For centuries, navigation has maintained a direct link with timekeeping.
Before modern positioning systems, knowing the exact time allowed sailors to calculate longitude at sea.
An error of a few seconds could lead to a significant error on the chart.
This requirement long made the marine chronometer an essential instrument on board.
Major watchmaking houses built part of their reputation on their ability to produce reliable, precise instruments capable of withstanding the constraints of a maritime environment.
With the advent of GPS, the marine chronometer lost its central role in professional navigation.
But the link between watchmaking and boating has not disappeared.
It has shifted to other uses: competitive sailing, major offshore races, regatta watches, and partnerships between watch brands and nautical events.
This link is still based on the same notions: precision, reliability, legibility, and resistance to harsh conditions.
The marine chronometer: when time allowed you to find your position
For a long time, navigators could determine their latitude using celestial bodies.
Longitude was more complex to establish.
To calculate it, it was necessary to compare local time, obtained from the sun, with the time of a reference meridian kept on board.
Each hour of difference corresponds to 15 degrees of longitude.
It was still necessary to have a clock capable of remaining precise for several weeks at sea, despite the ship's movements, temperature variations, humidity, and vibrations.
This was the whole challenge of the marine chronometer.
In the 18th century, John Harrison provided a decisive answer to this problem with his marine chronometers, including the H4.
This advance marked a major step in the history of navigation.
In the 19th century, several watchmaking houses specialized in these instruments.
Ulysse Nardin, founded in 1846, became one of the leading names in marine chronometers.
At that time, watchmaking precision was not an image argument.
It was a condition of safety and efficiency at sea.
From marine chronometer to regatta watch
The arrival of electronics and then GPS profoundly changed uses.
Professional navigators no longer depend on a mechanical chronometer to know their position.
However, watchmaking has retained a place in the nautical world.
It is expressed differently today.
Watches related to sailing are no longer used to calculate longitude.
They meet other needs: managing a regatta start, offering quick time reading, resisting spray, shocks, salt, and temperature variations.
This is also why many watch brands remain associated with major races and nautical events.
Boating allows for a coherent story around precision, robustness, and use in real conditions.
Rolex, Ulysse Nardin, Omega: ancient ties with the sea
Several major houses have built part of their image around boating.
Rolex has maintained links with yachting and major international regattas for several decades.
The brand is associated with events such as the Fastnet Race or the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup.
Its Yacht-Master is part of this world of competitive sailing and high-end boating.
Ulysse Nardin holds a special place.
Its history is directly linked to marine chronometers.
The brand has extended this heritage into its collections and nautical partnerships, particularly around offshore racing.
Omega has also developed ties with the America's Cup, while Breguet retains historical legitimacy through marine chronometers and its Marine collection.
These partnerships are not all at the same level of technical use.
Some are very closely linked to the brand's history.
Others relate more to image or association with a demanding sporting universe.
But in all cases, boating remains a natural territory for watchmaking, because it involves time, precision, and resistance.
Why sailing interests watch brands so much
Sailing is a sport where time is omnipresent.
It matters at the start, during the countdown.
It matters in the rankings.
It matters in split times, gaps between competitors, and race management.
It also matters in the very perception of effort: a crossing, a leg, or an offshore race is experienced over time.
For a watchmaking house, associating with a race or a skipper therefore creates an immediate link with its natural universe: measuring time.
But this link only has value if it remains credible.
A nautical watch cannot be content with a marine design or an evocative name.
It must meet real constraints: water resistance, legibility, shock resistance, comfort on the wrist, and ease of use.
What a sailing watch should really offer
A watch worn at sea must first be legible.
On a boat, reading conditions are rarely ideal: strong light, rain, spray, fatigue, constant movement, sometimes wearing gloves.
Information must be immediately accessible.
Water resistance is obviously essential.
A sailing watch is exposed to water splashes, waves, constant humidity, and salt.
It is not necessarily intended for deep diving, but it must withstand a prolonged marine environment.
This is what distinguishes it from a classic dress watch and what brings it closer, in some respects, to diving watches.
Robustness also matters.
A sailboat deck is a harsh environment for a watch: impacts against boat structures, quick manipulations, vibrations, sudden movements.
The case, crown, crystal, and strap must be designed to withstand these conditions.
Finally, some regatta watches incorporate a countdown function.
The start is a decisive moment in sailing.
The last minutes before the signal require very precise time management.
A bezel or a dedicated display allows for quick reading of the remaining time without calculation.
The regatta countdown: a simple but useful function
In a regatta, the start is not just about crossing a line at the right time.
