Omega unveils giant countdown clock to Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Tiananmen Square
Beijing (ots)
Prestige Swiss watchmaker Omega, Official Timekeeper of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, today unveiled a giant clock in Tiananmen Square that counts the days, hours, minutes and seconds remaining to the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad on August 8th, 2008.
It is a considerable honour for Omega, and also signals the company's return to its roots at the origin of Olympic Timkeeping, since Omega will be Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Winter Games of Turin 2006, the Beijing 2008 Games and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
The 14-metre high and 5.5 metre wide clock is located in front of the National Museum in Tiananmen Square. The entire clock is backlit by LED lights, with the most striking feature undoubtedly being the heartbeat-like flashing red lights behind the Official Emblem of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The core component of the clock, providing the countdown function, is a special display board shipped directly from Omega in Switzerland, the specialists in the production of electronic scoreboard and information displays. The clock itself counts down the time remaining to the Opening Ceremony of the Games, chosen because of the significance (eight is a lucky number in China) of its number sequence: 8pm on 8/8/2008. Omega was the first-ever company to be appointed as timekeeper of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1932 and subsequently went on to be the Official Timekeeper of a total of 21 Olympic Games over the past century.
Indication: A picture is beeing transmitted by Keystone, EPA, Asia
Net, APKontact: Omega Alessandra Camperio Phone +41/32/343'92'11 Fax: +41/32/343'97'15 E-Mail: Alessandra.camperio@omega.ch