New Zealand's first OMEGA boutiqueDean Barker receives the OMEGA Seamaster America's Cup Racing Chronograph
Marking OMEGA's role as the Official Timekeeper of the 2003 America's Cup, Team New Zealand skipper and OMEGA ambassador Dean Barker was presented today with the first ever specially designed OMEGA Seamaster America's Cup Chronograph at the OMEGA Boutique in the America's Cup Village, Auckland. New Zealand's first OMEGA boutique, which opened its doors in October to coincide with the start of the Challenger series, will trade from the prime location of America's Cup Village until the end of the America's Cup 2003 race series next March.
Today, the boutique was the venue chosen for distributing the Seamaster America's Cup Chronograph to every member of the Team New Zealand Crew headed by its skipper, the OMEGA ambassador Dean Barker. Dean was delighted to receive the specially crafted chronograph from OMEGA brand manager Debra Jackson and was joined by his racing crew as well as Team New Zealand's CEO, Ross Blackman, and Executive Director, Tony Thomas.
Dean had provided personal input into the design of the OMEGA Seamaster America's Cup Racing chronograph at the company's design workshop in Bienne. It was he who recommended the inclusion of the critical Regatta countdown time feature. The chronograph is water resistant to a depth of 300m, with a large 44mm diameter case available in stainless steel and titanium. Other features include a unidirectional turning bezel, black dial with large applied luminous hour markers and point at the 12 o'clock position. In addition, the watch boasts a Regatta start timer function comprising a semicircle of five dots that change colour every five minutes to indicate the time elapsed between warning signals and the start of a sailing regatta.
As OMEGA looks forward to its role of Official Timekeeper of the 2003 America's Cup, it also looks forward to the ambitious project of expanding its boutiques to include 50 such stores. This planned expansion only confirms the ever-developing worldwide success of the OMEGA brand.