Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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TIME HONORED collaborated closely with Tissot in designing each of the two watches that bear her name: the PRC 100 Danica Patrick Limited Edition, which features 12 diamonds as markers, and the PRC 200, which showcases the number 7 in Super-Luminova properties to commemorate Tissot's sponsorship of Patrick's #7 Motorsports Chevrolet in 2010. Speaking of her connection to the Midwest, Patrick declares, "Chicago is my favorite city. Some of my favorite restaurants are here, like GT Fish & Oyster. And I'm a loyal Bears fan through good games and bad games, but of course I prefer the good." For more watch features and expanded coverage, visit michiganavemag.com/watches. MA DRIVING TIME Precision auto racing and fine watchmaking are a match made in high-performance heaven. Danica Patrick helped design her Tissot watch to be worn for all occasions. continued from page 94 hoping that experience will help when we go back in September. You can definitely hustle the car around Chicago, but it's a slippery track. We're working on improving our package for the 1.5-mile tracks, so hopefully we'll have it dialed in before we go there. I'm hoping for even better results, since it's one of the tracks where I have more experience." Patrick says that her life in auto racing has made her ever more aware of time. "My life is all about the stopwatch," attests Patrick. "And it's not just about the seconds, but about the tenth of a second and the 100th of a second. Time is central for me." For Patrick, who says she wanted to drive since she was little and started at age 10, the sport runs in the family: Her father was a racer and met her mother during a blind date at a race. "Racing is literally in my blood thanks to the two of them." Initially Patrick considered studying engineering so she could work on cars, but when she went to England at the age of 16 to race, she realized she didn't need to be a mechanic as well —DANICA PATRICK as a driver. "I learned that there are people who work on your car for you, and your job is to drive," she says. "It's a full-time job, and it's not just turning the wheel—it's taking care of the other responsibilities associated with being a driver," as in fulfilling sponsor, media, and other obligations. In her role as ambassador for Tissot, Patrick was active in creating the watch to make it versatile. "I want my fans to be able to wear the watch in their everyday lives, not just in a sporty way," says Patrick, who has "I want my fans to be able to wear the watch in their everyday lives, not just in a sporty way." 96 Many top auto racers, including Formula One winners, are ambassadors for fine Swiss watch brands, and some of them take their love of engineering to collaborate on watch design. Audemars Piguet began a relationship with world-famous Michael Schumacher almost three years ago, and created a limited-edition Royal Oak Offshore with him. The watch offers a host of Schumacher-inspired details, right down to the 22k gold oscillating weight that is decorated with both the Audemars Piguet logo and Schumacher's famous MS signature in three-dimensional form. Says Schumacher, "I appreciate how watches are interlinked to the world of car racing. It's a real honor to have been involved in the creation of this special model of the Royal Oak Offshore and a privilege to lend my name to it." According to Frederick Martel, vice president of marketing for Audemars Piguet (North America), "Michael Schumacher perfectly Michael embodies Audemars Piguet's Schumacher wearing the brand attributes of excellence Audemars and audacity. He brought the Piguet Royal Oak Offshore same passion and commitment watch (RIGHT) when we collaborated on his that bears his name and his namesake timepiece." design input. Richard Mille has been named as the Official Timing Partner to the Lotus F1 Team. The brand's roster of top ambassadors includes Felipe Massa and Jules Bianchi, both Formula 1 Grand Prix drivers. Mille and Massa worked together on the design of the RM 011 Felipe Massa Flyback Chronograph Carbon watch, which is created in a limited edition of just 30 pieces to celebrate the return of the Formula 1 Grand Prix to a US track, where Massa is set to drive for the first time in five years. Both Massa and Bianchi wear this watch while racing. A limited-edition watch will also be produced in honor of the Lotus F1 team affiliation. MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 094-096_MA_SS_TimeHonored_SUMMER13.indd 96 6/18/13 5:19 PM