Roberta Naas
In the third and final regatta races that are part of the America's Cup World Series, Louis Vuitton made its presence well known. Aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier docked in San Diego, the brand assembled a corps of international journalists to watch the final races and witness the unveiling of its first America's Cup timepieces. On hand for the event were vice president of Louis Vuitton Watch & Jewelry Hamdi Chatti and the brand's sailing spokesperson Bruno Trouble.
“We are no stranger to sailing,” Chatti referred to the brand's almost thirty-year involvement as title sponsor of the Louis Vuitton Cup Races (the challenges that are the immediate precursor to the America's Cup). “We are honored to rise to the task of timing this most prestigious regatta series and to creating a watch worthy of it. For the unveiling of this collection, we have employed new design codes in the color and material and revolutionary new technology.”
Indeed, the two 44 mm models in the Tambour Regatta America's Cup series are black rubber-clad steel pieces with black dials accented in red and blue. Each watch features the silhouette of the trophy prominently displayed on the dial, strap and case back. The automatic version powered by Caliber LV171 (based on a Dubois Dépraz movement) employs new technology in that it offers a five-minute regatta countdown instead of the typical 10-minute style.
“With today's races being shorter and faster, we are most concerned with those last five minutes before the race, when the boats must position themselves properly and get up to speed,” said Trouble.
The regatta countdown chronograph with flyback function was several years in development and, according to Chatti, should have taken two years to complete, but the brand pushed the envelope and produced it in a year. The quartz Tambour Regatta America's Cup watch will be released in a limited edition of 1,851 pieces (the birth year of the America's Cup) and offers regatta functions of countdown between one and ten minutes with sound indications. Both watches are water-resistant to 100 meters, feature anti-reflective sapphire crystals and embody the signature style of the brand's Tambour timepieces. While the watches were revealed to journalists at the event, their official world premiere will take place during BaselWorld 2012.
The final races of the America's Cup World Series in San Diego were viewed from aboard the USS Midway. © Worldtempus/Roberta Naas
In addition to creating the new America's Cup Tambour Regatta watches, Louis Vuitton has also risen to the challenge of timing the event by turning to partners that specialize in measuring space and time by satellite. The goal was not only to time the event, but also to make it more enjoyable to land spectators. As such, a system developed by Virtual Eye is employed that gives spectators a wealth of information -- updated every tenth of a second – along with an artificial image of the regatta overlaid against the real footage that indicates maneuvers and race lines.
“It is all very complex and technologically advanced,” said Chatti. “But we are knowledgeable in precision and high technology and are happy to be the official timekeeper of the 34th America's Cup event.”
