Hands-On: Maurice de Mauriac x Racquet Rallymaster III Tennis-Themed Watch

The Rallymaster is Maurice de Mauriac’s tennis-themed watch collection, which has already been produced in a few limited-edition runs. This particular version is the Maurice de Mauriac Rallymaster III, and in this form, it is limited to 100 pieces and arrives with two straps plus a pink tennis ball. The late Daniel Dreifuss, who founded Maurice de Mauriac, was a dedicated tennis fan and regularly attended Wimbledon and other events. When he was still alive, he created the first Maurice de Mauriac tennis-themed watch — a collaboration with tennis player Stan Smith. After his passing in 2023, his sons took over the brand and continued the tennis timepiece tradition. This new generation of Maurice de Mauriac tennis watches debuted as the Rallymaster I model in collaboration with the tennis lifestyle magazine and store Racquet, with a dial concept created by designer Carlton DeWoody.

Wristwatches and tennis go back decades. Rolex is perhaps the most prominent brand represtented, with its sponsorship of most major tournaments and legends like Roger Federer, but brands like Gerald Charles, Richard Mille, and Rado have also all gotten in on the action. Maurice de Mauriac’s Rallymaster III isn’t so much a timepiece to wear while playing tennis (as it does not advertise any particular shock-resistance qualities), but rather a product for tennis fans who consider the game (and its accessories) part of their lifestyle. Hence, the Rallymaster I, II, and III watches have all been collaborations with a publication/store like Racquet.

Carlton DeWoody had a fun job with the dial design that imagines the face as akin to being on a tennis court. The dial is complete with a motif of the court net in the middle, along with the familiar green ground and round yellow hour markers that all look like tennis balls. Indeed, the design is a bit artistic and conceptual, but in a good way. I like the personality of this watch and find its quirky charms to be visually impactful, and the wearing experience to be comfortable.

Even though there is no special shock-protection system in the Landeron caliber 24 automatic mechanical movement (that operates at 4Hz with about two days of power reserve), the Rallymaster III is a rather comfortable sports watch. The 39mm wide brushed steel case is compact enough to wear while playing without getting in the way, and the stock “flex textile” strap that the timepiece comes with is elastic and designed to be comfortable even when worn snug. In other words, you can probably get away with wearing the Rallymaster III while tennis, given that it is comfortable and ergonomic.

The 39mm wide case is also about 12mm thick and has a roughly 47mm long lug-to-lug distance. The case is water resistant to 100 meters with a screw down gold-toned crown. Both the crown and the caseback have the Racquet logo on them, though the graphic is much more pronounced on the caseback where it is printed on the sapphire crystal exhibition window. It does block much of the view of the movement, but Landeron mechanisms are not exactly known for their exceptional beauty. Rather, I believe Maurice de Mauriac chose this particular mechanical movement because it has a subsidiary seconds dial at the 9 o’clock position. It also has a date indicator window at the 3 o’clock position. Over the date window is a magnifier window on the sapphire crystal, which is designed to assist with reading the date. Unfortunately, how this dial is designed means that you can’t really read the date from angles, given that the date disc is comparatively deeper down. The good news is that the date disc matches the color of the dial, and when looking directly down at the dial, the magnifier makes reading the date much easier.

Maurice de Mauriac is a boutique watchmaking operation in Zurich, and an interesting testament to that fact is a charming piece of text on the dial that adds “With Love” to the “Swiss Made” label on the bottom part of the face. (It reads “Swiss Made With Love.”) It is a friendly enough sentiment that easily allows me to forget how much the “Rallymaster” font is clearly inspired by similar texts used by Omega for various product names. The watch colors are also a bit on the unorthodox side, but they actually end up working together much better than I would have guessed for pink, green, beige, and brown.

The other strap that comes with the Maurice de Mauriac Rallymaster III watch is a more traditional (i.e., not stretchy fabric) tan-colored textured leather strap. The 20mm wide straps come with quick-release spring bars, so swapping them out is easy. Even though the watch comes with a pink tennis ball (signed Maurice de Mauriac and Racquet), it doesn’t come with a matching pink tennis racquet. If you look at the first Rallymaster I and II watches, their coloring is more suggestive of women wearers. While the Rallymaster III is certainly not tripping with machismo, it is probably the more masculine of the Rallymaster Models so far (though the Rallymaster Korea Open is another good example of a color palette that can appeal to both men and women). The first two Maurice de Mauriac Rallymaster watches were a comparative good deal, being under 2,000 Swiss Francs, but have already sold out. The more recent price for Maurice de Mauriac x Racquet Rallymaster watches is a bit more, but not by too much. Price for the fun to look at and wear tennis-themed Maurice de Mauriac x Racquet Rallymaster III is CHF 2,200. Learn more at the Maurice de Mauriac website.