Car enthusiasts and watch aficionados have a lot in common. They admire fine craftsmanship and appreciate the design of a beautiful machine. Likewise, they know that aesthetics can matter just as much as what’s going on underneath the surface.
Any car lover will appreciate the history of the chronograph, a tool that has been intimately linked to car racing since the sport’s beginning. For almost two centuries, it was established fact that the first chronograph was invented in 1821 by a French watchmaker, Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec, who wanted a tool for tracking the speed of racing horses.
This is a list of some of the best watches for car enthusiasts, that you can buy with Bitcoin. Most of them chronographs designed to be functional racing timepieces that pay homage to various figures and moments in automotive culture.
The Rolex Daytona
Let’s start with the classic.
Following the aforementioned breaking of the land speed record by Malcolm Campbell, Rolex laid it on thick in their marketing that he was wearing their Oyster model at the time. Anyway, Rolex continued to nurture the association with motorsports, and finally released the Daytona (named after the coastal town in Florida where the first motor races were held) in 1963. It has been considered one of the classic racing chronographs watches ever since.
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Tag Heuer Monaco
Probably the brand of watch that are most synonymous with motorsports, TAG Heuer engineered the dashboard timers such as the Monte Carlo that became essential equipment for the early race and rally cars.
Of all its racing watch models, perhaps the most iconic is the Monaco, made famous after being worn by Steve McQueen while starring in the 1971 classic, Le Mans.
The watch features an unmistakeable square case and dial, with square chronograph timers helping complete the model’s bold design. This was the first racing chronograph watch to feature the Chromatic Calibre 11, unique at the time for its automatic chronograph movement. Still as striking today as it was when worn by McQueen, the Monaco set the standard for racing watches that pushed the boundaries of design.
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Chopard Mille Miglia
With the exception of the Rolex Daytona chronograph watch series, Chopard’s offering, the Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph, may arguably be the mostly highly identifiable watch with auto racing.
Like any Swiss-made wristwatch, the Chopard is sturdily built with a 42mm stainless steel case characterized by its black dial, adorned with large, white 1-12 Arabic numerals. It features a tachometer scale at the dial’s rim and three chrono subdials, displaying the hour, minute, and seconds functions.
The dial is well-protected with a scratch-resistant, anti-reflective sapphire crystal held in place by a stationary, stainless steel bezel. This hefty 500-gram watch is surely apropos to automobile racing.
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Omega Speedmaster Racing
Omega has a rich history, a large part of which is inextricably tied to the history of racing.
The Omega Speedmaster is a line of chronograph wristwatches that has been around since 1957. The Speedmaster’s most famous stint was on the wrist of Buzz Aldrin, as the astronaut walked on the moon in 1968. With a power reserve of 60 hours, the self-winding chronograph is the perfect watch for race car drivers participating in long distance endurance races.