MY PARTNERSHIP WITH OMEGA: CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOONWATCH
Golf has taught me to be resilient and work hard so that I am ready whenever the good wave of scores, luck or opportunities come my way. And even though I am not playing much golf lately, I have been very conscious and alert to realize the good opportunities around me outside of golf as well.
I have discovered that there is a huge marketing rage around this new social media status called the ‘golf influencer’. And that brands crave corporate golf outings and spokespersons to help them diffuse the values of their brand. And that is just my cup of tea, especially lately (aka this last two years without golf).
A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to partner up with Omega. I was very excited to meet up with the executive team at their boutique in Madrid, not only because of the opportunity given to represent such a classy and emblematic watch company; but also because I was finally coming back home — Spain.
When you become a public figure you have to take very serious what kind of brands you represent, because at the end of the day, you are also creating a brand for yourself. And the team around you, your actions and the brands you represent; it defines who you are as a person and as a brand.
My role with Omega will be to become a spokesperson for the brand, accompany them to some of their events and help them divulge some of the most interesting and powerful facts about their watches.
When the news hit me about Omega’s interest in me becoming their new ambassador, I tried to list some of its core values. I often do this when choosing my brand partners because it eases my role as a spokesperson for the brand later on. If I am capable to learn and identify their values and objectives I will be able to represent them better.
The first thing that struck me was their ambassador program longevity. Some of their ambassadors have represented the brand for many many years, and even though they might not be active in their careers they still represent the brand and are considered icons for Omega. To name a few, George Clooney, James Bond —Daniel Craig—, my favorite actor Eddie Redmayne, Nicole Kidman, Cindy Crawford ( and now her daughter, Kaia Gerber). What do all these public figures represent to you? To me, class. There is an indisputable recognition for their achievements but yet every single one of them lay low and humble. They all give the word sophisticated a new meaning. They are not flashy or over the top people nor actors, and that is the same feel I get from Omega.
For me, Omega is family oriented, they represent loyal masterpieces, and is not an over the top brand. It’s watches are simple but sophisticated, clean but at the same time intricate. They are very recognized in the world of sports, being the official timekeeper of the Olympics and they hold a particular position in the world of space exploration. For those of you that don't know this already, the Omega Speedmaster has been the choice of astronauts and space agencies like NASA since 1965. And their most famous Speemaster model, the Moonwatch is the first watch to ever travel to the moon.
50th Anniversary of the Moonwatch
This year the brand celebrates the 50th Anniversary of their Moonwatch and to be honest it feels a bit surreal when you hold a Moonwatch for the first time. The first time I held a Moonwatch I felt holding a relic rather than just a watch. The Moonwatch is the first watch to ever land on the Moon and they have kept the same identical design since 1965. In my opinion, every true watch fan should have a OMEGA Speedmaster -Moonwatch. Its history on Earth and space is like no other chronograph ever created. It will definitely be my second OMEGA watch.
On July 8th, Omega Spain will have its 50th Anniversary event commemorating the Moonwatch and its selective testing to be branded as the official watch of the NASA. James H. Ragan, Former NASA Program Manager and Aerospace Engineer – or the man who tested the Speedmaster and who gave it the “Flight Qualified By NASA For All Manned Space Missions” certification, allowing the Speed to finally make it to the Moon will fly to Spain to celebrate with the Spanish Omega Team. It is definitely an event I hope I can be part of and share with your over my social media platforms.
To talk a bit more about James, he was in charge of the crew equipment and pretty much everything inside the vehicle was his responsibility. He was given the assignment to find the most fitted watch the crew could wear through out the space missions. He sent out the list of specifications to ten different watch manufacturers, and they only received four proposals back; Omega being one of them.
To make sure they had the best manufacture watch, they had to put the hardware to testing. At the end, the only watch that made it through the 10 environmental tests was the Omega watch. The other two failed on the very first test, and couldn’t get re-started during the trials. They chose Omega not only because of the infallible chronograph but also because they were very tough watches against thermal (+/- 200 Fahrenheit) , cold, vibration, and shock.
To me this is impressive. Truly shocking and inspiring, and my only wish is for all of my followers to learn this amazing fact about the Moonwatch. Merely because I, myself didn’t know about it before becoming an ambassador to the brand. And probably you didn’t know either. So my hope is to change that. Because this is freaking bananas!