Tissot Keeps Time At The Tour de France

Tissot needs to keep track of the individual times of each racer at the start and finish of each race and throughout each day. 

For Swiss watch brand, Tissot, being the official timekeeper of the Tour de France isn’t just about product placement. It’s about keeping accurate times for 198 cyclists during the 2,200-mile, 23-day race throughout France. It’s a challenging job, particularly since the start and finish line moves daily. In addition, there are two “time trials,” sprints in which cyclists race alone against the clock.

To keep accurate times for all of the racers, organize the data and distribute the results immediately throughout the world, the 2016 Tour de France required a team of eight technicians using a proprietary integrated system tailor-made to cycling, explains Alain Zobrist, CEO of Tissot Timing.  This year marked the first time Tissot has been the Tour de France official timekeeper since 1992.

Alain Zobrist, CEO of Tissot Timing, explains the process of timing the Tour de France. Photo by Anthony DeMarco

“What we basically provide is start to finish timekeeping and everything that happens in between for the normal stages and time trials,” he said. “The team gets up at 5 to 6 a.m. each day and builds everything in two to three hours and then tests the equipment (prior to the beginning of each day).”

In addition to the start and finish times, the time and speed for each racer is being recorded and transmitted during the race. To measure this, Zobrist says antennas and transformers are positioned on the front of the bikes.

One of the two cameras that record all of the racers as they cross the finish line. Photo by Anthony DeMarco 

Perhaps the most important pieces of equipment are two cameras positioned on either side of the finish line. They focus on a narrow five-meter space and take 2,000 photos per seconds, thus providing a real time look of the finish, including photo finishes, Zobrist explains. Two cameras are needed so they can clearly identify each cyclist as he crosses the line. 

“It is the only device to identify the winner at the end of the stages,” Zobrist said. 

A technician works at organizing the race data inside the trailer. Photo by Anthony DeMarco

The images are transferred to a small trailer at the finish line, manned by four technicians and four race officials. The images are first transferred to two laptops, then they move to a PC where data is managed and then to a third laptop for broadcast. In addition, everything is backed up. 

Under normal circumstances, the world will learn about the results in seconds. If it’s a close finish, it will take longer. 

Some of the crowd at the Champs-Élysées  in Paris, where the 23-day race ends. Photo by Anthony DeMarco

“It's quite a job to provide all data to electronic Internet and broadcast it to media,” he said. “Normally it takes 15 seconds for first three finishers and for the first 10 finishers, 20 to 30 seconds.”

Of course there’s a product tie in. In the US it’s the Limited Edition Tissot PRC 200 Tour de France 2016 (pictured above). The 42mm steel chronograph has a black dial with Arabic and Index numerals with the Tour de France logo engraved on the caseback and a quartz movement. At a $475 price tag, the watch is currently sold out but more are expected and can be preordered. 

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Tissot, NBA Sign Groundbreaking Marketing Deal

This NBA shot clock will soon include the Tissot logo

The National Basketball Association and Tissot announced Monday a new multiyear global partnership that makes the Swiss watch brand the first Official Timekeeper of the National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. 

This marks the first official timekeeping partnership for Tissot with a major North American sports league and the largest marketing partnership in the company’s 160-year history. With the agreement, Tissot adds to its portfolio of international sports and sporting event partnerships.  

The watch company will work with the NBA to develop a “state-of-the-art integrated timing system.” The new precision timekeeping system, inclusive of Tissot-branded shot clocks, will be implemented across all 29 NBA arenas beginning with the 2016-17 NBA season.  
As part of the agreement, Tissot receives global league licensing rights for timepieces, watches, clocks and watch accessories for all NBA teams. The company will provide support for the partnership at its retail stores around the world.

The partnership tips off this week during NBA Global Games 2015-16, which will feature six NBA teams playing seven regular-season and preseason games in six countries. Tissot will also become the Official Timekeeper and Official Watch of several marquee league events, including the NBA All-Star, NBA Draft presented by State Farm, Samsung NBA Summer League and NBA Global Games.  

