Automotive-themed watches are a fun hobby, but they can also be an expensive hobby.If you look beyond the obvious choices, however, there are lots of fun options.These three recent releases pay tribute to the Mazda RX-7, the Honda Prelude, and even the little Honda Motocompo folding scooter.
The only way to get an Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona with “winner” engraved on the back is to win the 24 Hours of Daytona. Alternatively, you could chase down an ultra-thin Ferrari-themed Richard Mille RM UP-01 watch, which only requires you to have just under $2 million to part with. When it comes to the crossover between automotive enthusiasm and watches, the sky is the limit. So what about those of us with our feet on the ground?
As Futurama’s Professor Farnsworth would say, good news, everyone. There’s a host of new auto-themed watches coming out of Japan these days, and most of them are a lot more reasonably priced, while still feeling very special on the wrist.
Seiko
Take, for instance, Seiko’s latest chronograph, which takes inspiration from the wildly popular anime series Initial D. The hero car of that series is, of course, a plucky little black-and-white Toyota Corolla, but part of Initial D’s appeal is the way it pays tribute to the greats of the Japanese sports-car scene, and one of the first that shows up on screen is the mighty Mazda RX-7 twin-turbo.
Piloted by the reckless Keisuki Takahashi, one of the leads in the series, a bright yellow RX-7 was a pitch-perfect match. Fast, slightly temperamental, and offering more razor-edged handling than something like a contemporary Toyota Supra, this generation of RX-7 still has a huge number of fans today. They aren’t the easiest cars to live with, but the driving experience is unparalleled.
Seiko
A Seiko is a lot easier to care for, and this one has all kinds of fun details. The bright yellow face is eye-catching, and there are all sorts of hidden details, like the subdials being color-matched to the instrument panel of the actual car. It’s not set for release until January of next year, and you’ll have to be quick, as only 1995 will be made (a nod to Initial D’s first print issue), but it’s priced pretty reasonably at $420.
Honda’s resurrection of the Prelude nameplate didn’t please every Honda enthusiast in the crowd, but here’s something that will. Timed to line up with the release of the current model, Citizen went ahead and reissued their original Prelude-themed watch from the 1980s.
Citizen
Citizen
Technically called the Citizen x Honda Ana-Digi Temp, it’s got super-’80s flair, including an onboard digital temperature reading that uses a sensor patterned like the new Prelude’s grille. The two small subdials are maybe less practical than a simple watch face, but the whole thing has a synthwave vibe that’s plenty of fun. This watch was already released in Japan for the equivalent of $290, so you’ll have to watch for resellers on eBay to get a decent deal.
Also from Seiko, there’s another watch that embodies the 1980s’ Honda theme. It’s a special edition of the relatively compact Seiko 5 watch, this time one paying tribute to the Motocompo folding scooter.
Seiko
Easily the coolest automotive accessory of all time, the Motocompo was built to fold up and be stowed in the back of the Honda City hatchback, to get you that last couple of miles from the parkade to work. It actually wasn’t all that commercially successful in-period, but the little scooter has garnered a cult following today.
This watch features some Motocompo-style details and script, with a bright yellow face and the silhouette of a scooter on the back of the watch. Maybe coolest of all is the packaging, which is designed to look like the crate the original bike came in. The watch goes on sale next month and should be priced around $460.
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Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.