You have to position yourself, anticipate the boat's speed, take into account the wind, competitors, and the time remaining before the signal.
This is where the countdown comes into its own.
On some sailing watches, the rotating bezel allows you to set a duration of 5, 10, or 15 minutes.
The skipper can then quickly visualize the time remaining before the start.
This function does not replace the electronic instruments on board.
But it offers a simple, direct, and always available reading on the wrist.
It is precisely this kind of detail that distinguishes a watch inspired by sailing from a watch genuinely designed for nautical use.
Akrone and the Solitaire du Figaro: a concrete link with offshore racing
From 2021 to 2023, Akrone was the Official Timekeeper and Official Supplier for the Solitaire du Figaro.
The Solitaire du Figaro holds a special place in offshore racing.
It is a solo event, contested in stages, on identical boats.
This homogeneity makes the race particularly demanding: the differences depend on strategy, precision, regularity, and the skipper's ability to endure over time.
In this context, the partnership with Akrone was part of a coherent universe: that of time measurement, navigation, and use in real conditions.
For this collaboration, Akrone developed the C-02 Solitaire du Figaro, a limited edition designed around the race.
The watch notably incorporated a bezel with a 15-minute countdown for managing starts.
It also adopted the codes of a robust sports watch: water resistance suitable for marine use, immediate legibility, and a mechanical movement adjusted in the workshop.
The watch was not intended to replace onboard instruments.
It was part of a complementary approach: to offer a readable, reliable mechanical instrument on the wrist that was consistent with the world of offshore racing.
This edition is now sold out.
It remains an interesting example of a meeting between a French watchmaking house, a maritime territory, and an emblematic race of the professional circuit.
Nantes, the Atlantic, and maritime culture
The link between Akrone and the Solitaire du Figaro also had a territorial dimension.
Akrone is a Nantes-based watchmaking house.
Nantes has historically been oriented towards the Atlantic, with a strong maritime culture.
The Solitaire du Figaro also belongs to this imaginary of the Atlantic coast, demanding navigation, and offshore racing.
This type of partnership works when it is not just based on a logo placed on an event.
It must tell a true story: a territory, a use, a history, and an object designed for this environment.
This is also what makes the development of watches designed for specific uses, whether sailing, aviation, diving, or custom projects, coherent.
This establishment is more broadly part of the history of watchmaking in Western France.
Watchmaking and boating: a continuing story
Watchmaking no longer plays the same role as in the time of marine chronometers.
Electronic instruments and GPS have transformed navigation.
But the watch retains a symbolic and functional place in the nautical world.
It reminds us that time remains central at sea.
Start time.
Race time.
Split time.
Long time of a crossing.
Short time of a maneuver.
In sailing, every minute can count.
This is why the alliance between watchmaking and boating remains relevant when it is based on real uses: legibility, robustness, water resistance, precision, and coherence with the field.
Frequently asked questions
What is a marine chronometer?
A marine chronometer is a high-precision clock historically used on ships to aid in calculating longitude.
By comparing the time of a reference meridian with local time, navigators could determine their east-west position.
Is a regatta watch still truly useful today?
Yes, but it does not replace modern boat instruments.
It can serve as a simple and quick reference for reading time, especially during the starting countdown.
It also retains a practical dimension when it is legible, robust, and water-resistant.
Why do watch brands associate themselves with sailing?
Sailing involves values similar to watchmaking: precision, endurance, reliability, and a relationship with time.
For a brand, it is a coherent universe, provided that the partnership makes sense and that the proposed watch meets real uses.
What is the difference between a nautical watch and a diving watch?
A diving watch is designed to withstand prolonged immersion and meet specific requirements for legibility, safety, and water resistance.
A nautical or regatta watch is rather designed for surface use: navigation, spray, shocks, quick time reading, and sometimes a starting countdown.
Why is the Solitaire du Figaro an important race?
The Solitaire du Figaro is one of the most demanding solo races on the French and European professional circuit.
Skippers sail on identical boats, which strongly emphasizes strategy, precision, endurance, and regularity.
Key takeaways
The link between watchmaking and boating is not new to modern partnerships.
It comes from a time when time measurement was essential for navigation.
Today, this link has changed form.
It is no longer about calculating longitude using a mechanical chronometer, but about designing watches capable of accompanying real maritime use.
Legibility, robustness, water resistance, precision, and coherence with the field remain the essential criteria.
Major offshore races, regattas, and nautical partnerships allow watch brands to extend this history.
Provided they remain fair, concrete, and consistent with the uses of the sea.
