Close-Up: 5 Tissot T-Race MotoGP Watches for 2015

Tissot, longtime partner of the MotoGP World Championship — the Grand Prix of motorbike racing — presents its latest collection of Tissot T-Race MotoGP limited edition replica watches uk store watches this year. Here’s a look.

The collection is comprised of five new watches in total: one with an automatic mechanical movement, limited to 3,333 pieces, another with a quartz movement, limited to 8,888 pieces, and three other limited-edition watches personalized for a trio of MotoGP athletes and Tissot watch “ambassadors,” Nicky Hayden, Stefan Bradl, and Thomas Lüthi, each with a quartz movement and packaged in a racing-helmet-themed collectible box.

All the new replica watches for sale have a new, angular case design, with chronograph pushers inspired by the foot rests on bikes and back suspension rods attaching the straps to the cases. The black bezels and magnifying-glass date window are holdovers from Tissot’s previous MotoGP watches.

The Tissot T-Race MotoGP Automatic Limited Edition 2015, with its red-and-black motif, is the most exclusive of the new models, powered by a Swiss-made automatic movement (presumably from ETA, Tissot’s sister company in the Swatch Group), which is visible through a wheel-shaped caseback window. The gray dial, with a checkered-flag motif and “starting grid” indices, is surrounded by a tachymeter scale. The hands are coated with Super-LumiNova; the case is made of 316L stainless steel, treated with black PVD, and water-resistant to 100 meters. The silicone strap has a red racing stripe and a push-button folding clasp.

Tissot T-Race MotoGP Automatic - front

The other Tissot T-Race MotoGP Limited Edition 2015 shares its red-and-black aesthetic (and its stainless steel-black PVD case)with the automatic model, but contains a Swiss quartz movement; instead of a viewing window, its caseback has a silk printed MotoGP logo on sapphire glass. Its dial has the collection’s “brake disk” design, with Super-LumiNova-coated round indices.

Tissot T-Race MotoGP Quartz - front

The three personalized limited editions all feature Swiss quartz chronograph movements, black-PVD cases with GMT-function unidirectional bezels, silicone straps and silk-printed casebacks with the numbers and emblems of the MotoGP stars for whom they are made. All come in a special “racing helmet” collectible presentation box.

The green highlights of the Tissot T-Race Nicky Hayden Limited Edition (limited to just 4,999 pieces) echo the colors of Hayden’s Aspar Team. The color is used in the chronograph counter hand; the date window (with magnifying glass); around the indices and Arabic hour numerals 12, 4, and 8; and in the “Kentucky Kid’s” star emblem in the center of the chronograph subdial at 6 o’clock.

Tissot T-Race MotoGP Nicky Hayden - front-back

The Tissot T-Race replica watches swiss personalized for Stefan Bradl (limited to 2,015 pieces) pays homage to Bradl’s German heritage, using the colors of the German flag: red chronograph hand and the GT stripes in the strap and yellow for the details on the chronograph counters complementing the black case, dial and strap.

Tissot T-Race MotoGP Stefan Bradl - front-back

Finally, the Tissot T-Race Limited Edition for Swiss superstar Thomas Lüthi offers a sleek look that combines yellow and silver with the dominant black elements of the watch. Bright yellow is used for the chronograph subdials and central chrono hand, while silver surrounds the Super-LumiNova hour markers, including the big Arabic 12, 4, and 8 numerals. The “holes” pattern on the black dial echoes the pattern on a rider’s leathers. This watch is limited to just 2,112 pieces.

Tissot T-Race MotoGP Tom Luthi - front-back

Tissot says the new T-Race MotoGP watches will be available for pre-order on its website on March 1. Prices are tentatively stated as $925 for the quartz and limited-edition models and $1,395 for the automatic.

Blancpain bids farewell to a longtime friend: A tribute to Captain Robert Maloubier

It is with great sorrow that Manufacture Blancpain and its President & CEO, Marc A. Hayek, learned of the passing of Captain Robert “Bob” Maloubier at the age of 92. A secret agent of the British Special Operations Executive during the Second World War, Bob Maloubier parachuted into France and, subsequently into Asia. In the 1950’s he was the founder and commander, together with Lieutenant Claude Riffaud, of the French military’s combat diving corps. It was in this capacity that he became a part of the history of replica Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms watches.

For his missions, beyond his diving tanks, regulators, masks, fins and wetsuits, Maloubier and Riffaud understood the importance of having a robust and reliable diving watch. After having thoroughly tested watches which were available on the market, they came to the conclusion that none of them were suitable for the task. It was following this experience that contact was made with Jean-Jacques Fiechter, then CEO of Blancpain, who was himself a diver and passionate about the underwater world. Maloubier and Blancpain shared a common vision on the attributes of a timepiece that would be adapted to the needs of divers. Robert Maloubier describes his dealings with Blancpain thus: “Finally there was a small watch company, Blancpain, which agreed to develop our project which imagined a cheap replica watches with a black dial, large numerals and clear indications using triangles, circles and squares, as well as an exterior rotating bezel mirroring the markers of the dial. We wanted at the beginning of a dive to position the bezel opposite the minute hand so as to be able to read the elapsed time. We wanted in effect that each of the markers be as clear as a guiding star for a shepherd.” Fully embodying this shared vision was the first modern diving watch, named by Blancpain the “Fifty Fathoms”, which debuted in 1953.

From this point on, came enduring ties between Bob Maloubier and Blancpain. In his later years, the veteran combat diver took part in many events around the world organized by Blancpain and assisted in the recent publication recounting this shared history in the reference book “Fifty Fathoms, The dive and men’s replica watches history 1953-2013”.

Member of the Legion of Honor and three times cited for the War Cross between 1939-1945, Bob Maloubier was one of the two last surviving recipients of prestigious Distinguished Service Order bestowed in 1945. In early June, the day before the ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings, he was recognized as a Member of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony held in Paris.

We extend our condolences and deepest sympathy to his family and to other combat divers.