Brand Watches

Longines Watch

There are two things that come to our minds when we think about Longines. One, the brand’s popular tagline – ‘Elegance is an attitude’; two, its equally famous ambassador and Bollywood actress – Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Longines has been one of Swatch Group’s most successful brands that cleared the 30-million sales mark in 2001 – a feat which can be matched only by a few.

But the history of the brand and its attempts at reinvent itself are quite fascinating. Here is the brand’s amazing journey to stardom.

Click here to read the whole history of Longines.

Blancpain And Lamborghini

The Swiss Watchmaker Blancpain and Lamborghini announced a partnership which will give birth to the first championship for Lamborghini cars named “Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo”

According to a press release from the watch manufacturer, the deal was facilitated because both companies are producers of high performance, hand-crafted mechanical luxury products of great desirability.  The relationship is based upon the twin themes of speed and mechanical prestige.

The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 cars, emblazoned with Blancpain emblems and various timepiece images will start competing from May 2009 onwards in exclusive competitions on premier European racing tracks. The first round of the 2009 provisional calendar will be held on 3 May at Silverstone, followed by Adria in Italy on the 17th of May, the Norisring in Germany, Spa and Catalunya in Spain.

The finals – of the series sponsored by Blancpain – will be held on 4 October at Monza.

Lamborghini’s lack of racing history seems to be no hindrance to the brand’s modern motor sport ambitions, particularly with today’s Audi connection. Unlike their FIA GT cousins, Lamborghini’s Super Trofeo cars will feature permanent 4wd - although extensive weight reductions mean 1300kg, combined with 570bhp, should negate much of the on-paper power-to-weight disadvantage.

Bahrain is a key part of the Swatch-International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Beach Volley World Tour, and it is essential that it keeps its place on the annual calendar, says a top FIVB official, writes PATRICK SALOMON.

In 2006, FIVB president Dr Ruben Acosta visited the kingdom and signed a two-year contract with the General Organisation for Youth and Sports, on behalf of the Bahrain Volleyball Association, to host world beach volleyball events in Bahrain.

A new contract has still to be signed, however, leaving an uncertain future for the kingdom as hosts on the global circuit.

“We really hope that the tournament comes back here,” Bahrain Open technical supervisor Dirk Decher told the GDN.

“The FIVB wants it here and the players want it, but the local federation has to make a very quick decision. A new deal has to be signed soon because the FIVB deadline is at the end of this month.

“We are proud to have this tournament here in Bahrain - you have the perfect venue, good conditions, and the environment is really good, especially the sand.

“For the FIVB, we see the Tour as a big family all over the world, and we like to have different stages on the family map, and Bahrain is very important.”

Timex is partnering with J. Crew to introduce a new vintage-inspired collection, developed exclusively for the retailer. The first release from the Timex Vintage Collection is a military-style watch.

“Timex has roots dating back to 1854 and many watch collectors admire our vintage timepieces. We were thrilled when J.Crew approached us for this exclusive commission as it gave us an opportunity to dig into our archive and create a truly unique product for them,” says Kristine Lumpinski, Timex Vice President of Marketing. “We’re looking forward to collaborating with J.Crew’s design team to launch more vintage-inspired designs in the future.”

“We are excited to partner with Timex and offer a military style watch that reflects the classic, rugged and authentic feel of our recently opened Tribeca Men’s Shop at the Liquor Store,” says Frank Muytjens, Head of Men’s Design.

To craft this military-style timepiece, Timex thoughtfully replicated elements of classic WWII aviation-style watches using details typical of the era. Based on an archival blueprint, the dial features a bold and distinctive font against a midnight black background giving the watch a clean, monochromatic look and ensuring maximum clarity.

In keeping with military tradition, it shows both 12- and 24-hour time. The sharply contrasting bright red second hand highlights the smallest increments of time, while heavy green luminescent paint on the hour markers and hands provides readability in the dark.

The Antiquorum Fall 2008 auction “Important Collectors Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks” took place yesterday, marked by feverish Internet bidding and a remarkable sale total of $9,892,812.  After the dust had settled, a number of records had been set, most notable among these being from the sale of a gold Longines wristwatch once owned by celebrated physicist Albert Einstein.

The antique Longines watch, dating from 1931 and engraved with Einstein’s name sold for $596,000, a figure which exceeded its pre-sale estimate by a staggering 2,000 percent.  The sale represents a landmark for both Longines and watch auction history in general; it is both the highest price ever realized for a Longines watch, and the highest figure obtained for a simple time-only wristwatch.

