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Like watch, like driver
Trend Forecaster

Like watch, like driver

Thursday, 08 March 2018
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Mathilde Binetruy
Freelance journalist

“And yet, it moves.”

Galilée

From the 1998 World Cup, her first big event, to SIHH and Baselworld today, she reports from where the action is.

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6 min read

As the 88th International Motor Show gets under way in Geneva, we look at a cult object that speaks volumes about who we are: our car. Road hog, Sunday driver or family man… you are what you drive!

Boy Racer

He speaks a language few understand – “Get a load of that V6 630 hp twin-turbo ecoboost with 730 Nm torque!” –, heads a think tank for leather jackets and campaigns for cold beer on tap. The boy racer loves nothing better than speed, precision and overtaking on the right. He wears an authentic COSC-certified chronometer: the Chopard Superfast 8 Hz Power Control Porsche 919 Only Watch 2017. If you spot him in the distance, don’t even try. You’ll never catch him up and it’ll only make you hate your family SUV even more.

The dial of the Chopard Superfast 8 Hz Power Control Porsche 919 Only Watch 2017 is the same midnight blue as Jacky Icks' helmet. Icks' signature is shown at 6 o'clock, next to his lucky number 20 – the number of the Porsche 936 he drove first over the finish line at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1976.
The dial of the Chopard Superfast 8 Hz Power Control Porsche 919 Only Watch 2017 is the same midnight blue as Jacky Icks' helmet. Icks' signature is shown at 6 o'clock, next to his lucky number 20 – the number of the Porsche 936 he drove first over the finish line at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1976.
Mr Nostalgia

He wasn’t around in the 1920s but is still convinced this was the golden age of motoring – probably because that’s when his great-grandfather was racing cars. Mr Nostalgia has two photos in his wallet: one of his wife and a snapshot of his illustrious ancestor checking the time on his pocket watch, minutes before the chequered flag comes down. His vintage wardrobe extends to an Eberhard & Co Tazio Nuvolari Legend chronograph. Also known as “Dublin’s lovely in the rain.”

Close-up of the Tazio Nuvolari Legend automatic chronograph dial. Water-resistant to 30 metres, 30-minute and 12-hour chrono counters, and a central tachymeter on a spiral scale.
Close-up of the Tazio Nuvolari Legend automatic chronograph dial. Water-resistant to 30 metres, 30-minute and 12-hour chrono counters, and a central tachymeter on a spiral scale.
The Purist

If, on your way to the province of Bologna, you happen to bump into a guy from Maranello wearing a red baseball cap, and you ask him what’s the best car in the world, he’ll answer like a shot: Ferrari. But Italians aren’t the only ones to rate the supercar. The Ferrari has conquered the hearts of petrolheads all over the world for its fine mechanics and as a status symbol. Thanks to his Hublot Big Bang Ferrari Magic Gold, our tifosi will be on time to pick little Ernesto up from school, and get a shot at impressing the mums with all that engine-revving.

While Hublot and Ferrari celebrate 7 years together, Hublot's revolutionary Magic Gold lends itself to the Big Bang Unico, restyled with nods to Ferrari's design codes.
While Hublot and Ferrari celebrate 7 years together, Hublot's revolutionary Magic Gold lends itself to the Big Bang Unico, restyled with nods to Ferrari's design codes.
The Gentleman Driver

You’re stuck in a jam. What do you do? What’s your opinion of delivery vans blocking the road? Do you get impatient while the car in front parallel parks? The gentleman driver answers these three questions with “I wait”, “They’re doing their job” and “No, I admire their technique”. Nothing will make him lose his cool or dent his smile. He’s the number-one contender for the annual gracious driver award and has been ever since he was old enough to get behind the wheel – which was age 30 months on a toy circuit. He drives? An Aston Martin. He wears? A TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Aston Martin.

The design of the TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 looks to the distinctive geometric forms of Aston Martin cars.
The design of the TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 looks to the distinctive geometric forms of Aston Martin cars.
Sunday Driver

After scrambling to get to work on time the first five days of the week, when the weekend rolls around the Sunday driver enjoys nothing more than pootling along, watching the world roll by. Oh look, a rabbit just ran across the road! Oh look, a cloud shaped like a dinosaur! The Sunday driver isn’t built for speed and doesn’t really care (and probably doesn’t know) how many horse power there are under the bonnet. He just likes to take in the scenery. As a man with an eye for detail, he wears a Ralph Lauren Automotive with a dial in amboyna burl, considered to be one of the most beautiful ornamental woods.

