Autodromo - History, Models and Owners' Reviews

Hello, Taking advantage of a very good offer on the Hodinkee website during the "flash sales", I am now the happy owner of this Autodromo Group B limited series. I have been looking for a chronograph for a while, the choice is quite wide today and it is difficult to make a choice. However, I wanted to get away from the "diving" or "aviation" theme a little. First of all, concerning the purchase on the Hodinkee website, I am quite satisfied with the experience, only one downside, the packaging for shipping, relatively light, the watch box was really not secured in the cardboard. Watch features: Movement: Sellita SW510 M B Power reserve: 65h Waterproofness: 50M Diameter: 40mm Thickness: 13.4mm Case: Steel and Titanium Glass: Sapphire Bracelet: 20mm DLC treatment for the bracelet and the steel part of the case When worn it is relatively light, it fits my small 17.5cm flat wrist well, the bracelet is quite easy to adjust. I still removed 6 links. The push buttons are a little hard to start and stop the chronograph, but as I am not too used to chronographs, this does not shock me. The winding of the movement is very smooth. A quick test for the lume, it is not a diver so do not expect to have a headlight on your wrist. I still find it quite nice, the inscriptions on the tachometer part as well as the needles and the railway, give the impression of having a neon-type lighting which is really not unpleasant. Now remains to be seen in time, this one will complete my collection for a little while. In short, it is a pleasure purchase, especially since I have a chrono version of the Group B collection for less than the three-hand version currently in the catalog. What else?

This version was born from a collaboration with Hodinkee on a base of 500 models spread over 5 x 100 copies per livery. The model that I present here is a version 037 close to the color combinations of the team sponsored by Olio FIAT. The midnight blue background and the orange-yellow hands create a very particular and unusual atmosphere in watchmaking. The choice was made on this small series to use a Sellita SW510MB hand-wound mechanical movement. The finishes of the case and bracelet are as always very neat and above all vary completely in terms of treatment and color from one livery to another. For such a small production, the effort is remarkable.

First of all, if you hope to find one I wish you a lot of courage because they are rare. They were released at the time in only 500 copies (250 white background / 250 black background). This is the very first automatic model sold by Autodromo with the particularity of using a Miyota 821A movement. We can see that the founder has the art of detail, since he goes so far as to have an engraved weight produced by the Autodromo factory and also works the case back with shapes inspired by the automobile of the 60s. The real twist on this model is obviously the red area painted under the glass to emphasize the kinship with the automobile. It is very pleasant to look at, to wear, although quite imposing in diameter. On the other hand, the thickness is contained and allows it to be hidden under a shirt if necessary.