In addition, Tissot will make investments across all NBA teams and league broadcast partners. Finally, Tissot and the NBA will partner on a global basis through events, marketing, media, and NBA-themed creative and advertising.  

Tissot is the top selling Swiss traditional watchmaker in terms of volume and is part of the Swatch Group—the the world’s largest watch producer and distributor. 

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Danica Patrick Introduces Tissot 10th Anniversary Watch At Reis-Nichols Jewelers

Danica Patrick with the Tissot PR 100 Chronometer Danica Patrick Limited Edition 2015. Photo credit: Harold Hinson Photography 

Danica Patrick, the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing, celebrated her 10th anniversary as brand ambassador for Tissot on July 25 at the Reis-Nichols Indianapolis jewelry store. The watch brand and Patrick unveiled the Tissot PR 100 Chronometer Danica Patrick Limited Edition 2015.

Patrick was in Indianapolis to compete in the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race the following day. Earlier in the day she drove in qualifying time trials.

The stainless steel 29 mm quartz powered watch features a mother-of-pearl dial adorned with round-cut diamonds in the shape of a large number 10 at the 10 o’clock marker. In addition to her years with Tissot, 10 also is her longtime number as a driver. The caseback is engraved with Patrick’s signature logo. The $725 watch is limited to 100 units.

The Tissot PR 100 Chronometer Danica Patrick Limited Edition 2015

Petite and fit—in a tight-fitting knee-high skirt, colorful top, high heels and curls on her normally straight long black hair—Patrick looked more like a glamorous fitness model than a world-class race car driver. This was underscored by her sculpted forearms when she wore the watch for photos.

“It’s dressy and casual,” she said about the watch. “Having something that bridge between the two is my style anyway. I travel so much. Do you know how much it weighs to carry all that jewelry and all those watches? So I have the perfect one to go with everything.”

From left: Justin Thompson, Tissot US Brand Manager, Danica Patrick and BJ Nichols, president of Reis-Nichols.  Photo credit: Harold Hinson Photography

Patrick has had different levels of input over the design and functions of the 10 watches that bear her name during the decade-long period with Tissot. The timepieces over the years featured different technical functions and styles. However, she finds lots of similarities.

“They all feel like they were racy and sporty but there were some sort of elements whether simplified or glammed up just a little bit,” she said. “Even the second edition of the signature watch was similar to the first but it had diamonds on it.”

One of her favorites was the 2006 Tissot T-Touch, which had a range of functions, including an alarm that she used on the road for many years. “It’s just a cool watch with some neat features.”

Justin Thompson, Tissot US Brand Manager, and Danica Patrick. Photo credit: Harold Hinson Photography

She adds, “My style (for watches) would be a little bit sporty, classic, a little bit oversized. “I like diamonds in everything. If I could buy something with diamonds around the outside or not, I’d pick with.”

At the racetrack her watch and sunglasses are the last things she removes before getting into the race car, she says. However, inside the car a watch has very limited use.

“I wish I had one on a bar in there or somewhere so I can see what time it was so I know how much practice time is left,” she says. “You’re sitting in the garage and the first thing they do is pop the hood so you can’t see the time anymore and you have no idea how much is left. I have to ask what time it is in the car.

“As far as lap times go I would have to manually hit the button and that would be a little distracting.”

Patrick began racing professionally in 1998 and moved up the ranks until reaching the prestigious IndyCar Series in 2005. It is where she has had her greatest success. In 2008 she became the only woman to win an IndyCar Series race at the Indy Japan 300. She finished third at the 2009 Indianapolis 500, the highest finish ever by a woman.

She began racing on the NASCAR circuit in 2010 where she has been struggling.

Prior to the event at Reis-Nichols, Patrick qualified at the 15th position for the Brickyard 400. The following day, she finished the race 27th.

