Winning time

AN event as prestigious as the French Open deserves a commemorative timepiece - enter the Longines Conquest 1/100th Roland-Garros watch, as worn by the brand's Ambassador of Elegance Andre Agassi.

This special edition pays tribute to what many consider as the greatest tennis tournament on clay courts and beats with a unique quartz movement: the L440 which features a micro-controller with a flash memory that allows it to be reset instantly, as well as the ability to measure and record multiple intermediary times.

Built for athletes, professionals and sports fans who take precision seriously, the sporty chronograph also boasts an intuitive analogue display which shows the time to one hundredth of a second using a separate hand.

This 41mm-diameter steel model is fitted with a steel bracelet for presence on the wrist, while the anthracite dial is classy and contrasts nicely with the touches of orange on the watch to subtly hint at the iconic clay of the French Open courts. The caseback features an engraving of the Roland-Garros logo.

Longines' vice-president and head of international marketing Juan-Carlos Capelli says the brand and sport share many similar values.

"Both are elegant and filled with tradition as we turn 185 years old this year," he explains. "It's also about performance as you have to be precise when you hit the ball in tennis, and the same can be said about our watches."

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Longines as the official partner and timekeeper of the French Open, a smaller 36mm-diameter female version of the Conquest Roland-Garros watch was released recently.

The timepiece was developed with support from the brand's other Ambassador of Elegance, Stefanie "Steffi" Graf.

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