CT Scuderia

Precision timepieces and motor vehicles - be they cars, motorcycles, ‘planes or boats - have always gone hand-in-hand, since it’s vitally important to be able to record speed, distance and time. Indeed, the first gauges to find their way onto dashboards were mechanical and, more often than not, made by watch manufacturers, which meant that for many years speedometers and tachometers closely resembled the chronometers from which they evolved.

 

Not surprisingly, this one's called the "Dashboard"

As the years went by, many watch manufacturers underlined the close ties between both worlds, with such masterpieces as the Rolex Daytona, and the TAG Heuer Monaco (which was even made in Gulf Racing colours).

 

The Corsa wouldn't look out of place at the Goodwood Revival

Fast forward to the present day and we have watch company Contatempo Scuderia: with a name like that their intentions and inspiration are clear. And their products not only breathe technological precision, with their superb mechanisms, but also suggest a heady scent made up of hot rubber, petrol and warm clutch plates, underlined by a sharp tang of Bonneville salt. [...]

 

Slow down, you're getting into the Red Zone!

CT Scuderia (as they’re also known) decline their watches in over a dozen collections, with such evocative names as 2 tempi (pronounced the Italian way, "due tempi"), Salt Flat Racer, Dirt Track and Scrambler. All their timepieces use Swiss-made Ronda automatic movements to make sure that you’ll never be late to pre-race driver briefing sessions and time your fast laps round Spa Francorchamps (or, more mundanely, never be late for company think-tank meetings and time how long it takes for you to get from your front door to your office chair on a dreary Monday morning). As for the cases, they are all made of stainless steel and are held firmly to your wrist by leather straps that recall the bonnet straps on early 20^th century racing cars and the upholstery of classic British and Italian sports cars, or “NATO” nylon straps.

 

The Scrambler. The one that Steve McQueen would have worn.
Our E-in-C thinks it's the dog's whotsits, too.

My personal favourites are the all-black Corsa and above all the brand-new square-case all-black Scrambler. (I admit to having a thing for murdered-out watches, as well as being fond of square-case watches) The price tags on CT Scuderia’s masterpieces, which go from just over $1,000 to more than $3,000 (for the Diamonds model) means that unfortunately I won’t be sporting a stealth Scrambler anytime soon. Of course if one of our kind-hearted readers is feeling generous, my birthday is in December...

Photo credits: Lee Muston/The Promotion Factory/CT Scuderia

Our thanks go out to Chris McCaig (whatever you do, don't call him Cliff) for resolving a wee technical problem.