Timing is everything when it comes to keeping score during a sports match. Tiny margins have defined many moments in sports history– fractions of a second can make or break a game. Whether in a timekeeping sport like sprinting or swimming or in a scorekeeping event like football, accuracy and precision are always of the essence.
Watchmakers have worked closely with top sporting events worldwide to refine refereeing and timekeeping and develop new technology and tools that enhance the accuracy score and timekeeping over the years.
Global sporting events like the Olympic Games, F1 races, or the upcoming FIFA World Cup often entrust the task of timekeeping to top watchmakers. More than just providing stopwatches, these watchmakers often pour in tremendous amounts of research and development to create watches dedicated to the refereeing of the sport.
Hublot has been named the official timekeeper at the Qatar games, marking the brand's fourth run as FIFA's official timekeeper. With that, the Swiss watchmaker has worked with official referees of the games to develop new technology that targets the accuracy and synchronicity of referees on the pitch at any given match. Keeping time for all 64 matches, the watchmaker has created a version of the Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 watch, as well as an on-pitch app used exclusively by the 129 official referees.
With all eyes on the games, there’s little room for error regarding timekeeping. Working with several referees, including Stéphanie Frappart, Hublot has created special functions for the smartwatch to enhance accuracy and communication among referees on the pitch.
Frappart became the first woman to referee a major men’s European game in 2019 and the first to oversee a men’s World Cup qualifying match in 2021. This year, she’ll participate in the games as one of the first three females to referee the World Cup.
“Being one of the first female referees is an honour, and it’s very exciting,” Frappart says. Frappart furthers that the connected watch is a great tool to stay in sync with other referees on the pitch. Hublot has created exclusive technology available only to FIFA referee that links referees' watches to ensure they have access to all of the same stats and information in real time.
As for the consumer version of this third-generation Big Bang e, new functions have been added to enhance the spectator experience. The watch will kick start its countdown mode in the days leading up to the opening match on 20 November. Those wearing the watch will also receive real-time updates and notifications about team line-ups, player profiles and kick-off time ahead of each game.
Once a match begins, the watch will automatically switch to ‘match mode’ where live updates on scores, penalties and other stats appear on the 44 mm dial.
In black ceramic or black titanium, these watches will be fully customisable with different dial graphics and 32 different straps representing each participating country.
Among the first to get their hands on the 1000-piece limited run smartwatch include football legends and players Luis Figo, Marcel Desailly, Pele and Kylian Mbappé.