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Bert E. Casal
July 25, 2016     |    

The Perfect Match

Edox becomes the Premium Partner of the Sauber F1 Team.

The beginnings of Edox stemmed from the love of a man to his wife. Christian Ruefli-Flury created a pocket watch for his beloved Pauline as a birthday gift. Impressed by the skills of her husband, she convinced him to start his own watch company. In 1884, Christian Ruefli-Flury set up shop in Biel, a city famous for watch engineers. He called his company “Edox” which translates to “measuring of time” in ancient Greek.

For more than 130 years, Edox has been creating watches that feature relevant innovations in the Swiss watchmaking traditions. Like other watch brands, Edox has created luxurious timepieces dedicated to sporting activities that rely heavily on time measurements, such as the world of motorsports – be it on land or on the water. In 1961, for example, Edox created the famous “Delfin” timepiece that featured a double case back, special protective gaskets, and a specially developed double “O” ring system that set new standards in shock protection and water resistance. The crown with double gasket was patented by Edox on that same year and is still used by several major Swiss watch brands to this day.

On land, Edox partnered with the Swedish super sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg in the year 2007. The partnership saw the birth of a new and exceptional chronograph line of watches. Three years later, they would become the official WRC timekeeper. This, too, opened up a new collection of timepieces inspired by the sport.

This year, Edox is pleased to announce their partnership with the Formula One racing team Sauber.

Sauber started out with a different kind of love, a bug bit him: a love bug. And by love bug, I am referring to the lovable Herbie, the Volkswagen Beetle. Peter Sauber did not own the actual Herbie, but he did have a Beetle, which he drove to work every day. Peter’s friend persuaded him to have some tuning work done on his car. Just for the fun of it, Peter entered it in a few club races. This sparked Peter’s passion for tinkering with cars. He modified his Beetle so much that, eventually, it was not fit for road use. So in 1970, Peter Sauber set himself up as an independent builder of open two-seater racing sports cars. He built his first racing car from the cellar of his parent’s house in Zurich and called it the Sauber C1 – “C” in reference to his wife Christiane. And every car that came afterwards always had a “C” designation. By the time the C5 model came out, Sauber was racing in the acclaimed Interserie championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race, achieving significant success. In 1981, his car won in the Nürburgring 1,000-kilometer race. In 1989, Peter Sauber set up a junior team of drivers that included Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Karl Wendlinger, and Michael Schumacher. This paved the way for all three to enter the world of Formula 1 racing. In 1991, Peter took the plunge and entered Formula 1.

Both Edox and the Sauber F1 team started out of love, the former for his wife, and the latter from a newfound passion. Both founders were persuaded to get into the business: one by his wife and the other by his friend. And both of them had the skill sets to start, grow, and make a name for themselves. With so much in common regarding their origins, it is natural that these two disciplines should partner up and share their passions with each other.

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal of the Sauber F1 Team said: “We are very pleased to be able to announce a new partnership with such a prestigious brand. Edox and Sauber F1 Team is a perfect match and it is great to have Edox on board, as one of our Premium Partners in what is a long-term partnership. Not only are crafts and timing two shared attributes that define both companies, there are also strong foundations between our companies. Both companies have a tradition as family businesses in Switzerland and stand for efficiency, accuracy, high-tech, design, further development and continuing optimization.”

Alexandre Strambini, CEO of Montres Edox & Vista SA had this to say about this new partnership: “Formula One is an ideal platform for our brand. Formula One, and the Sauber F1 Team in particular, stand for Swiss precision, cutting-edge technology, innovation, and history. These are all values which have similarly strengthened the Edox brand philosophy from the beginning and which define our affinity with motor sport’s crowning discipline. Furthermore, Formula One enjoys above-average popularity in Europe, America, and Asia, where Edox has a growing distribution. For us, as a Swiss watch company with a watchmaking history dating back more than 130 years, it is very important to work together with the appropriate team. With its Swiss roots, high performance aspirations and a huge popularity rating, the Sauber F1 Team is the ideal partner for us. We will soon launch the first amazing timepiece carefully engineered for the fastest drivers on our planet.”

Since its beginnings, Edox has had a very clear vision of its growth and development, thanks to its innovative ideas and ceaseless design research, while simultaneously maintaining the classic traditions of watchmaking know-how. Edox has thus become a benchmark brand in timekeeping for sports competitions. As the official watch partner of the Sauber F1 Team, Edox underlines the sporting values of the quest for performance, precision, and pushing oneself to the limit.

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