08/11/2016
NEWS STORY
Luxury design house, Felio Siby, has announced its corporate brand sponsorship of the Sahara Force India Formula One race team, as the first independent and privately owned business in the fashion market to sponsor an F1 Grand Prix enterprise.
The Miami based luxury purveyor of apparel and high-end accessories for men and women has formed a unique partnership with the UK based F1 racing team - a business alliance considered to be the first of its kind in the world of Formula One. Sahara Force India welcomes Felio Siby as the team's official Lifestyle Partner, whereby the independent fashion house has designed a limited edition timepiece for race team members to commemorate the exclusive partnership.
The Sahara Force India Watch by Felio Siby is the first Formula One team endorsement for the luxury design brand and a crowning achievement by Miami-based company founder and CEO Dominique Siby, from Gabon in Africa. The multi-year lifestyle partnership gives naming rights for the Felio Siby logo to appear on the Sahara Force India Formula One racecar starting in the 2016 season, with drivers Sergio Perez from Mexico and Nico Hülkenberg from Germany, acting as brand ambassadors for Felio Siby and the Sahara Force India Watch on behalf of the F1 team.
"We are thrilled to join forces as the official Lifestyle Partner for Sahara Force India," says Dominique Siby, Founder and CEO of Felio Siby." "This year comes with great emotional significance for me, being the ten-year anniversary of my father's passing. Working with a Formula One team was a project we always wanted to do together. I dreamed of being part of this sport since I was a child, watching the timeless battles between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. This partnership represents our joint pursuit of world class performance and precision engineering and we look forward to sharing our Sahara Force India Watch with the world."
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director of Sahara Force India says: "A luxury watch-maker and a Formula One team are a perfect match: both pursue excellence, have absolute attention to detail and work to produce awe-inspiring machines through the wonder of human ingenuity. We are delighted to welcome Felio Siby to our family and we are looking forward to sharing the successes of a long and fruitful partnership."
Dominique Siby experienced his first Formula One competition at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2012 and soon converted in to an avid enthusiast. His dream was to design a watch for an F1 team but this vision turned out to be a much larger corporate venture unbeknown to the founder. After speaking to the Sahara Force India Team Principal, Vijay Mallya in February 2016, it was agreed that Felio Siby was an ideal match, not only as a team car sponsor, but as the team's official Lifestyle Partner. By May 2016, Dominique had the team's official timepiece designed in Switzerland and ready to be unveiled at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Black and orange has been chosen for the Sahara Force India Watch - to reflect the race team's official colors. The mounted figures 1 and 7, outlines of the two inner circular dials and both hands of the watch itself are all given a distinctive white finish that provide a bold contrast upon the black "Cotes de Geneve" Hexagonal decorative facial engraving, on which the .2-carat diamond is set. A stylish orange trim is positioned around the outside of the watch face, and a small window to reveal the inner organs of the watch's Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier Swiss movement can be seen above the center. The Sahara Force India logo is placed in white at the 3 o'clock position, as a stamp of authenticity. Casing made with black Titanium also features the Felio Siby signature crocodile imprint, and a premium quality black rubber watchstrap reinforces its sporty design. With a self-winding power reserve of 50 hours and weighing only 80 grams, the limited edition Sahara Force India Watch by Felio Siby is priced at $150,000 and is now available by special order through www.feliosiby.com.
As an official race team sponsor, the Felio Siby logo and corporate identity was first seen on the nose of the VJM09 Force India F1 racecar at the Russian Grand Prix in May this year, prior to the watch being unveiled with both drivers during the Monaco Grand Prix. Racetrack and television audiences around the world will have seen Felio Siby as the Lifestyle Sponsor of the Sahara Force India F1 team during 17 out of the 21 World Championship competitions in 2016. The Sahara Force India F1 team will compete at the forthcoming USA Grand Prix, Mexico Grand Prix, Brazilian Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ending the season in November.
Dominique Siby has combined his love for high-class craftsmanship and elegant flair with luxury sports and a global life in the fast lane, to introduce a timepiece series that exemplifies human ingenuity and precision engineering - both of which are underlying themes for the endorsement campaign being launched over the Fall season. Three brand ambassadors are strategically aligned to immortalize the design of three individual watches through excellence in their respective sports. Brand ambassadors for the Felio Siby Watch collection are the top ranked tennis professional from Czechoslovakia, Tomas Berdych; the leading Brazilian Formula One racing driver, Felipe Nasr and the UK based Sahara Force India Formula One team, for which the luxury fashion brand is also the official Lifestyle Partner.