The Racket Sport Padel Has a Swiss Watch Fan
A Custom Watch Order Started as a Fun Idea. Then It Became More.
July 26, 2024Louis Vuitton Reintroduces Another Classic Watch
July 26, 2024This post was originally published on this site
Certina, which recently issued a new timepiece in collaboration with a top professional player, is planning more ties to the sport’s federations.
As the racket sport padel continues to boom in Europe, Latin America and India — and is making inroads in the United States — the Swiss watch brand Certina has increased its ties to the game.
In May, it introduced the DS-7 Chronograph Padel Edition by Marta Ortega, a 41-millimeter quartz timepiece created with one of the sport’s top professional players.
Why Ms. Ortega? Marc Aellen, Certina’s chief executive — who was interviewed earlier this month at Padium, a multi-court padel center in London’s Canary Wharf neighborhood — said she “has hundreds of thousands of followers — where there are people that are definitely interested in padel, that could be potentially watch buyers.” (According to Statista, the German online data platform, the sport has 30 million amateur players worldwide.)
The watch, which sells for 615 Swiss francs ($696), has a dial of black carbon, and “similar material is used in padel rackets,” Mr. Aellen said. He also noted that at six o’clock is a yellow ball, similar to the tennis-style ball used in the game. Ms. Ortega’s signature is on the case back.
Mr. Aellen said he first noticed the sport in 2020, when he visited a bustling padel center in Sweden and decided it might be a good match for the brand. “I had a feeling that it could develop very well,” he said.
