Variety Watches

Back in the late 1850’s a man named Charles-Emile Tissot left his hometown of Le Locle Switzerland to begin peddling his world-class Tissot “savonnette” pocket watches throughout the Russian empire. From there, the popularity of Tissot pocket watches expanded throughout the world, and the Tissot Company eventually became the leading producer of traditional watches, available in five continents and over 16,000 locations.

Today, Tissot continues to surprise and delight its clientele with the latest innovations in luxury Swiss watch making. An excellent example of the company’s pioneering spirit is the latest touch-screen technology now used in the Tissot T-Touch collection.

Sports enthusiasts will be familiar with the Tissot luxury watch brand through the company’s long-time association with NASCAR, theAFL, World Championships of ice hockey, cycling, fencing, and the MotoGP, among others.

As the official timekeeper of so many world-class sporting events, Tissot has established itself as a high-performance, precision timepiece that continues to set the standard for Swiss watch making. It is no surprise that Tissot has recently signed on a number of well-known brand ambassadors, including IndyCar champion Danica Patrick, international football star Michael Own, and 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden.

Watch Tags: luxury sports watches, sports watches, Tissot, tissot watches

What a name: The 2009 Conquistador Grand Prix of Singapore, for quite a watch. The world premiere of this luxury watch by Franck Muller has quite a unique style. 

The case is made from titanium and ergal (performance enhanced high-tech aluminum alloy), from titanium and 18K rose gold and from pink gold with a blackened titanium bezel. The use of ergal merits special mention because due to its being ultra-light and highly robust, it is commonly used in the Formula 1 racing industry as well as the aerospace industry. So the fact that Frank Muller incorporated in into his watch is innovative and really ties the timepiece to the event for which it was created.

Franck Muller produced a series of these 2009 Singapore Grand Prix chronographs, 80 of which are made from titanium (as shown in the first picture), 80 in rose gold and titanium (second image) and six very exclusive pieces made from pink gold with blackened titanium bezel (last picture). The watches measure 48mm wide by 62mm in length and 14 mm in thickness. The crystal is sapphire and the caseback has an engraving of the logo of the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix on it.

At first glance you can tell there is no other watch that this one can be compared to. The black and red contrast (including the strap) and the large numbers on the dial, give this watch a serious, dark, but glamorous look. The idea behind this look no doubt comes from the event that this watch, along with others, commemorates.

The Singapore Grand Prix is the only race within the FIA Formula 1 World Championship that takes place at nighttime. Therefore, this Franck Muller watch (of which there are three styles) illustrates the concept of “dark speed.”

Although the race has already taken place, it was held from September 25 – 27, the watch lives on. As with many race car driving events, the Singapore Grand Prix drew in large numbers of people; an estimated 100,000 live spectators and about 110 million that watched it on TV.

Watch Tags: 2009 Conquistador Grand Prix of Singapore chronograph, franck muller watches, frank muller, frank muller watches, luxury sports watches, mens luxury watches, sports watches