Collection WoЯld CUP MMXVIII - Limited to 300 Pieces only

The WOЯLD CUP MMXVIII Limited Edition, created in special celebration of Icelands men’s national football team qualifying for the mens World Cup championship for the very first time. With a population of around 330,000, Iceland is also by far the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup championship. The team also made history by reaching the qualifying for the UEFA Euro Cup back in 2016 and JS Watch Co. Reykjavik also designed a limited edition watch in celebration of that event which sold out very quickly so now we are doing it again. Sales for the WOЯLD CUP MMXVIII watch will start in May 2018, the first 40 numbers for this limited edition were reserved for the National team members.

We're at it again !

When it was clear that the Iceland had qualified for the World Cup for the very first time, the Captain of the Icelandic National Team Aron Gunnarsson came to visit us expressing the team members' interest in creating a new watch in special celebration of this remarkable achievement, we then started to lay down some ideas for the design of the watch. We wanted to keep on using the national colours of the Icelandic flag like we did for the Euro MMXVI watch we made when this team also made history by qualifying for the UEFA Euro Cup back in 2016, but we also wanted to add more small details into the watch to reflect the spirit that has built up around this special National team.

WOЯLD CUP mmxviii recipe

In the dial design you will find small details like "Fyrir Ísland" translated "For Iceland", which is also written inside the small neck label on all the shirts of the team members, you will also find numbers from 1 - 11 in silver for the players on the pitch and the 12 in red for the twelfth player dedicated to the undying support of the Icelandic fans who have been given the collective title “Tólfan” (“The Twelve”), as they are considered to be the twelfth player in the team. The minutes in blue from 0 to 45 representing the Game Time and the 45 to 60 minutes in red saying Half Time instead of 50 and 55 minutes, this idea originally came from a game time clock that was located on the National stadium "Laugardalsvöllur" and also "Melavöllur" where Master Watchmaker Gilbert played Soccer with his team Fylkir back in the day. For battle you also need a weapon so we designed a blue second hand  in the shape of a viking spear. The WOЯLD CUP MMXVIII logo has a reversed R as a special memorandum for the nation hosting this years World Cup, but Russia has it's own special alphabet with a reversed R so we found it ideal to use it in their honour although it is pronounced as "ja" in the Russian language -  ja or já also means yes in Icelandic.

The back of the watch is engraved with JS Watch Co. Reykjavik,  World Cup MMXVIII and another special detail reflecting the spirit that has built up around this unique National team "VAR ÞAÐ EKKI"  a celebration chant the team whispers in the locker room after victories. Direct translation would be something like "WASN'T IT SO?" And everyone in the team responds to it by shouting "YEAH!"

To complete the design we engraved a small soccer ball on the crown filled with ceramic blue colour. The case is individually numbered between the lugs.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The watch comes in a 43,3 mm steel case made from the finest German surgical grade Stainless Steel "316L" with a Curved Anti Reflective Sapphire Crystal and See-through Sapphire Crystal back, Galvanic silver dial with silver numerals representing the 11 players, and red 12 representing the 12th player (the fans), 45 minutes of Game Time in blue and 15 minutes of Half Time in red, date display at three o'clock and rhodium plated hands and blued second hand.  Swiss Made Mechanical movement “Execution Top” with Automatic winding, 25 jewels, Custom decorations, Blue screws and Rhodium plated finish which can be examined in detail, through a sapphire crystal case back. All decorations and craftsmanship is of the highest quality.

Limited to 300 pieces only. 

Technical specifications

Movement

• Swiss Made Mechanical movement “Execution Top”

• Automatic winding.

• 25 jewels, Custom decorations, Blue screws and Rhodium plated finish.

• 38-hour power reserve when fully wound.

• Fine tuning: “Assortment Chronometer”.

• Shock protection: Incabloc.

• Adjusted to five positions.

Case

• Material: Surgical grade German Stainless Steel "316L"

• Diameter: 43,3mm, height 9,5mm.

• Surface finish: Highly polished.

• Curved Sapphire Crystal with multi anti reflective coating on the inside.

• See-through Sapphire Crystal back.

• Water-resistance: 5 ATM.

• Lug width: 22mm

Dial

• Galvanic silver with Arabic numerals and indexes.

• Rhodium plated index numbers in silver and red metallic 12

• Date display at three o'clock.

Hands

• Rhodium plated minute and hour hand

• Blue second hand

Strap

• Handmade 22mm Calf, Ostrich, Ostrich leg or Genuine Alligator strap with JS Watch co. Reykjavik buckle or optional deployant clasp.

• Steel bracelet also available.

AVAILABLE STRAPS FOR THIS MODEL

Inspiration

Placing Iceland firmly on the maP

Iceland qualified for its first ever World Cup, with a population of just over 334,000 people, Iceland's 2-0 win over Kosovo in Reykjavik made them the smallest nation ever to qualify for the tournament. The celebratory wave of thunderous viking claps between players, team staff and supporters really stood out and if the roaring ovation hasn't sent a message to the world that they'll be at the 2018 Russia World Cup, we're not sure what will.

The stirring celebration is a representation of the country's norse background and was first seen on a football pitch all the way back during Iceland's dream run of form at the 2016 Euro football championships. The team managed to make the quarter finals of that tournament, and also upset competition giant England before celebrating with their now-famous clap. To get to this point, Iceland recorded victories against Ukraine, Finland, Turkey, Croatia and Kosovo to top its group with seven wins from 10 matches and seal its spot in this year's competition. And all along the way, the thunder clap has followed and yet, most important of all, it was noted around the world that the Icelandic team has a unique bond with their fans.

Given the gravity of the team’s achievements and the small population of their home country, the players could claim confidently that they knew ‘at least 50% of the Icelandic crowd’. Iceland is by far the smallest nation to ever reach the World Cup finals, breaking the record set by Trinidad and Tobago who has a population of 1.365 million.