Watch brands have not had a lot of luck with their promotions built around sporting events. There has been no Wimbledon for Rolex, no London Marathon for TAG Heuer and no Olympic Games for Omega.
The Tour de France, however, is going ahead at the end of August, and its official timekeeper and official watch partner, Tissot, is delighted.
For the past six decades, the brand has shown its enduring passion for cycling, with partnerships for the great road races of Europe including the Vuelta in Spain and, for the first time, this year, the Giro in Italy.
Its partnerships run far deeper than a bit of branding. Tissot is also responsible for all the timekeeping equipment on these marathon races including bikes fitted with transmitters, computer-assisted general timekeeping system, photo-finish camera on the finish line, points counting, collection of specific data, and transmission of statistics.
The official watch for the Tour is a 45.5mm quartz chronograph with yellow accents including a seconds hand counterbalanced with a mini bicycle.
Its steel case back is engraved with the Tour de France logo and the watch comes in a special Tour de France presentation box.
