by Luminița Paul
This watch tells the time, but this
is not the only thing it does. It also tells history”. This is the final line
of a 30 seconds advertising video produced by Rolex and starring Roger Federer,
the legendary Swiss champion. He and other famous sportsmen are the ambassadors
of the watch producer company. This slogan
used by Rolex is also adequate for other brands when it comes to their
connection with sport. Where else is time so greatly emphasized but when there
is a world record at stake? Or when we count the length of a game? Or the few
hundredths that make the difference between gold and silver? Or, maybe, the
image of a podium or an award festivity, the medal hanging at the neck and the
trophy lifted over the head? Many watch brands signed long-term contracts with
sport stars, either contemporary or retired. One of them is Federer himself,
who presented a few years ago some of the watches he collected over time. His
collection includes both vintage models and limited editions. The first watch
that Roger unveiled was the Rolex Day-Date, a slim, steel made watch, with a
simple and rather large dial. The Swiss said he wears it most of all during the
evenings and that, whenever he is travelling, this watch is always in his
luggage.
The next watch he unveiled was a
vintage one, the Daytona 6263 model, which was launched on the market in 1981.
This model has a special and sentimental value for Federer: it is the gift he
received from his wife Mirka, on his 30th birthday. She had a tough time
finding it, so, finally, she contacted the Rolex people to help her purchase
the watch. Another piece that has a special halo is the Datejust Rolex; Federer
wore this watch when he conquered his 15th Grand Slam tournament – Wimbledon
2009. This trophy helped him setup a new record of success in major
tournaments, outclassing Pete Sampras. This is the watch that he usually wears
at trainings; during the matches he prefers the lighter models, made from
steel. When he won again at Wimbledon, in 2012, he was wearing a Rolex Rose
Gold 40mm President. Back then, the rumors were saying that the contract
between Federer and the watch company was worth 15 million dollars.
The partnership between Rolex
and Wimbledon is four decades long
Rolex made a much deeper plunge in
the world of tennis, and this translates to 38 years of partnership it has with
Wimbledon, the tournament with the longest tradition around. Besides Federer,
this London founded company that has its general headquarters in Geneva, chose ambassadors from different generations and
countries. They extended their presence on the Asian market thanks to Chinese
sportswoman Na Li, champion at Roland Garros in 2011 and at the Australian Open
in 2014, presently retired from the world of tennis. They also have signed
contracts with the French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov,
Canadian Milos Raonic, and Danish Caroline Wozniacki, Serbian Ana Ivanovici,
American Sloane Stephens and Swiss Belinda Bencic. They didn`t stop at tennis
and they built and kept relationships with great champion years after they
ended their sport careers.
The former Formula 1 champion 1
Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973), now 76 years old, is famous because he
always cuts his left sleeve with just a few centimeters in order fo his watch
to be visible. His Rolex watch, of course. Also, the famous American golf
player Jack Nicklaus, also 76 years old, has won his last major tournament in
1986. Yet, he remains one of the brand`s ambassador.
Let us change the names, but
remain in Switzerland. Tag Heuer, thecompany founded in 1860, having its
current headquarters in La Chauxde-Fonds, has just included on the list of
their ambassadors Cristiano Ronaldo. Is there someone who didn`t hear about
this Real Madrid player? ThePortuguese joined the brand in 2014 and he signed a
contract up to 2019, for a very good, but secret amount of money. Ronaldo
already has a model that wears his name in the Formula 1 collection: Tag Heuer
Cristiano Ronaldo CR7, limited edition. It has a 42 mm dial, three black
chronographs, it is water resistant up to 200 m and the glass is made of
sapphire. The watch was designed together with Ronaldo himself and was produced
only in 3.000 pieces.
Tag Huer – a winning bet made
with Maria Sharapova
Just a decade before signing with
the Lusitanian star, Tag Heur had a hunch that Maria Șarapova would make a long
term partner. They signed the contract with the Russian tennis player in 2004,
the season when she won the Wimbledon title and the Tournament of Champions, at
only 17 of age. Back then, the rumors were talking about 500.000 pounds, and
this amount increased as Maria`s career grew stronger. In 2015, during the All England
Club tournament, she was wearing the Carrera Lady Calibre 9 model, a steel
frame garnished with diamonds – but only after the matches would be over.
Șarapova is one of those players who would rather have their wrist free during
matches. Japanese Kei Nishikori, number 7 in the world at the beginning of this
season, also has an agreement with Tag Heurer. The last model he wore is the
Aquaracer 300 m 41 MM Calibre 5. Another Swiss luxury brand is Audemars Piguet,
founded in 1875; they chose Serena Williams and Stan Wawrinka, the winners of
Roland Garros 2015, to become their ambassadors. The American woman joined the brand
in December 2014, and during the Paris tournament, but also in London, she wore
the quartz model Audemars Piguet Ladies Royal Oak Offshore, a watch whose bezel
is garnished with white diamonds. Wawrinka plays wearing a watch and last year
she preferred the Royal Oak Offshore Diver model, made of white ceramics and
with a size of 42x13,9 mm.
