Racing watches that are real collectors' items

The worlds of motor racing and horology have been linked for over a century with a host of brands constantly bringing out special editions with ties to the sport. It’s a perfect marriage through marketing where watchmakers have cashed in on the allure of speed to sell their products.

Some of this marketing was aggressive. Big brands have been known to hand seriously expensive watches to drivers either for free or for a fraction of retail cost, so the drivers could be seen wearing them. But what makes a racing-themed watch a collectors’ item? As always, there are a host of things to consider.

There are obvious places to put your cash if you fancy a wrist-mounted investment. Any limited Rolex – such as the GMT ‘Pepsi’ or ‘Batman’, named after the bezel colours – are safe bets, but cost a small fortune. Ditto the Daytona Cosmograph with its ‘Panda’ dial, right, made famous by
Paul Newman. His own watch sold in 2017 for £14m, making it the most expensive watch bought at auction.

The key is finding the real diamonds, and having deep pockets. For example, races like the Indy 500, Daytona 24 Hours and Le Mans award the winning drivers with custom watches, and if you can find one of these engraved pieces it’s pretty much as good as finding the actual trophy.

The other factor is finding one that has been owned by a driver. There’s a story about Derek Bell being given an Heuer Autavia by Steve McQueen as a thank you for his work on Le Mans. Derek lost it!

It’s very difficult to prove if a watch actually belonged to a driver. Unless the watch comes with solid certification, it’ll be a costly process to trace back to its esteemed owner. It’s not like a helmet, where you can see and date it in imagery and video. Buy from reliable sources only.

Andrew Francis is director at The Signature Store
thesignaturestore.co.uk