Mumbai, Jan 7 (IANS) The 132-year-old Swiss watch major Bandelier was appointed the official watch licensee for the Indian Premier League here Thursday.
On the occasion, IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said that with this, the IPL would now reach out further beyond Indian shores to its global fan base.

“I am sure that cricket fans worldwide would love the world-class watches from Bandelier 1878, which would be an enviable addition to any collector’s portfolio,” Modi said.

This is for the first time in international cricket that a Swiss watch brand will collaborate with a cricket league to create and market a collection of its watches and men’s accessories, according to an announcement.

The collection, named ‘IPL Trophy’ will include trendy and sophisticated watches for men and women, a range of writing instruments, cufflinks and tie-bars modelled around the IPL and its teams.

There will be nine variants, one each for the eight IPL teams and one for the IPL, designed with the team’s colours, logos and available in three sizes, including diamond variants for women.

The price range will be Rs.45,000-Rs.55000 with future variants of chronographs and limited editions priced above Rs.200,000.

Founded in Geneva by Arthur Bandelier in 1878, the brand earned reputation for making solid and durable pocket watches. It will be distributed globally by Finex Group, headed by NRI Raouff Ansari.

The IPL Trophy collection shall be available at leading retailers, select departmental stores and through IPL and Bandelier websites.

IPL-3 is set to kick off in Hyderabad in March with the finals scheduled at Navi Mumbai end of April.