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Detroit Watch Honors 1966 Daytona Winner

Detroit Watch Company expands its hot-selling M1-Woodward Sport Chrono Exhibition collection with racing livery with two new models emblazoned with number 98 on the dial.

M1-Woodward 24hr 1966 Daytona Winner Legends Chronograph Exhibition. A black DLC version is also available.

The number references the winning GT40 at 1966 Daytona driven by Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby (red dial accents) as well as the Cobra Daytona coupe (blue/white dial) designed by the legendary American designer Peter Brock.

The new line retains the M1 Sport Chrono Exhibition collection’s steel-cased design, but now features the new 98 dial with either red accents on the Daytona Winner model or blue accents on the Daytona Coupe model. Inside the brushed and polished 42mm case you’ll find an ETA Valjoux 7750 chronograph with a customized Detroit Watch decoration visible through a sapphire back.

Detroit Watch offers the duo with a choice of steel bracelet or a leather strap. The new series is also available in blackened DLC finish with a stitched Kevlar strap (see below).

As a bonus, each watch includes a framed timepiece sketch and a special framed sketch of the matching race car. The drawings are by Detroit Watch Company’s Patrick Ayoub, who founded the company with his wife Amy nine years ago.

Prices: $2,200, $2,350 (black DLC edition)

 

Specifications: Detroit Watch Company M1-Woodward 24hr 1966 Daytona Winner Legends/Coupe Chronograph Exhibition

Movement: Custom Valjoux ETA 7750 automatic chronograph, Incabloc shock-absorber,  anachron hairspring, glucydur balance, 28,800 vph, 48-hour power reserve, custom DWC decoration.

Dial: Day-date display in window, minutes and hour subdial counters, small seconds subdial, hour markings, blue or red accents, number 98 on seconds subdial.

Case: 42mm by 14.5mm polished/brushed stainless steel, exhibition caseback, water resistant to 50 meters.

Strap: Calf leather with buckle and quick release spring bars. Ballistic (Kevlar) strap with deployant clasp on DLC edition.

Prices: $2,200, $2,350 (black DLC edition).

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The Watches

Detroit Watch Launches Pilot Series

Detroit Watch Company looks to the skies as it expands its primarily ground-based collection of affordably priced automatic models, most of which are inspired by its local industry and – unusually – its area code. Look for a new set of pilot-styled watches called Aviator in the collection, which are debuting with two options: a power reserve model and a chronograph.

The Detroit Watch Company Aviator Chronograph.

You might be familiar with the company’s very cool City Collection 313, which mimics an analog telephone dial, or its impressive M1-Woodward series, named for a legendary Detroit avenue. Each delivers distinctive style borne of its hometown as filtered through the eyes of Detroit Watch Company founders Patrick and Amy Ayoub, who started the company together nine years ago.

The Detroit Watch Company Aviator Chronograph, black DLC version.

The pair’s latest designs, each limited to 100 pieces, echo popular pilot watch designs, but with a Detroit twist. Both are built with 42mm steel cases, with a black DLC option also available in an additional twenty-five editions both models. And each features a dial and crown imprinted with a Detroit Fleur-de-Lys.

The Detroit Watch Company Aviator Power Reserve, black DLC edition.

On the Aviator Power Reserve you’ll find a prominently placed power reserve indicator at the 6 o’clock position, alongside a large sub-seconds indicator.

The Detroit Watch Company Aviator Power Reserve.

The Aviator Chronograph offers pure pilot styling with a day-date display, a red-tipped chronograph seconds that also boasts a stylized Detroit ‘D’.

These are super-solid steel-cased watches with distinctive styling, Swiss automatic movements – all sold at an impressively affordable prices. Prices: $1,495-$1,595 (Aviator Power Reserve) and $2,200 – $2,350 (Aviator Chronograph)

 

Specifications: Detroit Watch Company Aviator Power Reserve

(Limited to 100 numbered pieces. 001/100. 25 pieces in DLC)

Movement: Automatic Swiss Sellita SW279-1, deluxe finishing, Glucydur balance, Incabloc shock absorber, date, 28,800 vph, 38-hour power reserve. Decorated movement with blued screws, perlage, Cotes de Genève.

Dial: Black or green, date display in window, power reserve subdial counter.

Case: 42mm x 9.7mm polished/brushed stainless steel, screw down crown. Exhibition caseback. Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. Also available in DLC (with black dial). Water resistant to fifty meters.

Strap: Calf leather with buckle and quick release spring bars. Ballistic (Kevlar) strap with deployant clasp on DLC edition.

Price: $1495-$1595 (DLC Edition)

Specifications: Detroit Watch Company Aviator Chronograph

(Limited to 100 numbered pieces. 001/100. 25 pieces in DLC)

Movement: Custom Swiss Valjoux Eta 7750 automatic & manual winding, chronograph. Shock-absorber-Incabloc, anachron hairspring, Glucydur balance, 28,800 vph, 48-hour power reserve, custom DWC decoration.

Dial: Blue or black, day-date display in window, minutes subdial counter, hour subdial counter, small second subdial.

Case: 42mm by14.2mm polished/brushed stainless steel, exhibition caseback sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, water resistant to 50 meters.

Strap: Calf leather with buckle and quick release spring bars. Ballistic (Kevlar) strap with deployant clasp on DLC edition.

Price: $2,200-$2,350 (DLC edition).

 

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The Watches

Detroit Watch Launches Retro-Style Racing Chronographs

From the Motor City, Detroit Watch Company now offers three new watches that celebrate automotive racing with a distinctive retro touch.

The independent watchmaker, known for its Detroit-themed chronographs, moonphase watches and its City Code Collection with a playful area-code dial layout, this month releases the M1-Woodward LeMans Classic Chronograph Exhibition, a set of ETA Valjoux 7750-powered chronographs that commemorate legendary Ford and Porsche racecars.

