Reviewing the Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide FIBA 3X3 Collection

Three innovative 40mm designs mark the release of the new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide FIBA 3X3, launched as a celebration of the watchmaker’s Official Timekeeping role for the sport. Available in a Cool Grey & Black, a Black & White and an Official Colours variation.

Back in February, Maurice Lacroix announced its new and exciting role as Official Timekeeper for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour. It is deemed the most prestigious competition of the 3x3 professional circuit. The fastest team sport discipline inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide sees two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court. Still considered a relatively young sport, 3x3 was first played back in 2010 at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. It made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Enlio floors, Wilson balls, Schelde backstops, Bodet shot-clocks and the Magic Sky canopy system all outline this fast-paced sport, which sees 60% of the games won before the 10-minute limit as a team reaches 21 points.

To mark this special role, Maurice Lacroix is releasing four special edition models in collaboration with Tide Ocean, an organization that collects bottles from the seas surrounding Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. The watches follow the release of the Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide watch crafted from Tide Ocean’s special composite material.

FIBA 3x3 Managing Director, Alex Sanchez talks about growing together with Maurice Lacroix following this special announcement: “We are very happy to partner with Maurice Lacroix as the new FIBA 3x3 World Tour Official Timekeeper. For the last few years, Maurice Lacroix has shown its vision and commitment for 3x3 by supporting several professional 3x3 players. Like 3x3, Maurice Lacroix is urban, authentic and inclusive. We are looking forward to further growing 3x3 together.”

Maurice Lacroix’s Managing Director Stéphane Waser also explains: “Maurice Lacroix is an accessible, urban brand that feels at home in the world’s greatest cities. The ‘Official Timekeeper of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour’ is urban, staging events in the heart of several prominent cities, making the sport accessible to many. This resonates with our brand. Furthermore, the importance of precision and timing is applicable to watches and also to the skilful 3x3 players who have to master time and decide whether to pass, shoot or dunk. This exciting sport is something we are proud to be associated with.”

A unique case composition

The new FIBA 3X3 special edition watches belonging to this line of Aikon Tide watches come in three options: a Cool Grey & Black, a Black & White and an Official Colours variation. A few weeks ago, Maurice Lacroix pledged to recycle 10 million bottles in collaboration with Tide Ocean. Continuing with this commitment, the watches are all crafted from a special composite material achieved through the use of plastic bottles that are first collected then washed before being sorted and then shredded into flakes. These flakes are then compacted to be transported to Tide Ocean’s Switzerland-based facilities, where the flakes are then converted into an even finer granule and combined with glass fibre (and other undisclosed materials) to yield the correct composite material for this new watch design. The composite material is double the hardness of standard plastic, not to mention five times more resistant. Each watch requires a total of 17 plastic bottles that are then transformed to recreate one of Maurice Lacroix’s Aikon watches. Maurice Lacroix will also aim to support plastic collection activities by sponsoring them, paying for sorting warehouses, and helping to pay for educational programs that work to raise awareness surrounding the devastating effects caused by littering the world’s most beautiful oceans.

All three new FIBA 3X3 watches have dials adorned with an embossed FIBA 3X3 pattern. The Cool Grey & Black model ref. AI2008-20YZ0-200-0 boasts a classic black coloured dial with silvered stick indexes and straight central minute and hour hands that have been treated with a strip of Super-LumiNova. The fine central second hand reaches right out to the outer scale executed in a richer black to match the background of the date window positioned at 3 o’clock. In its usual fashion, the Maurice Lacroix lettering and brand logo reside at 12 o’clock and the entire surface of the dial is protected by a lens crafted from anti-reflective and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass. The composite material of the case is grey with a black fixed bezel and its diameter measures a 40mm diameter, as do the other two models.

The Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide FIBA 3X3 Black and White watch ref. AI2008-00YZ1-000-0 features a black-coloured case and bezel to match the black outlines of the white filled hour markers and central hands set against a white embossed dial. The second hand and Maurice Lacroix logo are also finished in black, as is the date window, which creates a striking element across the textured dial at 3 o’clock.

The Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide FIBA 3X3 Official Colours model ref. AI2008-68YZ8-800-0 boasts a striking yellow coloured case and a vivid blue fixed bezel to match its vibrant blue-coloured crown at 3 o’clock. An orange second hand matches the minute scale around the flange, set against a yellow embossed dial with blue hands and outlines around the luminous hour markers. The date window at 3 o’clock on this Aikon watch is set against a white background.

All three of these new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide FIBA 3X3 watches are powered by a quartz movement. The Cool Grey & Black special edition watch is fitted on a black linear striped rubber strap. The Black & White special edition is equipped with a white rubber band with a black Maurice Lacroix logo. The Official Colours special edition watch is fitted on a vibrant blue rubber strap with a yellow brand logo.

If you’d like more information on any of these three special edition watches from the new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide watch range, you can view more details of the FIBA 3X3 watches here or call and speak to a member of our Jura Watches sales team on 01335 453453