The former footballer known as “The Lion” wanted to collaborate with Corum, a desire shared by the brand itself. “I had been planning to work with him for a long time,” explains Jérôme Biard, CEO of Corum. “I knew that he was a collector with a very sophisticated taste. He wanted to get in touch with us and, at the same time, so did we. So, we met up in Lausanne, with the shared desire to create something together.” From a friendship born out of a mutual and simultaneous desire comes a very exclusive Bubble watch.

IWC Schaffhausen is expanding its Portugieser family to include two new models, a perpetual calendar with platinum case, and a new Portugieser Automatic in a stainless steel case with a silver-plated dial and rhodium-plated hands. We present today the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar (ref. IW503406).

The Watch Photo Awards were launched on 1st May 2018. It’s the first annual international watch photography competition open to amateur watch lovers and photographers, as well as professionals. This year will feature six monthly competitions: one for every month from May to October, each on a different theme. The first round, which took place in May, has just ended. The theme was “Blue”. 

A jewel of France’s cultural heritage, the Musée Rodin played host on Saturday June 2nd to a sensational Charity Gala Dinner organised by Longines to honour its Ambassadors of Elegance Stefanie Graf and Andre Agassi, two tennis legends it has been closely involved with for a decade. To mark this anniversary, Longines created the “Conquest V.H.P. Stefanie Graf & Andre Agassi Foundations”, a special watch numbered and limited to 10 pieces for the men’s version and 10 pieces for the ladies’ version. As part of the Conquest V.H.P. “Very High Precision” collection, these timepieces are also an emblem of generosity, as they will be auctioned with all proceeds going to Children for Tomorrow and The Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, two charities founded by the Ambassadors of Elegance.

It has been several years since Lapo Elkann, Founder and Artistic Director of Italia Independent and Garage Italia, and Hublot were discussing about a nautical-related watch. From his earliest childhood, Lapo was cradled by the movement of the waves, thanks to his iconic grandfather who was himself passionate about sailing. Lapo even won the Fastnet, with his brother aboard the mythical Stealth.

When watch glasses were made out of plastic (usually plexiglas) or mineral glass (borosilicate, for example), it was a simple matter to create them in whatever shape was required. Nothing could be easier than to dome them, raise them up vertically, or add one or more curves or bevels. To create top-hat or concave profiles, softer materials could simply be carved or hot-moulded. Then, in the 1980s, sapphire crystal appeared on the scene, and over the following decade it became ubiquitous. Because sapphire is extremely hard, all these curves and contours had to go, because they were too expensive and complex to produce, given the inherent properties of this new type of glass. But the years went by, and things moved on, and shaped watch glasses, now often referred to as “glass boxes”, have once again become a desirable component – an essential one, even, in some cases.

Caran d’Ache was founded in 1915 and has been designing and producing writing instruments at its Geneva workshops ever since. Because the company shares a number of parallels with the presitigious watch brands in and around Geneva, not least its 100% Swiss Made production and the mastery of over 90 different crafts in its workshops, it has decided to celebrate them in the form of a limited-edition 1010 Timekeeper set of writing instruments featuring a fountain pen and roller pen.

Three years ago, Cécile Guenat, now Ladies’ Collection Director, was first asked to join the company and design new creations. The challenge proved irresistible for the young woman who earned her spurs in the world of fine jewellery. After graduating from the Geneva School of Art and Design (HEAD), she gained experience with a jeweller in Lausanne, then with a London jewellery designer, where she created collections for a number of Couture houses and branded designs. 

Monaco marked the spot in May as motorsport and fine watchmaking enthusiasts alike had their fire ignited by an exciting double wave of the chequered flag. The first indicated the moment when the winner of the world-class motorsport event crossed the victory line. The second was the live digital launch of the second season of Roger Dubuis X Pirelli, embodied in the brand-new Excalibur Spider Pirelli Single Flying Tourbillon. Minutes after the race finish, this super high-spec model hit the watchmaking track with a strap matching the colour of the winning car tyres. Its adrenalin-pumping range of new design options will include a complementary Pit Stop Collector Box of interchangeable straps – each echoing the high-rev partnership between Roger Dubuis and the tyre maker.

The countdown has begun! The opening match of the FIFA World Cup in Russia between the host country and Saudi Arabia will be held in just 10 days. The most successful national soccer teams from around the globe will battle it out from June 14th to July 15th to be crowned world champions and the Swiss team will also be there. The partnership between Carl F. Bucherer and the Swiss Football Association (SFA) has existed since 2016 and is set to enjoy a new highlight with the upcoming soccer milestone.

The Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament, organized by Longines for the ninth consecutive year, welcomed this year 40 international players, all aged under 13 years old and coming from twenty different countries - Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. This unique event took place at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, for three days of competition on clay court under conditions identical to those of Roland-Garros.

Roger Dubuis shifts up yet another gear in 2018 with a selection of ultra-sophisticated new timepieces illustrating its high-octane partnerships with motor racing royalty, Pirelli and Lamborghini Squadra Corsa. Screeching power and precision as its battle cry, the Lamborghini Squadra Corsa collaboration kicked off in 2017 with the creation of a new movement inspired by the design of the Aventador S engine; while the liaison with Pirelli was the starting block for a series of Excalibur models inspired by the tyres that Pirelli supplies to high-end motor racing. 

In 2018, the extraordinary surroundings of the Eiffel Tower will host the ninth edition of the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament from Thursday 31 May ton Saturday 2 June. It is the first time that the competition will bring together the girls and the boys, all aged under 13 years old, to take part in their respective tournament. They all have been selected by their tennis federation to represent their countries – Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States – and will have the opportunity to compete on clay court under the same conditions of Roland-Garros, of which Longines has been the Official Partner and Timekeeper since 2007.