The new M1-Woodward LeMans Classic Chronograph Exhibition, available in 42mm or a 44mm steel case.

Detroit Watch uses its M1-Woodward Avenue chronograph as the base of the new collection, which consists of steel models in two sizes and three dials designed with 1960s-style Gulf racecar livery colors. This means you’ll see a dial of classic light blue interrupted by an orange stripe.  

The trio is differentiated by a large racecar number set within the small seconds subdial along the orange stripe. Detroit Watch is offering a choice of dials with any one of three numbers, 6, 9 and 20, which correspond to particular LeMans racecars from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Each watch is made in 42mm and 44mm steel case options. 

Le Mans winners

The M1-Woodward LeMans Classic Chronograph Exhibition with the number 20 refers to the Porsche 917K driven by Steve McQueen in the 1971 film “Le Mans.” Detroit Watch explains that the 1970 Porsche 917K, chassis 024, was used as a test car for Le Mans before becoming the star car that McQueen drove in the movie.

The model bearing number 9 references the 1968 Ford GT40, chassis 1075, racecar number 9 that was the 1968 Le Mans winner. It was driven to victory by Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi.  Chassis 1075 would also go on to win Le Mans in 1969 with racecar number 6.

Which brings us to number 6, which references the same car, a Ford GT40 driven to victory by Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver in 1968 at Le Mans. This was the second Le Mans win for chassis 1075 following the 1968 win with race number 9.

Detroit Watch matches the new Le Mans dial configuration with a black leather strap with orange stitching. Priced at $1,995, the watch offers strong value given its mechanical specifications, and especially for racecar fans who particularly enjoy the sport’s evocative 1960s and 1970s era.    

The caseback view of the 42mm M1-Woodward LeMans Classic Chronograph Exhibition, exposing the ETA Valjoux 7750 movement with special decoration.

Specifications: Detroit Watch M1-Woodward LeMans Classic Chronograph Exhibition

Movement: Top execution automatic Valjoux ETA 7750 chronograph with Incabloc shock-absorber, anachron hairspring, Glucydur balance.  28,800 Vph, with 48-hour power reserve. Custom DWC decoration.

Cases: 42mm x 14.5mm model is polished & brushed stainless steel, 52mm lug to lug, exhibition back with custom M1 rotor. Screw down crown. The 44mm x 14.5mm model is polished & brushed stainless steel, 52mm lug to lug with exhibition back. Weight: 112 grams w/strap, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, water resistant to 50 meters.

Dial: Satin white. Hour indexes with Superluminova.

Strap: Calf leather with deployant clasp and quick-release spring bars.

Price: $1,995. 

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Watch Of The Day

Detroit Watch Celebrates Local History

If the design of this watch feels somehow familiar, you won’t be surprised to learn that Detroit Watch co-designers Patrick and Amy Ayoub have once again applied their classical blueprint to their American-based brand.

The Pontchartrain Louis XIV model from the Detroit Watch Pontchartrain collection. A version with a moonphase display is also available.

Two variations of the brand’s new stand-alone Pontchartrain collection are housed in an elegantly stepped 42mm stainless steel case. Both feature automatic ETA Swiss-made movements, one with a sub-second and the other with a choice of silver or gold moon-phase complication.

All the qualities you’d expect in a high-quality, high-value watch are here, including sapphire crystal, exhibition back, superior decoration on the Swiss movement and a calfskin strap, which all come together to make a fine watch. Under the loupe the hands are as superb as the dials, and even the crown looks, feels and functions beautifully.

Those outside the Detroit area might ask why “Pontchartrain” for a Detroit-based brand? The Ayoubs chose this name to recall the historic fort that was built in 1701 and actually ended up applying its name to the city. France’s King Louis XIV commissioned Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit as the first permanent French settlement in the area and as a center for the fur trade and French military power in 1701.

Built along the Detroit River in order to protect the French trade from the British, the fort was named in honor of Louis XIV’s minister of marine and colonies, Louis Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain. Le Detroit, French for ‘the strait’ eventually came to identify Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit and the surrounding area and after 1751, was known simply as Fort Detroit.

The Ponchartrain limited edition Louis XlV.

A nice watch – and a history lesson.

Price: $1,295, available at www.detroitwatchco.com.

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Watch Of The Day

Detroit Décor

Founded in Detroit in 2013 by designing duo Amy and Patrick Ayoub, the Detroit Watch Company recently introduced the latest addition to its collection with the M1 Woodward automatic with a custom-decorated Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement showcasing the DWC Fleur-de-lys logo.

The Fleur-de-Lys rotor decoration echoes the same patterns found on the flag of Detroit.

Visible through the sapphire crystal back, the Fleur-de-lys decoration adds a subtle touch that speaks to the local provenance of the brand as the same patterns grace the flag of Detroit.

The DWC logo is visible on the rotor.

According to founder Patrick Ayoub, the M1-Woodward Avenue is a highway notably referred to as Detroit’s Main Street and follows the route of the old Saginaw Trail that linked Detroit with Pontiac, and at the time, Flint and Saginaw. Originally created after a devastating fire in 1805 and one of five principal avenues in Detroit devised by Augustus B. Woodward, it derived the “M-1”designation thanks to its heritage as the location of the first mile of concrete roadway.

The Detroit Watch Company’s M1 Woodward chronograph with white dial.

The watch itself is a full-figured stainless steel 44mmx14.5mm beauty and one of the best values on the market for such a beautifully designed and well-built structure framing a fan favorite movement within.Even though offered in very limited editions, if this watch was put to market by ANY big Swiss name brand you could fully expect to see the price as double the $1,895 that the Ayoub’s ask for their work. More at www.detroitwatchco.com

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