“There’s no better pairing than cars and watches!” It’s something you’ll hear from enthusiasts and brands all the time, and while the concept of a pairing can often be pushed unnecessarily far — look at the plethora car-branded watches on the market and on people’s wrists, and you’ll see what I mean — there is an undeniable, if somewhat ineffable, connection between the two. Much of it is nostalgia. We love the so-called “glory days” of racing during the ’50s, the ’60s and the ’70s, and given that during this time wristwatches actually played an important role in timekeeping at these races, the association is an easy one to make.
But I think it goes beyond that. Both watches and cars fall into the category of “functional art.” More than mere conveyance, we love cars because they are intricate, engineered, mechanical sculptures designed and crafted from metal with a real, functional purpose. Watches, more than a time-telling apparatus, are very much the same, just on a smaller scale. And if you’re the type to personify products, cars and watches take on certain personalities. Sometimes those personalities between cars and watches coalesce — some are brash, some refined, others intelligent.
And so, with the industry’s propensity to revive its older models, what we have here are three very different vintage-inspired chronograph watches, lifted straight out the glory years of motorsports that just so happen to fit perfectly with three very different race cars from that era.
Tudor Heritage Chrono
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The watch: Tudor’s Heritage Chrono is one of the older watches in its lineup (it debuted in 2013), but it’s still an absolute standout for being a such a glorious reinterpretation of its classic but short-lived “Monte-Carlo” chronograph from the early 1970s. Interestingly, the watch was purportedly popular with Porsche racers from the era. The new iteration of the watch is relatively big at 42mm in diameter and 13mm thick, much in part due to the use of an ETA movement with a Dubois Depraz chronograph module; that’s not a very common configuration these days. But really, it’s the dial design that makes the Tudor stand out most among its peers. Those black trapezoids surrounding the subdial and those orange accents are bold, undiluted throwbacks to 1970s watch design, an era whose revival hasn’t really caught on until the last year or so.
The car: Yes, the Shelby Cobra predates the original Monte Carlo by several years. And yes, the Monte Carlo is more associated with Porsche. But there’s a certain, slightly American brashness to the Tudor that feels matched by the 427-cubic-inch V8 stuffed in the otherwise light, British body. Or maybe it’s the coordinating black-on-gray color schemes.