When asked about her goals, she replied: “To win.” 

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Tissot’s Interactive Window Display at Harrods

Those of you who read this website regularly know that Swiss watchmaker Tissot has been using augmented reality displays to market its products at department stores and online. This time, the famous Harrods department store in London gets the interactive treatment.

The company is showcasing its Ladies and T-Touch collection in one of Harrods window displays on Brompton Road as part of the store’s new promotion celebrating all things Swiss. The window display allow consumers to virtually “try on” watches by placing a paper band around their wrist and showing it to the interactive display screen on the window. The fully interactive touch screen allows these potential customers to engage with a wider range of Tissot watches than in the past.

The augmented reality display, which began April 1, is live and fully interactive on weekends between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. The display will be in place till April 24.

As part of the promotion, customers have the opportunity to win a Tissot Jungfraubahn watch and a holiday to Jungfraujoch to witness the mountain panorama in Switzerland.

The display is provided by London-based Holition, which specializes in 3D and augmented reality applications online, in-stores and at live events for luxury retailers and brands.

Swatch Group 2010 Sales Sets New Record

The Swatch Group reported Wednesday that sales for 2010 totaled 6.4 billion Swiss Francs ($6.6 billion), an increase at constant exchange rates of 21.8 percent over 2009 and 12.7 percent over 2008, despite capacity bottlenecks and adverse exchange rates. At constant exchange rates, the increase was 28.1 percent.

“The extraordinary strength of our brand portfolio was again reflected in an excellent performance by the Watch segment in practically all markets and price segments,” the company said in a statement. “Outlook remains optimistic in the entire year 2011 for further strong organic sales growth.”

The company’s Watches & Jewelry segment reported a 21 percent year-over-year gain at constant exchange rates, with indications that double-digit growth will continue into at least January. The company has a far reaching group of watch brands, from mass market to luxury: Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet Droz, Léon Hatot, Omega, Tiffany & Co., Longines, Rado, Union Glashütte, Tissot, ck watch & jewelry, Balmain, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Swatch, Flik Flak, Endura and Tourbillon.

The production segment of the company, which supplies movements and components to third-party watchmakers in Switzerland and around the world, reported an increase of 7.5 percent for the year.

The electronics segment, which supply electronic systems used in watchmaking and other industries and in the field of sports event timing, reported an 11.7 percent gain, year-over-year.

The company also it expects an improved operating margin compared to the previous year as well as higher net profit for the year, despite an unfavorable currency conditions.

The decline of the dollar and the Euro caused a three percent drop in revenue, the company said. But despite this issue, Swatch Group said it expects strong growth in 2011.

“The Swatch Group will further generate dynamic and organic sales growth in 2011 and continue investment in its distribution and the expansion of its production capacities. the company said. “Sales in January 2011 are already exhibiting a positive trend with double-digit growth in local currencies. The optimistic expectations are supported by the Group’s strategic positioning in all market segments and its geographic presence throughout the world.”

Window Display Allows Consumers to Virtually Wear Watches

If you were in London in late May hopefully you were able to pass Selfridges department store on Oxford Street and participate in the outside window display that allowed you to virtually try on a number of watches from the Tissot T-Touch collection before walking into the store.

The touch-screen interactive interface is known as “augmented reality application.” It was created by a London-based company called Holition. The screen allowed potential customers to virtually try on and interact with a number of different watch styles, colors and sizes—as if they were actually wearing a T-Touch collection watch. The virtual watch is brought to life with what the company calls “real time light reflecting technology.” A person using the system was given a paper wristband that, when shown to the camera on the Holition system, allows them to view an image of themselves on a computer LCD screen in the window wearing the chosen watch. The person can experience the different designs of the watch by twisting his wrist.

You should be seeing more of this technology as the company is working with several luxury jewelry and other high end fashion houses.
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If you missed the live promotion, below is a video demonstration of the technology.