Competing with Tag Heuer, who has
Cristiano Ronaldo, Audemars Piguet has signed a contract with another superstar
of contemporary football – Argentinean player Lionel Messi. The Royal Oak Leo
Messi model, a limited edition, was produced only in a series of 1.000 models
that were sold already long ago. The price of a piece varied between 30.400
dollars for the steel and tantalum model, 51.400 dollars for the pink gold and
tantalum one and 83.800 dollars the model made from platinum and tantalum. Some
of the great sportspeople who have a contract with Omega is 31 years old
American swimmer Michael Phelps. He owns the absolute record of Olympic medals
set out in London, in 2012. He stood on the Olympic Games podiums 22nd times,
of which 18th times he won the gold.
Phelps signed a contract with the
Swiss company in 2004, when he was only 19, but already a six-time Olympic
champion. Another longtime contract is the one between 33 years old Aksel Lund
Svindal, five times world champion, at speed and combined skiing and Longines,
a Swiss company founded in 1832 that is owned, just like Omega, by the Swatch
Group.
The fastest man on the planet
is running for Hublot
Hublot, the Swiss brand founded
in 1980 by an Italian - Carlo Crocco - and owned by the French LVMH is
represented by the fastest man on the
Planet. Jamaican Usain Bolt, world record man at 100 and 200 m plat, has
benefited from an exclusive model, worth 17.750 dollars, after he succeeded the
best performance of all times 9,63 seconds – meanwhile, the record was
outclassed by 9,59 s. This jewelry was produced only in 250 pieces; its dial is
48 mm, the glass is made of sapphire crystal and Bolt`s grey silhouette appears
at 9:00 sharp. Back to tennis, what are the companies that are getting the
attention? Double Grand Slam champion Andy Murray is sponsored by Rado, and
last year he was wearing Rado Hyperchrome Automatic Chronograph Match Point. A
cute anecdote: after winning the title at the US Open 2012, the Scottish man
went towards the box seat where his mother was staying, to inquire about
something that was nowhere to be found in his luggage. Everyone thought he was
looking for his shoes, when, in fact, Andy wanted to know where is the watch he
was planning to show at the festivity of awards. The back then loser, who
meanwhile became the absolute world leader, Novak Djokovici, has a contract
with Seiko, and we can see an Astron GPS Solar Chronograph on his left wrist
every time he lifts up a trophy.
An interesting case is French
tennis player Gaël Monfils; he is a watch lover who collected around 30 one of
a kind models. The most special watches he has are the ones produced by the
niche company De Bethune, whose ambassador he is since 2014. The brand produces
between 300 and 400 watches each year, and their average price is 90.000 Swiss
francs. Monfils doesn`t wear any expensive model on the field, but outside the
field he enjoys wearing the DB28 Black Matt.
The exclusive watches created
for Rafael Nadal
The value of the watch doesn`t
constitute a problem for Spaniard Rafael Nadal, 14 times Grand Slam champion,
who plays long hour matches wearing an exclusive piece created for him by the
Swiss luxury brand Richard Mille. The brand was founded in 1999 by the business
man Richard Mille, in collaboration with Audemars Piguet. The partnership with
Rafa began in 2010, and in one of the best years of his career he was showing
off on the field a 500.000 dollars worth watch. Since then, every season meant a
new model, of even greater value. The last year model, which was presented for
the first time at the Roland Garos, was evaluated at 775.000 dollars according
to some sources, and at 800.000 dollars according to others. The watch is quite
big and you would think that it is disturbing the player during the effort, but
Nadal is wearing it with ease and in a natural manner. And the reason is that,
in fact, the watch is very light, it weighs only 19 grams, and if you take the
belt off – 13 grams. This is incredible, isn’t it? Famous for his many habits,
among which the obsession of arranging the water bottles always in the same
line, Rafa has never showed that much care for his watches. Two of them were
stolen and the stories are covered by Tom Perrotta in the Wall Street Journal.
The first one was snatched from his locker and it was never recouped, but the
second one was found. The thief took advantage of the fact that the Spaniard
was dining with his team in a restaurant, to celebrate winning the 7th Roland
Garros, and entered the room using a magnetic key that was later on traced. He
almost lost a third watch. He left in the locker, but another player, the
American Eric Butorac, saw the watch and brought it to him on the tennis court.
„I was holding the watch in my hands and thinking: It is worth more than I have
ever earned in my entire career!”, recounted Butorac, obviously amused. After
playing the Australian Open double final, Butorac afforded to buy a 5.000
dollars Rolex for himself. Luxury brands look out forthe best people around.
But, this is something natural, right?
