Graham - The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy
There is no doubt that the Tourist Trophy is a mad race. It's about going very fast on very narrow lanes flanked by stone walls and through small Manx villages. The race transforms the sleepy little island into a petrolhead nirvana. Unlike other racetracks which feel a bit manicured, this one is the real thing, the public roads of the Isle of Man. Riders say it's a bit like going to work on your bike - except going very fast.
Talk to one of those petrolheads and they will tell you about the stresses on the bike, suspension strike through, the shaking and near wipe-outs on the 37 ¾ miles (60.7 km) and its 200 bends, going from sea level to 1,300 ft (396m) and back.
The TT race is biking in the raw and it has not changed much since the days when Charlie Collier won the first race in 1907. His 500cc (500 cm3 Matchless clocked an average speed of 38.21mph or 61.5km/h. A hundred years later and John McGuinness's average speed was 131.578 mph or 211 km/h with a top speed of 200 mph (321 km/h).
Not surprisingly, the sponsors of this quirky race are equally quirky Anglo-Swiss watchmakers GRAHAM-LONDON who designed the special winners' watch for this occasion.
Eric Loth, founder of GRAHAM-LONDON, is also a keen motor cycle rider: "We like this race because it's historic, it's real, it's mad and it's British and gritty and we want to see it prosper. In the Isle of Man, one can still do one's own thing. Perhaps it's no coincidence that it's also the home of fellow petrolheads Jeremy Clarkson and Nigel Mansell."
Catch more details on www.graham-london.com and May the Best Manx win.
The Chronofighter Oversize Tourist Trophy
The special edition watch by GRAHAM-LONDON for all 18 winners in the different categories.
The Chronofighter Oversize Tourist Trophy Bi-compax chronograph, automatic mechanical movement, Calibre G1734, 27 jewels, 28'800 A/h, Incabloc shock absorber.
30 minutes stopwatch counter in the form of a 30 mph road sign and a sweep seconds hand in the form of the Manx coat of arms, the Triskelion. Super-LumiNova coated hands and markers for night visibility. Date at 7 o'clock for easy reading angle. PVD coated stainless steel case, fast action start-stop lever and non-slip stopwatch-reset button. Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both faces. See-through case back with TT logo. Limited and numbered edition of 211 pieces.
GRAHAM-LONDON is for the second year the official timing partner of the Tourist Trophy Isle of Man and we look forward to the start of this year's racing!
GRAHAM-LONDON traces its origins to London clockmaker George Graham (1673-1751) who is responsible for many innovations in timekeeping. He invented the chronograph, the dead-beat cylinder escapement, the mercury pendulum to compensate for temperature differences. He also built the master clock for Greenwich Royal Observatory which defined time for most of the 18th century. GRAHAM-LONDON was resurrected in 1995 and is today a privately owned Anglo-Swiss watch company which design and builds its own watches in its in La Chaux-de-Fonds production facilities in Switzerland.