Tissot Shoots...And Scores!

In their further attempt to bring in a strong base of American sports fans Tissot has announced today that the French born basketball star Tony Parker will be joining Tissot as an ambassador.

Parker, known for being the captain of the French basketball team, and a member of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs is known internationally for his ability on the court and his high level of social awareness off of it. He has had quite the impressive professional career which includes; a bronze medal with the 2005 French national team, 3 NBA titles in 2003, 2005, and 2007, as well as becoming the first foreign born player to be named MVP of the 2007 NBA finals.

Basketball is not really a new venue for Tissot as they are already the official timekeeper for the International Basketball Federation [FIBA]. I'm sure it doesn't hurt Tissot that Parker has a solid fan base here in the states. In the past few years Tissot has made plays for ambassadors that have solid representation in very American sports including; becoming the official timekeeper of NASCAR. Make no mistake, this is just the beginning for Tissot and international basketball, as they have several organizations they are already teamed up with.

I'm sure we'll all be seeing a lot more of Mr. Parker in Tissot ads in the US in the coming months.

Now with a Twist

Over the past few months I have been a horrible, horrible, blogger. I really haven't done much with it, and I do feel pretty bad about that. There are several excuses but I'm sure the reason can be summed up with the word; malaise. I honestly wanted to write, and have been keeping up with the industry news, but I guess the muse just never struck me. I've also avoided activity in the forums, though I did visit for information. The passion was still there, just not the will...I guess. I know, I know...call the waaaahmbulance, Craig. I am hoping all that is about to change.

As I mentioned in previous articles I do some hobbyist watchmaking at home, well last night I attended my first watchmaking class through NorWest Voc'Tech here in Seattle. Though not a standardized course set up through WOSTEP, or SAWTA [the Swiss governing bodies of horological education], I am definitely in the hands of extremely capable instructors and fellow classmates whom I can learn from. The class is full of known area watchmakers including; Tom Payne, who is certified as a WOSTEP 'Train the Trainer' instructor and Mark Smith from Seattle Watch Repair. Through these gentleman I have also become a member of the local chapter of the NAWCC, and Washington Watchmakers - Clockmakers Association.

My class bench, with my "school" set of tools...I may have a problem.

Now here's the part about my first class that really got my attention; in the small class of about 10 people I met a guy who actually read 'The Escapement' a couple times. Now considering I thought that my wife and my mother were my only two readers; I was quite excited to meet someone who was familiar. Obviously, it was nice to hear. Also, talking to this person about watches opened me back up to what I love about it so much. Hence the article.

What does all this mean for 'The Escapement'? What's the twist? you ask Well it means that I'm simply going to add some articles here and there about my experiences in the class. I will avoid going into minutia of the classes, as I imagine not all readers would be into that much information.

You know, I just read this and realized how much I use the terms "I" and "me", sorry about that, that's just plain tacky. I'll do my best to not do that from here on out, unless it's a stated opinion article.

Ed. Note: The Fat Boys photo is an mini homage to a very close friend of mine...and yes, I was actually a big fan growing up...'Crushin' was my favorite album, so there.