There has been an undeniably strong connection between the luxury watch and motor racing industries for a number of decades, and this has led to the production of many iconic timepieces that have drawn inspiration for high-performance cars. In this week’s blog, we will be showcasing three of these watches, including iconic collections from some of the world’s most recognisable watchmakers. Continue reading below to see our list.
The Rolex Daytona collection was introduced by the iconic Swiss watchmaker in 1962, the same year that the brand took over the reins of Official Timekeeper at the prestigious Daytona 500 auto race.
As such, the collection was initially designed to be used exclusively by racing drivers, which can go a long way to explaining the significantly larger tachymeter scale on the bezel. The scale is utilised to calculate a range of important statistics, such average speed, and its enhanced size makes it more legible at speed.
The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona is considered by many luxury watch connoisseurs to be one of the most iconic collections to ever be put into production, and the brand continues to innovate with the watch to this day. Last year’s Baselworld saw the Rolex Daytona receive an Oysterflex bracelet to compliment the Cerachrom bezel introduced at the 2016 edition of the luxury watch exhibition.
The fruitful partnership between Swiss watchmaker Breitling and British car manufacturer Bentley first started in 2002.
That year saw the unveiling of the sensational Bentley Continental GT, which was not only the most powerful Bentley ever built, but also featured technical instruments and an onboard clock designed in conjunction with Breitling. This was the very first time that the carmaker had entrusted a watchmaker with this task, and through the exclusive chronographs that are presented in gold, steel or platinum, the two still work in harmony to this day.
The TAG Heuer Carrera collection was designed by Jack Heuer in 1963, which the legendary designer paying tribute to the famous Carrera Panamericana auto race, which is widely considered to be the most dangerous in the world.
Much like the Rolex Daytona, the Carrera collection was designed with the needs of racing drivers firmly in mind. Heuer focused on ensuring that the dial was elegant, yet simple, meaning that it was incredibly readable for drivers who were more-than-likely travelling at high speed.
