Maurice Lacroix, the official watch partner of FC Barcelona, recently revealed an impressive collection of 24 unique pieces designed individually by each player of the prestigious football club. Today, the luxury watch brand from Saignelégier (Switzerland) goes one step further and proposes the same “money can’t buy” experience of designing a bespoke piece of luxury to all watch lovers and FC Barcelona fans.
Maurice Lacroix and FC Barcelona have developed a very close collaboration and already successfully revealed several creative campaigns. So when all the players were given a chance to demonstrate their creative skills off the pitch, the opportunity was too good to miss.
Each member of the team eagerly took on the challenge and 24 one-to-one design sessions were organized in a custom-made Maurice Lacroix design studio specially installed within the FC Barcelona facilities. Simply unique.
Never before had any luxury watchmaker created such a unique collection of timepieces. In order to enable superstar players of the likes of Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Iniesta, Piqué, Rakitic and Busquets to dive into the real Maurice Lacroix creative universe, a complete design studio was installed in the FC Barcelona training facilities. A vast array of material samples, dials, straps, hand-sketches and movements were presented and discussed with each one of the players. The unique Maurice Lacroix POWERLITE® material was of particular interest and raised many questions.
Indeed, this high-tech alloy, which is three times harder and twice as light as stainless steel, can also be colored within the mass through a special anodization technique. On top of the many color options available, players could also choose between a mat and polished finishing for the case as well as engrave a name or special message on its flanks. Last but not least, the design experience was made all the more fun and engaging thanks to a special application enabling the players to make many tests and get real-time previews of their creations.
The interactions and complicity between the Maurice Lacroix head designer and the players was simply remarkable. Whilst some football players adopted a more cautious design approach (Suarez, Adriano, Ter Stegen, Bartra), others displayed a very expressive personality (Mascherano, Xavi, Busquets).
Key moments of complicity were the creative and fun duo formed by Leo Messi and Gerard Piqué who insisted to work together, and of course the inimitable and playful Brazilian star Dani Alves who can definitely be granted with the quote of the day: “Look at it, film it and remember it. This is my watch!”.
Here they are, the 24 unique timepieces:
