Watches & Drivers

On March 20, the Bahrain Grand Prix took place, which opened the 2022 Formula 1 season. Last season, the Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton duel kept motor racing fans spellbound until the last Grand Prix. But what are the two champions wearing on their wrist? If the Dutch driver can sometimes be seen with a Rolex Daytona or a Royal Oak Offshore from Audemars Piguet, he most often roams the paddocks with Tag Heuer models with evocative names (Monaco Titan, Formula One). The Briton, meanwhile, wears an IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar that we imagine more in the cockpit of a fighter plane than in that of a Formula 11…

Nowadays, the watchmaking choices of the drivers seem more linked to the promotion of the sponsors of their respective teams (Tag Heuer for Red Bull and IWC for Mercedes therefore, but also Richard Mille at Ferrari and McLaren, or Bell & Ross at Alpine) than to real favorites on their part. Yet there was a time when pilots wore watches not because they were paid to do so, but because they chose them and they were part of their universe.

Watchmaking and motorsport thus linked their destinies in the 1960s thanks to iconic chronographs, races with mythical names and legendary drivers with sometimes tragic fates.

1957: TACHY AND SPEEDY

Who says car racing, says speed. The tachymeter scale found on the dials of certain chronographs makes it possible to measure the average speed of a moving object, in relation to a given unit of distance. In a car, for example, all you have to do is start the chronograph when you pass a road marker and stop it at the next one, to determine your average speed in kilometers or miles per hour, by simply reading the number on the tachometric scale. in front of which the chronograph hand has stopped.

In the 1940s and 1950s the tachymeter scale of watches was painted on the dial, usually around the minute scale, but in 1957 the Omega Speedmaster reference CK 2915 changes all that by outsourcing the tachymeter scale to an engraved steel bezel. Before going to space and to the Moon, the Speedmaster and its hand-wound caliber 321 was indeed intended for racing pilots (or those dreaming of being one), such as the Belgian Willy Mayoress . Formula 1 driver with Ferrari, he distinguished himself at the 24 Hours of Le Mans where he finished second in 1961 and third in 1967, before a serious accident occurred during the 1968 edition: the door of his Ford GT40 was not properly closed during the herringbone start and while trying to close it, he lost control of his vehicle on the Hunaudières straight. Remained in a coma for 2 weeks, undermined by the after-effects of his accident, he ended his life the following year.

1963: FROM THE BEACHES OF FLORIDA TO THE ROADS OF MEXICO

Daytona Beach: seaside resort of 72,000 inhabitants located in northeast Florida, bathed by the Atlantic Ocean. At the beginning of the 20th century, automobile races were organized there on the beach. In 1959, William France Sr., founder of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Race Auto Racing), decided to create the circuit of Daytona International Speedway a few kilometers from the coast. This tri-oval track (a triangular-shaped oval) was intended to host a 500-mile (805 km) stock car race that became the famouse Daytona 500 . But the circuit offers other configurations than the tri-oval and in 1962, France decided to organize a 3-hour endurance race there, the Daytona Continental. In 1966, the duration of the race was increased to 24 hours: the 24 Hours of Daytona were born and became one of the most popular endurance races on the North American continent.

In 1963, Rolex released its new chronograph, the Cosmograph reference 6239 . Unlike the previous reference 6238, the tachymeter scale is now engraved on an external metal bezel (like the Omega Speedmaster released six years earlier) and, new for a chronograph at this time, the sub-dials are contrasted in color by compared to the rest of the dial for better readability the famous reverse pandas dials, with white sub-dials on a black background.ir.

The Swiss manufacturer is looking for a name for this new model: if it thinks of naming it Le Mans at first *, it quickly abandons this idea and decides to postpone its choice on Daytona, thinking perhaps that the name of the Florida races would be more buoyant in the American market, where the economy was booming at the time. Around 1964-65, the Daytona designation therefore appears below the Cosmograph or Chronograph designation in the upper half of the dial, before dropping above the counter at six o'clock three years later. In 1965, screwed pushers appeared, replacing the smooth pushers, the dials became pandas (black counters on a white background, reminiscent of the friendly face of the Chinese plantigrade) and black bakelite bezels made their appearance. Other developments are emerging, including a dial configuration associated with actor-pilot Paul Newman,Paul Newman, but we've already told you about it here.

* There will be a Le Mans chronograph in the 70s, but it will be a Herma, a French brand that has since disappeared.is.

Also in 1963 (year of birth of the Porsche 901/911), Jack Heuer , who had recently taken over the reins of the company founded by his great-grandfather, has the same thoughts as Rolex: watches at the time rarely had a name and he wanted to give one to his new chronograph . The year before, while attending the 12 Hours of Sebring, he caught wind of the Carrera Panamericana : this race, which took place on the Mexican portion of the Pan-American Highway, a set of highways that allows you to travel the Americas from north to south, only took place between 1950 and 1954. It was considered one of the most dangerous of his time: with 27 deaths in five editions, in general only a third of the participants crossed the finish line. The story pleased Heuer and the name Carrera sounded good in most languages, so he trademarked the name. The first onee Heuer Carrera was there reference 2447 : the dial desired by my friend Jack had to be as clear and legible as possible with stick indexes, stripped of any indication or superfluous scale and three sub-counters on a plain, black, silver or white dial. What also characterizes the Carrera is this tension ring which makes it possible to better maintain the glass on the dial and thus improve the water resistance of the watch, on which are painted graduations at 1/5 of a second. Other variations of the Carrera, which we have already told you about, were produced in the following years: models with two sub-dials (45 or 30 minutes), with or without a tachymeter scale, with a date window at 9 o'clock (45 Dato ) and even 18-karat gold versions..

In addition to their year of marketing, the two chronographs from Rolex and Heuer share other points in common, in particular their dials, made by the Jean Singer & Cie company, and their calibres, the Valjoux 72 (the Daytona actually had a version customized by Rolex with a Microstella screw balance). This column-wheel chronograph movement, with manual winding, was introduced in 1938. Compared to the Valjoux 22 and its two counters (seconds and 30-minute counters), the Valjoux 72 made it possible to have an additional counter for the hours, positioned at six o'clock. Prized for its reliability, it is THE caliber of sports chronographs from the 50s and 60s, which can also be found in the Autavia by Heuer or the Sherpa Graph by Enicar, for example.

You would think that the Rolex Daytona and the Heuer Carrera were rivals. Yet the two models wouldn't run in the same category: while the Carrera was priced at $89.50 excluding tax, the Daytona was priced at $210 excluding tax, more than double the price of the Heuer. No, the main competitor of the Heuer Carrera in the displays of watchmakers in the 1960s was the Breitling Top Time . Remaining on the success of the Navitimer (worn by British pilot Graham Hill), Willy Breitling wanted to release a more sporty and modern model to appeal to young people, at an affordable price. The first references were marketed in 1964, with dials with two (ref. 2000, Venus 188 movement) or three counters (ref. 810, Venus 178 movement), panda, reverse panda or plain. One of the most famous drivers in automobile history, the Scottish jim clark , was a fan of Breitling (among others) and wore a Navitimer or a Top Time on the tracks of the Formula 1 championship which he won in 1963 and 1965 on a Lotus. Also winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1965, he died in an accident at Hockenheim in 1968 at only 32 years old.

LE MANS 67: DRIVERS AND CHRONOGRAPHS (AND A CHAMPAGNE SHOWER)

The 1960s were marked by the Ferrari-Ford rivalry: whether on the tracks of Spa, Daytona or Sebring, the Ferrari 250 GTOs and the Ford GT40 chain speed records and engage in a fierce battle marked by the 24 hours of Le Mans 1966 , where Ford comes to break the hegemony of Ferrari which remained on six consecutive victories in the Sarthe (told in a fictionalized way in the film Le Mans 66 by James Mangold, released in 2019).).

The next edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1967, became the Race of the Century: Ferrari came back with revenge with its newe 330 P4 which has impressed since the start of the season, notably at the 24 Hours of Daytona a few months earlier, where Ferrari monopolized the first three places (in response to the three Fords who finished first at Le Mans 1966!). Ford for its part, following its failure at Daytona, relaunched its J project which will give birth to the GT40 Mk IV . In the (beautiful) supporting roles: Chaparral, Lola, Mirage and Porsche. The race also brings together the cream of drivers of the time: the previous month, eleven of them participated in the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco and seven in the Indianapolis 500. Thirty-seven of them have already raced or will race in Formula 1, including five past or future world champions.

Ford GT40 Mk IV of Dan Gurney/A.J. Foyt (winner of the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans); Ferrari 330 P4 of Mike Parkes / Ludovico Scarfiotti (2^th)

The thrilling race culminates in the victory of the Ford GT40 Mk IV of the American crew Dan Gurney / A.J. Foyt , ahead of two Ferrari 330 P4s driven by Mike Parkes / Ludovico Scarfiotti and Willy Mairesse (whom we told you about above) / Jean Blaton. On the podium, Dan Gurney inaugurated for the first time a ritual that has become common today, by shaking a bottle of champagne and douse his teammate and the people around. The other peculiarity of the two American pilots is that they both used to wear Rolex chronographs: a reference 6234 Pre-Daytona for Dan Gurney and a Daytona reference 6239 for A.J. Foyt.

But the list of participants in this 1967 edition also featured other names well known to watch enthusiasts, especially among Heuer fans.

In the middle of the night, at 3:35 a.m., the Ford Mk IV number 3 had a terrible accident near the Esses de le Forêt, bounced against the wall and crashed on the other side of the track. Miraculously, the pilot extricates himself from the vehicle (which did not explode!), passes the safety rail and collapses in the grass, in disbelief. mario andretti was hot that day, which did not prevent him from obtaining one of the finest records in motorsport (winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, as well as the Formula 1 championship in 1978) and see his name associated with a Heuer Autavia .

Released in 1962, the legendary Autavia chronograph was the first watch designed by Jack Heuer. It is the first chronograph to offer a rotating tachymeter bezel, although the model is also offered with 60-minute, 12-hour or hour-minute graduated bezels. Its history can be divided into three periods:

• the first models produced between 1962 and 1968, the most prized by collectors, with a case with a screwed back and manual winding movements with two (Valjoux 92) or three sub-dials (Valjoux 72) on reverse panda dials,
• hand-wound models, with compressor cases with a clipped back and slightly more prominent square lugs, produced in 1968 (Valjoux 72, 7730 or 7732),
• and from 1969, the automatic models, with the introduction of the caliber 11 (the first automatic chronograph movement designed by Dépraz-Buren for Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton, the same year as those offered by Zenith-Movado and Seiko) and larger cushion-shaped cases.

Mario Andretti's Autavia is a reference 3646 with two sub-dials and is part of the first generation with a screwed back, which the pilot often sported on the circuits.

The other iconic reference of the first generation of Autavia is the reference 2446 , with three sub-counters, which is associated with the Austrian pilot Jochen Rindt . Married to the model Nina Rindt (who elegantly wore a Universal Geneva Compax, also driven by a Valjoux 72 movement) had a tragic fate like too many drivers of that time since he had a fatal accident at the age of 28 during practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and was crowned Formula 1 champion at posthumous title in 1970. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967, the Austrian raced in a Porsche 907 LH, but he had to retire before the end of the race, he who had won the event in 1965. At that time, Porsche did not did not get involved in the fight between the big arms Ford and Ferrari, but rather aimed for victory in the performance index on the Sarthois circuit, which was won that year by the other Porsche 907 LH driven by the crew Hans Hermann andt Joe Siffert . The latter will later also give his name (unofficially) to an automatic Heuer Autavia, the reference 1163T and its blue needle. Unfortunately, he also died on the tracks in 1971, during a race at Brands Hatch in England.