Football (or soccer, if you are American) is the world’s most popular sport with an estimated 40% of major population centres around the world considering themselves “interested” or “very interested” in the sport*. If you do the maths, that works out to 3.2 billion people. So, it is not surprising that watch brands are interested in finding ways to get involved in the sport.
Ici c’est Paris
On the other hand, football clubs have also been looking for other ways to use the huge power that they hold, expanding beyond the usual club merchandise to create genuine lifestyle brands around their teams. One such club is the French team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), which has been working on its brand via a separate Instagram account called @icicestparis (this is Paris) where it presents a number of capsule collections with everything from skateboards to luxury headphones and jewellery.
Purnell Becomes PSG’s Official Timekeeper
With players like Messi, Mbappé and Neymar, PSG is definitely a club en vogue, to coin a French term. So, when it came to watches, they were looking for a brand that would highlight their core values of excellence, innovation and empowerment. On February 16th, PSG signed a three-year partnership with the watch brand Purnell to be the official timekeeper as well as to create a watch that would join their ultra-exclusive line-up of lifestyle products.
Purnell X PSG Escape Limited Edition
Today marks the launch of the Purnell X PSG Escape Limited Edition, a bespoke timepiece limited to 11 pieces that has been designed exclusively for the club. No flags, no PSG colours, no footballs, just one very elegant monochrome timepiece that celebrates the Parisian lifestyle that the club is creating around the world of football.
Maurizio Mazzocchi, CEO of Purnell, announced: “Purnell’s partnership with Paris Saint-Germain marks a turning point in redefining the lifestyle values that we both embrace. Our new Purnell x PSG Escape Limited Edition will symbolize both the high performance and the French savoir-vivre that PSG stands for. We put our strength together for a fantastic outcome, a watch that will make history.”
All the Details
The timepiece comes in a 48mm anthracite titanium case and is powered by Purnell’s hand-wound Calibre P11 movement with its signature Spherion triple-axis tourbillon. Purnell has subtly incorporated the shape of the Eiffel Tower – a proprietary logo of Paris Saint-Germain – and the club’s branded “Fleur de Lys” motif, onto the bridge and the outer cage of the Spherion as well as on the sapphire dial, as a nod to the club and its Parisian roots. The case back has been engraved with “PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN” and “ICI C’EST PARIS”, while the barrels have been engraved with the words of the PSG anthem.
Today also marks the launch of a worldwide advertising campaign that will feature a selection of Paris Saint-Germain’s world-class players including Messi, Neymar Jr. Marco Verratti, Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma, all sporting Purnell’s new PSG Escape Limited Edition.
At CHF 390,000, the Purnell X PSG Escape Limited Edition is catapulting PSG into the height of luxury lifestyle, and even though the vast majority of fans will never be able to afford one, it doesn’t mean they can’t admire them like they admire the extremely talented players on their team. This limited edition just adds to the dream of PSG making it to the top, and no fan will argue with that!
*The Nielsen Company, 2018
