TAG Heuer Named Indy 500 Timekeeper
By William George Shuster, Senior Editor -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 4/1/2004
Swiss luxury sports watch TAG Heuer has been named "Official Timekeeper and Scorer" of the Indy Racing League (IRL) and the Indianapolis 500-mile race. The long-term agreement with IRL and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway "marks a new milestone in our 144-year history," as the brand works with IRL to take 1/10,000-of-a-second time measurement technology "to new levels in unique and compelling applications," said TAG Heuer president and chief executive officer Jean-Christophe Babin. The brand pioneered 1/1,000-of-a-second measurement in 1966.
To mark its partnership with IRL, TAG Heuer is introducing a special-edition Indy 500 wrist chronograph at its authorized retailers in April.
The announcement came just after Maurice Lacroix Swiss Watches—"Official Watch" of the Indy 500, Brickyard 400, and IRL since 2001—said it won't renew its sponsorship relationship with the IRL. Instead, it will "focus our brand marketing in areas with intrinsic benefits to our retailers and our luxury consumer" in the United States," said Stuart Sklar, president of Maurice Lacroix North America. That includes "marketing platforms on the national, regional, and local levels that create synergy between its guild jewelers and consumers."
