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‘There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.’ So said Hemingway once, a man who knew a thing or two about these things.

Well, watchmakers have seen their creations accompany intrepid climbers to the highest peaks on Earth plenty of times and capitalised on those feats enormously. And while matadors are still waiting for a timepiece dedicated to their sport, there is hardly a connection stronger than that between horology and the thrill, glamour, and danger of the racetrack.

It’s easy to understand why. Without accurate timekeeping, there is no racing. That obvious truth has seen just about every luxury watch marque associate themselves with the sport in one way or another.

Formula One is the perfect example. All 10 F1 teams have their own ‘timing partner’, with Girard-Perregaux joining Aston Martin and Bremont opting for Williams, for example. Meanwhile, French avant-garde disruptors Richard Mille sponsor two; Ferrari and McLaren.

Motorsport’s Most Important Timepieces - Girard Perregaux

Similarly, many of the racing watches brought forth by these manufactures to celebrate their collaborations take at least some of their cues from the world of motorsport, whether it be as obvious as a name or a dial fashioned on the look of a certain dashboard, or simply rally-style perforated straps modelled on vintage driving gloves.

It is an arena which offers brands a vast canvas from which to draw inspiration. Below, we have set out a brief history of watchmakers and motor racing, plus our pick for some of the genre’s most important timepieces.

So, without further ado, and to quote another of the sport’s great philosopher’s, Murray Walker; ‘Let’s stop the startwatch.’

The Birth Of The Race Timer

To discover the origins of the racing watch, we really need look no further than Swiss brand Heuer.

Established in Bienne in 1860 by Edouard Heuer, the 20-year-old son of a shoemaker, he was able to register two patents within his first decade in business.

A keyless winding system for pocket watches came first, followed soon after by the oscillating pinion; a device which changed the way a pocket watch’s chronograph was connected to its movement. Simpler and cheaper to build than the horizontal clutch arrangement prevalent at the time, the oscillating pinion was so innovative it is still in use in movements today, most notably ETA’s 7750.

Heuer was able to release his first full-fledged chronograph pocket watch by 1892 and soon after the turn of the century, the brand focused its attentions on timing for automobile races.

Motorsport’s Most Important Timepieces

In 1911, Heuer introduced the first ever dashboard timer. Named the Time of Trip, it was designed for both cars and aircraft and consisted of a main time-telling display plus a smaller sub dial which kept track of the duration of the journey.

That breakthrough set Heuer on the path to becoming one of the preeminent manufacturers of timepieces devoted to sports timing of the 20th century.

Motorsport’s Most Important Timepieces - Tag Heuer Autavia

A string of dashboard instruments for rally and race cars were to follow, with the Master Time, the Monte Carlo, and the Autavia the most recognised. And by the 1950s, many professional racing drivers had taken to wearing Heuer chrono wristwatches as well.

Racing Watches

It was the following decade, the 1960s, however which really gave rise to the golden age of the racing watch.

A slew of models emerged from a host of brands, with names which have since gone on to achieve iconic, and in some cases, grail status.

Heuer resurrected the Autavia label for a new wristwatch in 1962 and followed that up with another huge success a year later. The Carrera took its name from the Carrera Panamericana, a tortuous open road, border-to-border race across Mexico, considered the most dangerous race of any type in the world.

Motorsport’s Most Important Timepieces - Rolex Daytona

Rolex, of course, were also in the running and 1963 saw the release of the Daytona, another model named after a spiritual home of the sport. But the first generation of Rolex’s Cosmograph had to wait an awful long time before it reached the exalted position it enjoys today. In fact, it needed two things to set its star into the ascendancy: an automatic movement and the patronage of genuine Hollywood royalty—in the Daytona’s case, one Paul Newman.

Motorsport’s Most Important Timepieces - Tag Heuer Monaco

However, there was another model which just crept into the ‘60s which also had both. The Heuer Monaco remains one of the most instantly identifiable watches of all time, thanks to its square case. Powered by the Calibre 11, a joint venture between Heuer, Breitling, Buren and Dubois-Dépraz who formed a conglomerate known as the Chronomatic Group. Its legendary status was secured when it featured prominently in Le Mans, the 1971 outing for King-Of-Cool, Steve McQueen. Although McQueen modelled his look on Porsche team driver Jo Siffert, who wore an Autavia, McQueen had to wear the Monaco by default because it was the only watch the prop department could source three examples of: one for close-ups, one for general shots and a backup.

The Modern Racing Watch

Today, the racing watch is in rude health, perhaps the second most popular type of tool model after dive watches.

Collaborations between brands and car manufacturers, as well as pro drivers, are commonplace.

Motorsport’s Most Important Timepieces - Breitling x Bentley

The Breitling for Bentley range started in 2002 with the manufacture designing a dash clock for the Continental GT before segueing into a wide series of co-branded pieces, the partnership lasting for nearly 20-years.

Motorsport’s Most Important Timepieces - Hublot x Ferrari

Hublot had an incredibly prolific relationship with Ferrari between 2011 and 2020, bringing out some 70 models to celebrate becoming the official timekeeper for both Ferrari and Ferrari Scuderia, along with the Ferrari Challenge. Some of those originating from the alliance rank among the most ground-breaking designs of the modern era. The MP-05 LaFerrari Manufacture, for instance, actually penned by Ferrari chief designer Flavio Manzoni, features 11 series-coupled barrels and a 50-day power reserve, and its aesthetic is more like looking through the cover of a Ferrari’s engine bay than a watch as we imagine them.

But it is comforting to know some of the names made famous in the heyday of motorsport have endured.

Motorsport’s Most Important Timepieces - Chopard

The Carrera, Monaco, and Autavia all still feature widely in TAG Heuer’s catalogue. Chopard’s glorious Mille Miglia collection is as robust as ever. And the Rolex Daytona, despite its stuttering start to life still ranks as possibly the most important sports watch of all time.