Swiss watch makers wear many hats. They are not just makers of precision watches or cutting-edge design timepieces, they are creators of watches that measure movements in the sky, correct the loss of time through tourbillions. They have minute repeaters to remind you of the hours and minutes that are ticking away.  There are dual and triple time zone watches that will give you world time as you like it. Not every brand has all of these, but every brand will have the most important piece of (elementary but necessary) complication which is, the chronograph. From the genesis of this chronograph that measures time in minutes, seconds and today, even nano seconds, is born the association of watchmakers with sports.Indeed time is the very essence of life, but there is no stronger evidence of the importance of time and its measurement than in the world of sports, where every second makes and breaks a record, tells a story,  and creates history. It’s not surprising then, that every watch brand worth its bezel has in its repertoire if not an association with a certain sport, then certainly, sports watches, or sporty watches. Brands have long realised that there are two kinds of people: ones that participate in the sport, i.e. sportsmen and the other: spectators of sports or just the outdoorsy kinds who love the idea of sport and the outdoors. And sometimes brands involve themselves in a number of different sports.Take Omega for instance. Its association with the Olympic federation since 1932 is as legendary as the Olympics itself. The brand however has chosen to extend its timekeeping expertise in the time-splitting world of atheletics and tracks  and also in sailing and the luxurious world of golf.  At the sailing event in which it was associated with the Emirates Team New Zealand skipper and brand ambassador Dean Barker in San Francisco to commemorate  the 34th America’s cup, it unveiled the new Seamaster Diver ETNZ, more of which you will read in the inside pages.

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OMEGA

 Rado, on the other hand, has forged a deep bond with tennis. We are informed that since returning to the tennis circuit in 2012, Rado has become the Official Timekeeper of several prestigious international tournaments and boasts a team of top tennis brand ambassadors including Andy Murray and Agnieszka Radwanska. It dedicates the The Rado HyperChrome Court Collection to the sport.In the same vein, Audemars Piguet holds the distinction for their continued support towards the world of sailing. Its long association with sailing from the Alinghi team in  the America’s Cup has thrown up some very strong sailing models like the Royal Oak Offshore. Among sports, sailing seems to hold the highest attraction among watch brands. Several big names have been associated with the America’s Cup—Omega as we have just mentioned and Audemars Piguet. There’s also Tag Heuer. Louis Vuitton is known to have been the official timekeeper of this race, reinforcing the Tambour LV Cup Régate Platine on these occasions.While golf with its rolling greens and irons holds great allure for several brands like Rolex (who incidentally is also associated with tennis) and Audemars Piguet, tennis is flooded with a flurry of brand associations like Seiko who has Novak Djokovic as brand ambassador.Rolex and its association with Wimbledon, Rado and its multitude of partnerships with various titles, Longines that supports the Future Tennis Aces.In the following pages we celebrate the precision of high-performance sports along with some of the top luxury brands.