News

Bandelier

Official watch licensee of IPL

Swiss Watch Brand Bandelier unveiled its “IPL Trophy” collection at Mumbai. The collection consists of trendy and sophisticated hers and his watches. The “IPL Trophy” line of products is modeled around the league and its teams and delivers high quality precision and finesse in the true tradition of Swiss premium watches.

The IPL Trophy collection has four variants - a large, a medium and 2 small. In all there will be 29 unique watches which will comprise of 3 watches (all steel 2 male & 1 female) uniquely for IPL & each of the 8 teams (9 x 3) and 2 female watches (leather strap in Pink or Sky Blue & diamonds) which will be only for IPL. The Swiss made watch has a reliable quartz movement, with chronograph displaying minutes and hours. The 9 variant dials have the IPL or Team colours on the Tachymeter (from 1 to 20 minutes) while the case back is engraved with the individual team or IPL logo. The 2 female watches have the IPL colour on the Tachymeter and the case back has the IPL logo. The turning bezel on the men’s models also allows for a countdown function of the overs in a T20 cricket match.

The Indian Premier League had earlier announced the appointment of Bandelier 1878 of Geneva, Switzerland as the official watch licensee for the league. The brand is distributed by Finex Lifestyle Works Pvt Ltd. headed by Raouff Ansari. This marks the first time in world cricket, that a Swiss Watch Brand will collaborate with any cricketing league to create and market a collection of Swiss made watches and men’s accessories through this exclusive license partnership.

Bandelier 1878 traces its history back to the late 19th century to the city of Geneva, Switzerland where Arthur Bandelier developed a reputation for making solid and durable pocket watches. The Finex group of companies is responsible for the launch of many luxury brands in the Indian market, such as Cartier, Corum, Marina Bulgari, Harry Winston, Vertu, Christian Dior and many others.

Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner, Indian Premier League said, "I am very pleased with Bandelier - a classic 130 year old swiss brand, becoming the first licensee of the league! These classic watches from Bandelier 1878 will undoubtedly make for an enviable addition to any collector’s portfolio and I am certain that cricket fans from all over the world will take to the brand. More importantly through this innovation the IPL will now be able to reach out further beyond Indian shores to its global fan base.”

Raouff Ansari, Managing Director, Finex Lifestyle Works Pvt. Ltd said, "We’re quite excited with this association because what has been shown today is only the beginning. We have additional models, special editions and limited editions coming out as the tournament begins and as the year progresses. Bandelier is steeped in the rich Swiss watch making heritage and traditions, and is known for a methodical approach to designing and manufacturing durable and quality timepieces. Given our joint ambitions in taking Bandelier’s IPL Trophy Collection as far as possible globally, we’re very much looking forward to exploring all the possibilities.”

All watches in the IPL Trophy collection will have anti reflection scratch-resistant sapphire crystal and a 2 years guarantee against manufacturing defects. The watches are water resistant till 100 metres, with screw down pushers for added security against water & humidity.

Panerai

Radiomir Regatta 1/8th Second Titanio – 47 mm

A new special edition by Officine Panerai for the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge 2010 that combines various functions characteristic of top-end mechanical watchmaking. The Radiomir Regatta 1/8th Second Titanio – 47 mm is a split-second foudroyante chronograph, which also features a scale for calculating boat speed in knots.

The split-second or rattrapante function allows two simultaneous events to be clocked, thanks to two overlapping, partially independent hands. Whereas the foudroyante function activates a small hand that rotates in the dial at nine o’clock, making one rotation every second: when the chronograph stops, the hand comes to a halt on the relative fraction of a second. With the new Radiomir this is precise to one eighth of a second.

The Radiomir Regatta 1/8th Second Titanio – 47 mm has an automatic OP XXI calibre, with a diameter of 13 ¼ lignes and 40 jewels, double column wheel, anti-shock device and finely decorated bridges with a perlage and côtes de Genève pattern. The balance ticks 28,800 times an hour at a frequency of 4 Htz, permitting one eighth of a second precision and the watch has a power reserve of 42 hours.

In brushed titanium with a fine polished bezel, the 47 mm case is watertight to 10 bars (approximately 100 metres), unusual for a chronograph with these characteristics but typical of Panerai tradition. The back plate has a large sapphire crystal window showing the complex movement, while the cut-off cone-shaped winding crown houses the control button for the split-second chronograph hand.

A 1.9 mm thick anti-reflective sapphire crystal protects the classic-layout Panerai dial, with two large luminescent Arabic numerals and hour markers. On the left is the small dial indicating fractions of seconds and on the right there is the minute counter with the scale in knots, in other words nautical miles (1,852 metres) per hour.

Swarovski

Best Product Design -2010!

In 2009, Swarovski made a sparkling entrance on the watchmaking scene with a collection that demonstrated its know-how and expertise. Part of this collection, the “D:Light” watch captures the imagination with its eye-catching shapes and futuristic style. The “D:Light” was designed by Eric Giroud and is a result of Swarovski’s “Avant-Time” concept which aims at giving the most daring and creative vision of time. Visionary both in terms of style and technical performance, the “D:Light” watch perfectly illustrates Swarovski’s constant quest for innovation.

From a technical perspective, its exceptional movement took Swarovski several years of exclusive development to perfect.

Its unique combination of high technical quality, inspired vision and originality led the jury of the “red dot design award”, made up of 27 renowned designers, to choose the D:Light for the award of Best Product Design 2010.

With over 12,000 entries from more than 60 countries, the international “red dot design award” is the largest and most famous design competition in the world. Since 1955, this competition has honored outstanding designs. That the “D Light” was chosen for this award is a testament to its designer’s success in creating a watch which is at once functional, modern and spectacularly stylish.

The “D:Light” is still available in store. A Limited Edition version of the watch was unveiled at BaselWorld 2010.