Alongside family names like Jaguar and Aston Martin, the wealthy historical past of British sports activities automobiles is peppered with marques which have lengthy since left the enterprise, together with Triumph, AC, Jensen, and plenty of others. One of the vital beloved and influential of those defunct British sporting nameplates is Austin-Healey, creator of traditional convertibles and roadsters such because the Sprite, 100, and 3000, which proved themselves on racetracks and backroads throughout the globe from the early ‘50s to 1971. Since 2004, the British model has held a licensing settlement with Frederique Fixed, making a collection of automotive-inspired timepieces that buck the pattern of daring and racy design in favor of a extra restrained, vintage-inflected, and quintessentially British method to the automotive watch. For its newest three way partnership with Austin-Healey, the model goals to seize the ‘50s-era English sporting spirit of the Austin-Healey 100S, with a cleanly executed small-seconds design that deftly blends a way of midcentury refinement with simply sufficient sporting charisma. The brand new restricted version Frederique Fixed Classic Rally Healey Computerized Small Seconds is a subtler, extra office-friendly idea than many different automotive-inspired designs, and its extra formal character brings with it a wealth of distinctive visible touches.
Measuring in at 40mm, the chrome steel case of the Frederique Fixed Classic Rally Healey Computerized Small Seconds takes a warmly rounded method to the traditional sports activities watch case. Practically each factor of the case, from the polished bezel to the case sides, takes on a mild curve, which provides the design a extra luxe character on the wrist. The tapering unchamfered lugs are barely on the longer facet, which works in live performance with the slender bezel to make this design put on considerably bigger than the numbers counsel, however this sense of measurement is mitigated by the very manageably 11.5mm total thickness. Frederique Fixed completes this case with an in depth caseback engraving, depicting not simply any Austin-Healey however the well-known Austin-Healey 100S chassis quantity NOJ 393. NOJ 393 is arguably a very powerful Austin-Healey ever constructed, competing as a part of the model’s manufacturing facility racing crew on the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, with later appearances on the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Bahamas Velocity Week, and the grueling Carrera Panamericana highway race earlier than setting a report public sale value of almost $1 million in 2011. The caseback rendition right here is clear and streamlined, however detailed sufficient to seize the distinctive cues that set NOJ 393 aside from the common mannequin together with the outsized driving lights and the cut-back Brooklands windscreen. Nevertheless, the case’s considerably low 50 meter water resistance score undercuts the sporting spirit right here.
Frederique Fixed delivers a charismatic mix of classic sports activities watch aptitude and old-school understated British sensibility with the dial of the Classic Rally Healey Computerized Small Seconds. There’s nothing right here that feels straight automotive, exterior of the traditional Healey signature at 6 o’clock. As an alternative, the watch takes a extra nuanced path to capturing the spirit of ‘50s sports activities automobiles. When laid out on paper, the dial parts don’t appear significantly sporty – pointed alpha palms, a mixture of utilized baton indices and daring Arabic numerals, and a 9 o’clock small seconds subdial. It’s within the fantastic particulars and the interaction of parts that this design actually builds its character, with parts just like the raised white outer minutes monitor, the marginally recessed inside scale, the chunky daring scale of the small seconds subdial, and the athletic font of the utilized numerals. The colourful splash of purple on the small seconds hand additionally lifts this design from monotony with a extra straight sporty accent, with out overpowering the tasteful grays and whites of the remainder of the dial. The concrete grey used for the primary dial floor provides a shocking quantity of persona by itself, with delicate variations in colour and a grainy matte texture that gives a satisfying backdrop to the polished dial {hardware}. The beveled cutout date window at 3 o’clock is a welcome addition to the design as effectively, giving the 9 o’clock subdial a much-needed visible counterweight and cleanly mixing in with the general colorway.
Contained in the Frederique Fixed Classic Rally Healey Computerized Small Seconds beats the Sellita SW200-1-based FC-345 automated motion. Though the FC-345 was easy and carried out admirably throughout the take a look at interval, dropping a median of eight seconds per day, the bottom platform is starting to point out its age with its 38-hour energy reserve at a 28,800 bph beat charge. The included calf leather-based rally strap in deep slate grey is a snug and suitably classic addition to the general design, with a semigloss texture and a gentle pull-up impact.
With its quieter, extra restrained method to automotive-inspired design and a heat midcentury character, the restricted version Frederique Fixed Classic Rally Healey Computerized Small Seconds is an undeniably charming choice for these searching for a subtler different to the archetypal daring racing chronograph. Solely 888 examples of the Frederique Fixed Classic Rally Healey Computerized Small Seconds shall be made, and the watch is obtainable now via licensed sellers at an MSRP of $1,595. For extra info, please go to the model’s web site.
Needed Information
>Model: Frederique Fixed
>Mannequin: Classic Rally Healey Computerized Small Seconds
>Value: $1,595 (Restricted to 888 items)
>Measurement: 40mm-wide, 11.5mm-thick
>When reviewer would personally put on it: As a refined, sporting daily-wear piece, or as a press release piece at a British automotive occasion.
>Buddy we’d suggest it to first: Basic British automotive fans, or gearhead watch fans searching for a extra reserved different to a racing chronograph.
>Greatest attribute of watch: Muted, restrained execution is a welcome change of tempo from vibrant and aggressive automotive-inspired watches; wonderful dial ending.
>Worst attribute of watch: Underwhelming energy reserve; 40mm case feels barely too massive for the ‘50s-inspired styling.
English 