Regarding the Einstein Longines watch sale, Julian Schaerer, Antiquorum USA’s Watch Expert & Auctioneer said, “We’re delighted to see such an excellent outcome for our first auction of the season. In particular, we’re excited by the exceptional result achieved by the Longines wristwatch that belonged to the Time Magazine Man of the Century-the world’s most noteworthy physicist, Nobel Prize winning scientist, Albert Einstein.”

“The results from today’s auction are confirmation that despite the current erratic economic climate, important timepieces continue to be extremely sought after, highly collectible, and sound tangible investments that have consistently proven to appreciate exponentially over time,” stated Robert Maron, the newly appointed chairman of Antiquorum.

Click here to read to full press release.

W Steel, the ‘Official Timing and Watch Partner’ of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport begins its season long search to find ‘Miss TW Steel’ this weekend as Round 1 of the 2008-09 A1GP season kicks off at Circuit Park Zandvoort, Holland on Sunday 5th October.

The quest to find ‘Miss TW Steel’, with the overall winner set to be crowned at the A1GP season finale in Great Britain in May 2009, starts this weekend with the Dutch entries being judged by a panel including Jordy Cobelens - Managing Director of TW Steel and Michael Andretti – 1991 IndyCar World Champion and co-owner of Andretti Green Racing, now running A1 Team USA.

Tim Coronel, no stranger to Dutch race fans and also a proud TW Steel Brand Ambassador, will host Sunday’s competition in the paddock at Circuit Park Zandvoort, starting at Noon, between the A1GP Sprint and Feature races – the first to use the all new A1GP Powered by Ferrari cars.

“We’re delighted to be launching the search for Miss TW Steel in Zandvoort,” stated Jordy Cobelens. “This is TW Steel’s home race and the first in our new partnership with A1GP so it’s a great place for us to start the competition. I know the competitors are really looking forward to Sunday’s event and for all the fans who show up, we’re hoping to provide the same level of excitement off-track as they’ll see on it from A1GP. The competition, along with the launch of the TW Steel A1GP watches, is a great way to begin our involvement with the series and promote our brand worldwide.”

A local ‘Miss TW Steel’ competition will be held at every round on the 2008-09 A1GP schedule visiting the likes of China, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico and Great Britain.

The winner of each round will then be brought to Brands Hatch in May and go head to head for the title of ‘Miss TW Steel 2008-09’, with the winner receiving no less than $25,000 in prize money as well as a professional photo-shoot in FHM Magazine.

Swiss watch manufacturer Certina added a new timepiece to its already famous DS Podium sport watches line.

The new watch model follows the same core values which have made the line popular: a perfect blend between talent and performance. It has a new bold look and it larger case stands as the hallmark of proud conquerors.

It is a sport-classical timepiece with a unique sense of elegance and class, notably in its tasteful use of contrasts between black and steel surfaces.

On the wrist of today’s contemporary, discerning gents, the new Certina DS Podium is an exquisite affirmation of bold dynamism, into the smallest of details.

Feast your eyes on this, it’s the ridiculously named EQW-500DBE-1AVER, from Casio, and it’s being launched to coincide with the release of Iron Man on DVD on the 27th October. It’s yours for £170.

It’s got a whole heap of awesome features, much like Iron Man’s suit. It has two separate stopwatches, a countdown timer, an LED light, automatic adjustment thanks to radio transmitters, an alarm, world time for 29 cities and a stainless steel casing and wristband.

It’s also water-resistant up to 10 bar.

On top of the lovely watch, Casio are also running a competition to win a trip to Hollywood.

Citizen Watch Co Ltd developed a watch movement measuring 18.5mm in diameter and 3.42 in thickness, smaller than a one-yen coin (20mm in diameter) or a nickel (21.21mm) , for use in ladies watches.

The company calls it “the World’s Smallest Eco-drive Atomic Watch Movement ‘H010.’”

The volume of the movement is about 20% smaller than that of the existing products. The small movement enhances variations in watch design and allows downsizing of atomic watches. Initially, the H010 will be used in the “Exceed Ladies Collection,” which will be released in mid Oct 2008.

The H010 has miniaturized parts and double-sided circuit boards. The diameter and thickness of the movement was downsized by reducing the size of the antenna as well, while maintaining the receiving sensitivity.

A calendar function was added to the downsized movement. This is the first time a ladies eco-drive watch has been equipped with this function, according to the company.

It has an antimagnetic property that complies with JIS1, which was believed to be difficult to attain in an atomic watch with a built-in antenna. The property is at a level resistant to a 4,800A/m DC field.

It is also equipped with a function to detect external impact and control the second and minute hands to prevent their displacement. In addition, it is capable of detecting locations of hands periodically to make necessary corrections, in case a deviation of the hands from the time counter inside the IC is confirmed.

The battery life is three years under power saving mode, if fully charged. The amount of charge is displayed so that the user can check how much remains.