The table was a project we took on as a personal challenge from the birth of Omega. When approaching such a “challenge” (given the quality goal we had in mind), it is necessary to have all the necessary skills to design such a complex product. That’s why we took all the time needed to study, test, interview athletes, and understand in detail what characteristics a table must have to be truly perfect for the athlete. That’s where we started to build the project.
The first months were dedicated to collecting data and feedback from experiences. It didn’t all go smoothly; it would have been too good to be true. While the idea was taking shape, the design obstacles were becoming decidedly important.
Before starting any project, you need a clear and defined action plan. Regarding the table, the first step was represented by the regulatory measures necessary to define it as “competition-grade.” Anyone who has rolled up their sleeves to build a table knows these difficulties well.
The drawings available online were technically lacking (with contradictory measurements) due to the different units of measurement used (originally in inches, not millimeters) and changes in regulations over time. So even the conversions and rounding were rather approximate. WAF itself does not currently provide updated specifications online, and various manufacturers went for free interpretation on the spacing of the pegs or the positioning angles of the side pads.
Meanwhile, Omega was growing rapidly, and with the creation of the website, the necessary work kept increasing. To avoid new projects, even if important, slowing down existing ones, all the preliminary work related to the table was temporarily put “on hold.”
The turning point came one day when browsing through various enthusiasts’ pages. We immediately noticed a handmade table made of polished stainless steel and covered in red leather. The quality, precision, and attention to detail were exceptional, a sign that whoever designed and built it knew exactly how and what to do, besides having an extraordinary passion that had materialized in a product that had undoubtedly required dozens of hours of work.
We immediately began to inquire, aiming to understand who was behind that table and, above all, if there were prerequisites for starting a collaboration. We wanted to join forces to create something that truly made a difference because achieving that level of quality and precision would require months of product study, prototyping, and projects, without even having the guarantee of reaching excellence.
It didn’t take long to figure out who was behind the construction of that table—an athlete already well-known in the field, not only for competitive merits but also for creating that same red table.
