Triumph and TAG Heuer have teamed up to pay homage to the great Steve McQueen with a one-off “Bonneville Heuer” motorbike painted in the King of Cool’s iconic racing colors. The moto’s orange and blue stripes echo the livery of the Porsche 917 he drove in the famous 1971 racing flick Le Mans. McQueen also wore TAG Heuer’s now-iconic square-faced Monaco watch in the movie, which TAG recently re-issued in celebration of the timepiece’s 40th anniversary.
McQueen rode and raced Triumph motorcycles in his off-duty hours, including the International Six Days Trials in Germany, as well as in movies such as 1963’s The Great Escape, and it remained his favorite maker. The Bonneville was born in 1959 to recognize Johnny Allen’s land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, quickly becoming one of the brand’s most iconic bikes. The only thing we can’t understand is why Triumph aren’t putting the McQueen version into production.
At the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, Aston Martin and storied Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre unveiled their latest collaboration, the AMVOX2 Transponder Rapide, a timepiece that doubles as a remote control of sorts for the famed UK marque’s first four-door sportscar. Available as an option for Rapide purchasers, the watch locks and unlocks the car and turns on the headlights via pressure applied to various parts of the crystal. Unfortunately that’s all it does; personally we feel the Transponder ought to not only fire up the Rapide’s V12 as well but perform some 007-style tricks like firing smoke bombs and making martinis - especially since the damn thing costs over 30 grand.
Perhaps if you’re buying a $250,000 car it’s worth being able to unlock it by pressing on your wrist clock, but this isn’t exactly Q Branch worthy. The Rapide is perfectly satisfying in and of itself as Aston’s engineers have retained their trademark killer looks as well as performance; it can do 0 - 62 mph in 5.3 seconds. The watch qua watch isn’t too bad either (though we’ve seen better) – satin-brushed 18-carat rose gold base, lugs and crown with a pivoting brushed titanium case, black grille motif dial and rhodium-plated, luminescent black metallic numerals, with the Aston Martin wing emblem at 6 o’clock – just about when you’ll be ready to kill for that martini.
The classic Breitling Chronomat has long been an indispensable part of our kit. Now in celebration of its 125th anniversary, the Swiss watch brand founded in 1884 has come out with special limited edition of watch dubbed the Superocean Heritage Chronograph. Each of the three colorways – blue, black and silver with contrasting subdials, will be limited to 1,000 pieces each. The Superocean Heritage watches were made in tribute to the famous series released in 1957. Chronograph hands are red on all models, and each watch is available on a rubber or steel mesh metal bracelet.
This watch retains the original design of the 1957 series in many of its features, including the 1950s brand logo with the Breitling signature, the 18k gold “B” on the dial, the shape of the minute hand, as well as the design of the bracelet and strap. At its heart is a Valjoux 7753 base movement with a 30 minute bi-compax chronograph complication. The COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres) certified watch with self-winding automatic movement features a 46mm wide highly polished steel case, and is water resistant to 200 meters.
Next summer the National Watch & Clock Museum in Lancaster, PA will stage an exhibit of James Bond’s watches that will also feature the inspiration for the world’s most famous secret agent’s timepiece of choice: Ian Fleming’s own 1954 black dial Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer I (right). The exhibition is being curated by Rolex authority Dell Deaton who worked with Fleming’s heirs to secure the author’s watch, which will be exhibited in the U.S. for the first time.
The first and only Rolex Fleming owned, the Explorer I was locked away in a bank vault for 20 years following his death. The watch made its first appearance in Fleming’s novel On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, published in 1963. Fleming wrote that “[Bond] could not just wear a watch. It had to be a Rolex.”
The exhibit will also include examples of the watches worn throughout the James Bond novels and motion pictures, mainly Rolexes including several Submariners, from the one sported by Sean Connery in 1962’s Dr. No to the most tricked-out model, the magnetized and built-in rotating saw blade-equipped number from Live And Let Die (1973). Also included are the Breitling diver’s chronograph with a built-in Geiger counter worn by Connery in Thunderball (1965) and some of the Omega Seamasters which have been features in the Bond films since 1995.
British watch customizer Pro-Hunter is to Rolex as AMG is to Mercedes-Benz – adept at improving upon the original with taste, style and a unique flair. The much-imitated firm was a pioneer in the use of anti-reflective PVD coatings to give gentlemen’s Rolexes a bit of a military flair.
Many Pro-Hunter designs pay homage to the Rolex golden years of the 1950’s and the 1960’s, in particular highly collectible models such as the Daytona with black anti-reflective bezel and the 4 line “James Bond” big crowns, with a fusion of the Rolex Military Submariners specially made for the Royal Navy’s Special Boat Squadron. In other words, the stuff of legends.
Pro-Hunter, as the name suggests, started out catering to the Rolex-sporting huntin’ & shootin’ community that congregates at England’s country houses, and evolved into designs for exclusive timepieces that are both practical and pleasing to the eye. Each Pro-Hunter model is produced in a limited edition of 100, individually numbered and engraved on the case back so you always know which one is yours.
Their newest creation is the Red Bezel Daytona Mk II. An artful take on a new version of the classic timepiece popularized by Paul Newman, the waiting list varies from 1 month to 1 year depending on availability of the model’s special Arabic Numerals dial. Should you be lucky enough to score one of the limited edition pieces (less than 100) it will run you £17,500, or about $29,000, and well worth every penny.
