Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce Rotary as our new Global Official Timekeeper.

We have signed a four-year deal with the historic Swiss watch manufacturer.

To celebrate the partnership, two special-edition Rotary Chelsea FC watches will be available to buy and the official Chelsea website will carry a permanent Rotary clock.

Rotary are a fourth-generation, family-owned Swiss watchmaker and are renowned for their affordable timepieces.

Asia, the United States and Russia are parts of the world the Chelsea team have toured in recent times with our fanbase expanding greatly. In Brazil the interest in the Blues has never been higher, and these are also areas where Rotary has grown in the market and aims to grow further. Their watches are currently sold in 45 countries.

Rotary will be helping to spread the Chelsea word worldwide not only by stocking bespoke limited-edition Chelsea watches, but also by displaying our badge and imagery in major international stores.

Closer to home, Chelsea and Rotary are natural partners given the watch company's close ties with London. They opened their first UK office in the city in 1907, two years after Chelsea Football Club was founded, and moved their head office to the capital in 2000.

Ron Gourlay, Chelsea FC Chief Executive, said: 'We have never partnered with a watch company until now but believe Rotary are a perfect fit as we share a similar outlook and goals. We are very pleased to be joining forces with a Swiss watch company which has a worldwide name.

'I am happy to announce that Frank Lampard will become the Rotary brand ambassador for the 2013-14 season and we look forward to building a great relationship with them.'

Victoria Campbell, Chief Executive of Rotary, added: 'This is an extremely exciting sponsorship for Rotary and one that we are very proud of. Like us, Chelsea enjoys a long-standing heritage and operates on the world stage. Our partnership represents a mutually beneficial strategic alliance given that we share many common values. We are committed to growing our brand awareness overseas particularly in South East Asia and Chelsea was our first choice given that their fan base in the region is huge.'

Today's announcement increases the 'squad' of global partners Chelsea has joined up with which includes another from Switzerland - the Sauber F1 team, plus Audi, our automotive partner, energy suppliers Gazprom, Delta who are our airline partner, Singha, our global beer partner, and Hackett who in July became official supplier of formal wear.

The club's premium partners are Samsung and adidas.