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 The idea of creating a luxury watch intended to express the 'sensuous appeal' of Mazda design came at a Mazda drive event at Germany’s Hockenheimring. Hasip Girgin, Assistant Chief Designer at Mazda’s European R&D Centre, Arno Gabel, Vice President of Operations, Sinn Spezialuhren Frankfurt, and Herbert Kunde, Manager of Retail Marketing at Mazda Motors Deutschland, started working immediately. Fifteen months later, the concept is now reality.
For Hasip Girgin, it was his first experience designing a watch. “It was a challenge,” he admits, “because I wanted to give the chronograph a unique design with instant appeal. I worked for over a year to find a watch design that would express the same kind of sensuality found in our cars.”
To achieve this goal, he adopted a ”long hole” or rounded square form as the principle theme in reference to the design motif in the air intakes, tail lights and door handles of the Mazda MX-5.
 “I think we have the best harmony between a geometric body and the tense, soft curvatures that define this body,” says Girgin. “Its mix of plane surfaces, curvatures, materials and weight make the watch so sensual.”
A further reference to Mazda design is the watch's strap with its unique butterfly buckle. The strap is made of silicon rubber and has the same tyre profile as the Mazda Hakaze concept.
Hasip Girgin has played a pivotal role in the design of a number of production and concept cars over the last 12 years. He is best known, however, for his design proposals for the original Mazda3. In addition to his work at Mazda, Girgin is an accomplished painter, who has exhibited in Germany, and lectures in design at Pforzheim University.
Mazda and Sinn Spezialuhren Frankfurt had cooperated twice before to create limited edition watches – the MX-5 NC model and the Sinn 303 RX-8. While the first projects were customised versions of original Sinn models, the new chronograph has been completely designed by and for Mazda. The Mazda Design Chronograph will be manufactured in a strictly limited edition. It will be available at European Mazda dealers, beginning in Mid-August.
 
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