First and foremost, a race watch must be easily readable!!! Cluttered dials with see through faces and complicated fancy hands add too much visual clutter.
By David S. Wallens
Oct 21, 2024
|
Watches
| Posted in
News and Notes
| From the Nov. 2024 issue
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Photograph Courtesy B.R.M. Chronographes
Picture the classic motorsports watch: a strong, chunky case paired with a multifunction chronograph. The bezel might well feature a tachymeter scale. It is, in a sense, designed for a day at the track–both to survive the rigors and to monitor the action.
The favorites of this style typically go back decades. The Omega Speedmaster? 1957. Rolex released its Daytona in 1963. Steve McQueen’s iconic TAG Heuer Monaco came out in 1969.
These watches–and the brands behind them–have been long intertwined with racing. In 1969, Heuer became the first non-automotive company to have its logo on a Formula 1 car, while today, countless watch company trademarks can be found plastered across the cars, the drivers and the tracks themselves.
[Watches and motorsport: A relationship dating back over a century]
But what if you’re looking for a motorsports watch with roots in, you know, this century?
They’re out there.
Maybe a motorsports watch can come from this century. Two possibilities: the DDF6 from B.R.M. Chronographes or, for those with six figures, Richard Mille’s RM 65-01. Photograph Courtesy Richard Mille
Richard Mille made its debut in 2001 with the RM 001 Tourbillon. Power, as the name suggests, came from the complicated tourbillon movement. The brand established its running partnership with LeMans Classic in 2002, and it has since expanded its footprint into the Formula 1 arena.
B.R.M. Chronographes, a brand long associated with Historic Sportscar Racing, released its first model, its GP44, in 2003. The hands: drilled. The numbers: set in classic white meatballs. The grooves around the case recall the lands of a piston. Today’s offerings carry those same details.
First and foremost, a race watch must be easily readable!!! Cluttered dials with see through faces and complicated fancy hands add too much visual clutter.
William Colom said:First and foremost, a race watch must be easily readable!!! Cluttered dials with see through faces and complicated fancy hands add too much visual clutter.
Hey, I understand your perspective. There is sophistication in simplicity.
Personally, I love the clean, retro looks of this watch: BRM Watch V6-44 | GT Vintage | B.R.M Chronographes - The Winners' Watch
I have a few friends who collect watches and I put these on their radar. They have not stopped sending me ones they like ever since.
In reply to William Colom :
My “daily,” if you will: Tissot PRS 516. I find it easy to read while it’s also a little different than the norm.
William Colom said:First and foremost, a race watch must be easily readable!!! Cluttered dials with see through faces and complicated fancy hands add too much visual clutter.
I’d agree with all of that. Gotta be able to read it, right?
I have a couple of hundred watches, many of them vintage and the ones that are easy to read, preferably automatic and with a stop watch function are the most useful. My daily wear watch is an Omega Seamaster Professional - rugged, waterproof dive watch that is accurate and reliable. If you prefer a watch that impresses people, you can spend around 10X that much for a Rolex that is as accurate and rugged as the Omega, or you can opt for the Omega and buy yourself a nice used daily driver grocery getter with the difference.
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