DESDER will make its first appearance on the international motorsport stage this weekend as the independent haute horlogerie brand joins GT World Challenge powered by AWS at Monza as Presenting Partner, marking the beginning of a collaboration between two worlds built on engineering, precision and emotion.
The partnership will officially make its debut during one of the most iconic events on the GT racing calendar, with DESDER using the Monza weekend to introduce the new DESDER 001 to motorsport media, teams, drivers, and guests from across the global GT paddock. The company will also make what it describes as “an important announcement for the future” regarding the next phase of its relationship with SRO Motorsports Group.
Born in Modena, at the heart of Italy’s famed Motor Valley, DESDER was founded by mechanical engineers and lifelong motorsport enthusiasts Fabrizio Nardini and Claudio Ferrari. The company’s philosophy draws directly from the culture that surrounds some of Italy’s most iconic car manufacturers: beauty through mechanics, performance through precision, and emotion through design.
The DESDER 001 – a watch that looks like no other – reflects that uncompromising philosophy in every detail. Produced in an ultra-limited series, the watch combines Italian design with Swiss mechanical craftsmanship, featuring a triple-axis tourbillon movement with 465 components, 63 jewels and a hand-finished architecture developed with master watchmaker Luca Soprana. The titanium case takes inspiration from early racing cars, while the flowing silhouette, created by renowned artist Mo Coppoleta, references the aerodynamic forms that define Italian automotive design.
For DESDER CEO Fabrizio Nardini, the connection between endurance racing and high horology is instinctive rather than manufactured, making GT World a natural home.
“GT racing is one of the few places left in modern sport where mechanical excellence still has a soul,” said Nardini. “When you walk through the paddock at Monza, you feel engineering, ambition and obsession everywhere around you. That is exactly what DESDER represents. We were born in Modena, surrounded by extraordinary automotive culture, and this association with GT World allows us to introduce DESDER 001 – after the official launch in Geneva – in the perfect environment. Motorsport is about milliseconds, precision and courage. Fine watchmaking is built on exactly the same foundations.”
Founded by Stéphane Ratel, SRO Motorsports Group has established GT World as the leading global GT3 racing platform, spanning Europe, America, Asia and Australia. The championship attracts many of the world’s most prestigious manufacturers and combines elite competition with a uniquely international audience.
“What immediately impressed us about DESDER was the authenticity of the project,” said Ratel. “DESDER comes directly from the culture of Italian engineering and craftsmanship that has defined racing history for generations. There is a genuine parallel between elite motorsport and haute horlogerie because both worlds are driven by precision, innovation and emotion. Monza is the ideal place to begin this relationship, with the unparalleled pursuit of time at the heart of our shared ethos.”
The Monza event represents one of the landmark races of the GT World Endurance Cup season, bringing together factory-supported teams and world-class GT3 machinery for a weekend steeped in motorsport heritage. For DESDER, it also represents the symbolic first race of a much larger journey.
As the engines fire into life at the Temple of Speed, DESDER arrives not simply as a valued partner, but as a new Italian performance brand that measures time in a very different way.