工具。

以1961年推出的欧米茄望远镜为例。通过让直播时间第一次在电视上转播，它直接吸引了观众，提高了观众的体验，创造了广播的历史。

当然，奥运会时刻表现在是以电脑为基础的，但欧米茄继续加速变化，同时也推动了体育表演的未来。在伦敦东部扎哈·哈迪德水上运动中心练习游泳的人最近被问到，欧米茄的触控板技术的改进-一种对游泳运动员的触摸而不是水的移动作出反应的系统-是否会通过测试。

在这里，作为我们成立的体育特辑(现在出来)的一部分，我们绘制了欧米茄无与伦比的奥运计时发明的记录，从20世纪20年代到即将到来的2012年伦敦奥运会。

1932: Los Angeles Omega became official timekeeper of the Olympics at the Los Angeles Games in 1932, supplying 30 high-precision chronographs for use across all sports. These stopwatches were officially certified and tested for precision in Switzerland, convincing the Olympic Organising Committee to select Omega for the Games. Official results were recorded to fifths and tenths of a second

1952: Helsinki The Racend Omega Timer produced images of athletes crossing the finish line with a running measurement strip divided into hundredths of a second at the bottom of the picture. It was renamed the Photofinish in time for the 1952 Olympics. The Omega Time Recorder, mobile and independent of the electrical network, enabled results to be printed out on a roll of paper, winning Omega the prestigious ‘Croix du Mérite Olympique’. Official times were now recorded to the nearest hundredth of a second

1956: Melbourne A new innovation debuted at the Melbourne Summer Games in 1956: the Swim Eight-O-Matic Timer, a semi-automatic timekeeping device for swimming races. Complete with digital display, it allowed timekeepers to distinguish between two individual swimmers who appeared to finish at exactly the same time

1964: Innsbruck Invented in 1961, the Omegascope allowed the introduction of the concept of real time in televised sports reporting by superimposing luminous numbers on the bottom of the screen; it revolutionized timekeeping and left no margin for error because it was openly on display for millions of TV viewers. It was later used at the 1964 Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck – the first fully electronically timed Olympic Games. Never before had spectators beyond a venue been so quickly and well informed about events taking place elsewhere

1988: Calgary/Seoul Calgary and Seoul were the first Olympic Games with computerised timekeeping, which menat that results and analysis could be stored in databases for posterity. The Omega video matrix board boasted colour images in Seoul

1992: Albertville At the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, speed skaters relied on the Omega Scan-O-Vision system that digitally measured times to the nearest thousandth of a second as skaters crossed the finish line. The system effectively photographed time by fusing time and continuous picture in a single document. This development heralded a new chapter in the science of timekeeping

One of the most enduring images from any Olympic Games is the starting pistol, reminiscent of old-fashioned Hollywood style revolvers

2010: Vancouver The most talked-about piece of sports timekeeping equipment in Vancouver was the new Electronic Start System. At the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, this was replaced by a streamlined, futuristic device composed of a flash gun and a sound-generation box. When the trigger is pressed, three things happen simultaneously: a sound is ‘played’, a light flash is emitted and a start pulse is given to the timing device. By pressing the trigger a second time within two seconds, the false start is audibly signalled. Sounds can be changed and downloaded by computer

2012: London OMEGA's new Open Water Gate is set up to relay new timing information. Previously, times were only reported at the beginning and the end of the marathon. Now intermediate times will also be available. The gate positioned at the finish has touchpads with vertical transponder antennas while the ones in the intermediate positions have horizontal transponder antennas that pick up the signals 'on the fly' from the transponders the swimmers wear on their wrists. At the finish, there are also high-definition cameras mounted on poles that serve as a reliable backup system and which are used when athletes are too close in time and cannot be ranked by the transponder system alone

2012: London The Quantum Timer and the Quantum Aquatics Timer mark the beginning of a new generation of OMEGA Timing products. The resolution is 100 times greater than with previous devices. The Quantum also delivers precision of 0.1 parts per million (ppm). This means that there is a maximum variation of only one second out of ten million seconds or a thousandth of a second out of every thousand seconds. The previous devices had precision of 0.5 ppm so in this respect, the new ones are five times more accurate. The precision is achieved through the use of a component created by Micro Crystal, which is embedded in the timer

2012: London OMEGA is also introducing an updated athletics starting block at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The runners' reaction times are measured entirely by the measurement of force against the back block and not by movement. The new blocks can detect the reaction times of every runner – from children through to world-class sprinters – without changing any settings on the device. The central bar is thinner than that of the previous device allowing better starting positions for women and children. The foot rest is now wider, having been expanded from 120 to 160 mm, allowing different starting positions

2012: London An innovative light system called the Swimming Show will also make its debut at the Olympic Games in London. There are lights mounted on the starting blocks positioned next to the touch pads at the end of the pool where the swimmers stop their races. A single large dot of light on a swimmer's starting block indicates first place; two medium-sized dots of light indicate second; and three smaller dots of light confirm a third place finish. The light system was conceived primarily for spectators. They don't need to look at the main scoreboard to confirm the results; the three top finishers will be clearly identified at the end of the pool

keywords:Watches & Jewellery; Omega; Watch Design; Jewellery Design; Olympics, Zaha Hadid

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