A hundred years on Vangen

1. 1922

   KS Opheim, watchmaker

   On 25 April 1922 Knut Severin Opheim opens a goldsmith and watch shop in Vangsgata.

   

2. 1926

   Across the street

   Knut Severin buys the house on the other side of the street and moves the business there.

3. 1933

   Thirteen years old

   Knut Severin dies. His son Alf Opheim senior takes over the shop with his mother – aged just 13.

4. 1940

   The bombing of Voss

   The shop is completely destroyed. Alf senior carries on from a barrack, and after the war from a log cabin moved from Hallingdal.

5. 1948 · 1952

   Olympic skier

   Alf senior skis for the national alpine team and competes at the Olympics in St. Moritz and Oslo.

   

6. 1959

   Opheimsgården

   The building on Vangen is completed as we know it today.

   

7. 1960s

   From watchmaker to optician

   Studies in Berlin, hard contact lenses – and meeting H.-J. Haase. Binocular testing with Zeiss Polatest comes to Voss.

8. 1980s

   Third generation

   Alf Opheim jr. qualifies as an optician and trains in optical engineering in Kongsberg.

9. 2015

   ZEISS in London

   Alf Opheim is invited to ZEISS Year of Innovation – one of three in the Nordics – for his work with binocular vision and i.Polatest.

10. 2022

    100 years

    A centenary with a red carpet on Vangen. 'You have to be able to stand in the storm in this trade.'

    

11. 2025

    Store of the Year

    1st place as Store of the Year in the Alliance Optikk chain.

Historic photos: Voss Folkemuseum, Braatens Efft. and the family archive, as published on opheim.no.