The polished and satin-brushed steel components on the new Ralph Lauren Automotive are a direct reference to Mr Lauren's prized 1950s race cars. The polished screws are a nod to the rivets on a car chassis.
The polished and satin-brushed steel components on the new Ralph Lauren Automotive are a direct reference to Mr Lauren's prized 1950s race cars. The polished screws are a nod to the rivets on a car chassis.
Road Runner

The biggest problem facing this driver in a hurry is that there are only 24 hours in the day. Hence why he uses his car to catch up precious minutes in an overloaded schedule. It’s where he places his calls, listens to audio books (he doesn’t have time to read), and puts crumbs all over the seat from yet another bought-on-the-hop cheese baguette. Under duress, he’ll also own up to driving down bus lanes and jumping every amber light through the town centre. The machine on his wrist is of course a Richard Mille RM 50-03 McLaren F1 with flyback chrono.

A worthy successor to last year's RM 50-03 McLaren F1, the world's lightest chronograph tourbillon at 39 grams (strap included), the RM 11-03 McLaren fuses the British automaker's design codes with those of Richard Mille.
A worthy successor to last year's RM 50-03 McLaren F1, the world's lightest chronograph tourbillon at 39 grams (strap included), the RM 11-03 McLaren fuses the British automaker's design codes with those of Richard Mille.
The Tuning Fan

Take a chromed steering wheel, throw in neon blue headlights and a couple of subwoofers, add a bucket seat or a rear fin, hang a tree-shaped car freshener from the rear-view mirror… and you’ve got the car of a tuning fan. Hardly the kind that goes unnoticed. What really impresses, however, beyond the very “personal” style is the sheer dedication it requires. Imagine the countless hours that go into perfecting that custom look; the time spent tweaking the tiniest detail. So you’ll understand why the tuning fan chooses the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli Automatic Skeleton, a joint endeavour by avant-garde engineers and extraordinary watchmakers.

The strap of the Excalibur Spider Pirelli Automatic Skeleton by Roger Dubuis is made with inlay from certified Pirelli winning tyres and adorned with tread motifs.
The strap of the Excalibur Spider Pirelli Automatic Skeleton by Roger Dubuis is made with inlay from certified Pirelli winning tyres and adorned with tread motifs.
The Good Dad

He’s the careful driver who’s proud of his no-claims bonus. On holiday, between bouts of watching the World Cup or the Olympic Games on TV, he might venture down to the beach for a quick siesta. You wouldn’t think so when you see him at the wheel of the family estate car, but he was once carefree and impetuous. Now he can fold and stow a buggy in less time that it takes to say “Dad, I’m hungry!”. So as not to completely lose touch with his youth, he owns a second car too: a more powerful version of his daily ride, say a Bugatti Chiron 1,500 hp. He even wears a scaled-down version on his wrist: the Parmigiani Fleurier Bugatti Type 390 White Gold Black.

Specially developed for this incomparable watch, and as exceptional as the quad-turbocharged W16 engine and 1,500 hp of the Chiron, the Parmigiani Fleurier PF390 calibre fits inside a cylinder that delivers 80 hours of power reserve, thanks to series-mounted twin barrels.
Specially developed for this incomparable watch, and as exceptional as the quad-turbocharged W16 engine and 1,500 hp of the Chiron, the Parmigiani Fleurier PF390 calibre fits inside a cylinder that delivers 80 hours of power reserve, thanks to series-mounted twin barrels.
The Adventurer

Anyone who thinks a car is just a means of transport has never had the pleasure of cruising the open road, the wind in their hair. The adventurer has. He drives an automotive legend, the “car-ification” of the American Dream and the freedom to eat up the miles in his own private road movie. Easy Rider, but on four wheels. On his wrist, appropriately, is a watch that’s dedicated to a motorcycle champion and hero: the Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Tribute, in honour of the New-Zealand rider who reached a speed of 295.4 kph at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and set a still unbroken record in the under-1,000 cc category.

The Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Tribute in honour of Burt Munro's motorcycle speed record.
The Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Tribute in honour of Burt Munro's motorcycle speed record.
The On-Screen Racer

If we could travel through time and meet any actor we wanted, it would have to be Steve McQueen. The King of Cool is like the glacé cherry plopped on a whirl of whipped cream and ice cream – a delicious and guilty pleasure. In Lee H. Katzin’s Le Mans, McQueen plays American racing driver Michael Delaney and wears an unusual square watch, the Monaco. Two good reasons to become a motor sports fan.

The TAG Heuer Monaco Gulf Special Edition with the Gulf Oil logo on its dial.
The TAG Heuer Monaco Gulf Special Edition with the Gulf Oil logo on its dial.
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