Welcome to our luxxee magazine weekly wrap-up, where we bring you fresh news about what's going on in the watch world.
The last race of a legend: Farewell Sebastian Vettel
I know many of you didn’t expect to see something about Formula One on a watch website, but there is a method to this. A couple of months ago, 4-time Formula One World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, announced his retirement at the end of the 2022 season. This weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the last race of Sebastian’s 14-year career. A legend in his own right, Sebastian went from the “bad boy” of the F1 grid to the best guy on the track. Why is this relevant to watches?
We’ve seen Sebastian grow year after year, team after team. Vettel started his career with the Red Bull Junior Team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, his championships with Red Bull, and his success and struggles with Ferrari. Vettel’s last seasons were spent driving the British racing green Aston Martin. As many know, Formula One teams are often sponsored by a watch brand, and Sebastian has seen many different watches on his wrist over his fourteen years in the sport.
In Formula One, smaller/less successful teams often see less sponsorship funding; in turn, the watch brand on the side of their car won’t be as high-end. Looking at Scuderia Toro Rosso, Vettel’s team in 2008, they didn’t have a sponsorship from a watch brand until 2016, that sponsor being Casio Edifice. Casio Edifice would be a primary sponsor for Red Bull Racing during Sebastian’s 4x championship streak from 2010-2013. The success of Sebastian created a lot of buzz for Casio Edifice Red Bull Racing watches, but the relationship with RedBull racing ended in 2016 when TAGHeuer took the spot as a primary sponsor. However, Casio Edifice would become a significant sponsor for Scuderia Toro Rosso, now known as Alpha Tauri.
Fast forward to Sebastian’s multi-year contract with Ferrari. Seeing Sebastian in red was beautiful since the last successful German driver in a Ferrari was 7x champion, Michael Schumacher. In his time with Ferrari, Sebastian had the chance to check out some watches from Hublot, as well as a brand contract change with Richard Mille taking the sponsor spot. While his experience with Ferrari was bittersweet, Sebastian did his best to get some major wins, podium places, and valuable points for Ferrari.
From a stressful and tenuous few years with Ferrari, Sebastian would find himself over at the new Aston Martin, formerly known as Racing Point. Aston Marin being such an iconic automotive manufacturer, it’s no surprise that the team would choose the iconic Girard-Perregaux as their sponsor. Many people have given the Girard-Perregaux Laureato a hard time for its aesthetic similar to Audemars Piguet, which is fair. Still, at the same time, the Laureato was created in 1975, three years after the Royal Oak, as competition for AP. The GP came out one year before the Patek Philippe Nautilus, putting the Girard-Perregaux Laureato in contention with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Vacheron Constantin 333 and the Patek Philippe Nautilus. While Sebastian’s seasons at Aston Martin haven’t been as successful as he’d wanted, he’s had some killer watches on his wrist while doing what he loves.
What does the future hold for Sebastian? He’s made many statements about spending time with his wife, being a dad and venturing into other things and interests. While this is a sorrowful goodbye, he leaves his legacy, love and sportsmanship in his wake, an example to all upcoming drivers in the prestigious sport, Formula One. Danke, Seb.
Revisiting the MoonSwatch
Does anyone recall the absolute chaos ensued when Omega announced a collaboration with Swatch? That was a wild time. It was the first time I had seen such a massive collaboration between two brands, considering Swatch owns Omega. For those who have lived under a rock, Omega and Swatch released a Swatch-quality Omega Speedmaster. If you thought of a brightly coloured Speedmaster made of plastic, you guessed precisely right.
I should be blunt; Swatch advertised that the MoonSwatch was crafted from “BioCeramic,” which we all learned is a fancy term for hardened plastic. When these watches dropped, it was absolute hysteria. Line ups at Swatch boutiques that extended around city blocks, stores selling out in seconds, extreme mark-ups online, the MoonSwatch mania was real. While many were obsessing over these watches, a few of us were standing in the background looking over them with a fine tooth comb, and we all came to the same conclusion; they cost too much considering what they are.
The MoonSwatch is a plastic watch that features a Swiss quartz movement and comes in various colours inspired by a different celestial body. These watches wear the Swatch vibe proudly on its sleeve, but for the price of CA$320, that’s pushing it. Many watches in that price range are stainless steel and feature an automatic movement. What I’m about to say might be touchy, but you can buy an automatic Speedmaster homage in stainless steel for $190. I know how people feel about homage watches, but you can get much more with that $320. In fact, my friend Dan stated that he returned his MoonSwatch because it felt like a toy.
I understand the big deal of the MoonSwatch and its significance in the watch world. Many people love the watch and will wear one every day and cherish it, but to me, the MoonSwatch is a watch who's price doesn't match its quality.
The Social Corner - @mainspring.watch
Welcome to this week's Social Corner! Today, we’re focusing on yet another good friend of mine. Our content creator is a writer, photographer and collector who takes some of the most gorgeous watch photos I’ve ever seen.
I’m talking about the one and only Vincent Deschamps, or @mainspring.watch Vincent writes for Fratello Watches, Les Rhabilleurs and Calibre321 and features all the brands he has for review through his stunning photography, which can be seen on his Instagram! Feel free to check him out!
Thank you for reading luxxee's weekly wrap-up and don't forget to come back next week to see what’s happening in the watch world!
