As watch enthusiasts, our opportunities to experience our favorite brands can be somewhat limited. Retailers and boutiques allow us to try on the watches and experience them in the metal, although they hardly give us the chance to fully immerse ourselves in the heritage of a brand and learn more about its history. However, Omega has just opened its Planet Omega exhibition in New York City, and in addition to being free and open to the public, Planet Omega also provides attendees with the chance to learn more about the famous Swiss watch brand and see historic timepieces that can typically only be found at Omega’s museum in Biel, Switzerland.

 As one of the world’s premier luxury watch manufacturers, Omega’s world is both vast and incredibly diverse, although seeing the brand’s universe all together in a museum-style format at the Planet Omega exhibition truly provides a point of reference for how relevant and important Omega is as a brand.

Not only is Omega the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games and a constant presence on the wrists of celebrities, but Omega also has its longstanding space exploration heritage with the NASA-certified Speedmaster, and it forever holds the title of being the first watch worn on the Moon. However, Omega watches have also ventured to the very deepest point on Earth in the form of the Planet Ocean Ultra Deep, and they have also made an indelible mark on pop culture as the official watch of James Bond. Most brands would love to have just one of these major points of relevance, yet Omega has all of them and more among its long list of accomplishments.

As you walk into the space that has been transformed into Planet Omega, you are greeted by a giant gold astronaut sculpture, along with a quote from Buzz Aldrin printed on the wall that reads, “My Omega was a vital backup that kept me in sync with Houston time.” Once inside, you will see illuminated display cases that contain important vintage Omega watches that are on loan from the brand’s museum in Switzerland. Some of the vintage timepieces are rare and important models such as an original 1932 Marine (Omega’s first waterproof watch), a Speedmaster CK2998 (the first Omega to be worn in space), one of the original split-seconds chronographs used to time the Olympic Games in 1932, and a gold Ladymatic from 1955, which represented a major breakthrough for women’s watches and featured the world’s smallest rotor-equipped automatic movement.