Jonathan Kamstrup and Christian Mygh are crazy about the two types of machines that usually dazzle men: cars and watches. And they have combined both passions in a project, RECwatches, that seems to work perfectly: incorporating parts from legendary cars into watches designed precisely with those cars in mind. At the moment they have four collections: two with Mini Cooper parts, one with Ford Mustang parts and the last with parts from the legendary Porsche 911, the Porsche 901, which is the one we will see in this review.
The reason for calling this watch 901 is neither more nor less than a tribute to its original name: when Porsche presented the model that was going to replace the legendary 356 at the 1964 Paris Motor Show, it called it 901. Peugeot complained because it considered the three-digit name whose central figure was a 0 as its own and argued that it had already sold many vehicles with that nomenclature. Porsche didn't argue and simply swapped the zero for another one.
One of the things that most brands take care of is the packaging, since the packaging or presentation of what we have bought will determine our sensations. At RECwatches they know this and have taken care of the product from minute zero. In this case it is a can reminiscent of those of luxury whiskeys, which contains not a bottle but a cardboard box, and inside it, well protected, the watch accompanied by a cleaning cloth, the warranty card and the instruction manual, both printed on paper with a vintage touch.
What we have in our hands is a watch of considerable size, as it measures 44mm in diameter and 14mm high. Proportionally, the width between lugs (and therefore the width of the strap) is – it has to be – 24mm. The general quality perceived is high, from that same strap to the sapphire crystal, with a good anti-reflective treatment, or the case, which combines well-executed satin and polished areas. On the back, the back has alternating blind and transparent areas, simulating the rim of a car, and through it you can see the oscillating mass of the automatic movement, which has been given the shape of a brake disc.
The engine that powers the REC 901 is the Miyota 9100, a proven, reliable and economical Japanese caliber. It vibrates at 28,800 vibrations/hour and, according to the manufacturer's specifications, its accuracy ranges between 10 and 30 seconds per day. Since it is self-winding, it can also be wound manually, which gives meaning to the power reserve indication at twelve o'clock. Originally it has a second time zone at six o'clock, which in this case has been suppressed, as have the hands that would indicate the day of the week and the month at three and nine o'clock, replaced by transparent discs.
Everything about the watch wants to remind us of the car from which it is inspired and which, let's not forget, contains a real part of it: a piece of aluminum from the bodywork and which, cut in a round, forms part of the dial. Dial that contains up to seven pieces of information: hour, minutes, seconds, day of the week, day of the month, the month itself and the power reserve indicator. All this data is read in an orderly manner thanks to the logic of its arrangement, although the disk with the days of the month may be read with some difficulty because it is very recessed.
The strap is also inspired by the stitching of the rear seats of the Porsche 911. Very pleasant to the touch, it combines parts of suede leather and is well sewn. It has a quick change system using a lever, very useful to avoid the typical scratches produced by the tool to extract the pins. It is very long (125 and 85 mm each part respectively), which although it will work for a wide range of thicknesses, wrists less than 16cm in circumference will have difficulties using it because the holes simply run out. What I didn't like was the buckle: it is pretty with its logo and its "gunmetal" color, but in my opinion the shape is not correct because it does not integrate with the strap and remains raised.
El REC 901 es cómodo de llevar y para nada se hacen pesados o molestos sus 44mm de diámetro, al menos en una muñeca de 17cm como es la mía. La única condición es llevarlo bien ceñido, porque de lo contrario cabecea y tiende a quedarse en las doce. La corona (en pvd negro, recuerda al tapón de gasolina) roscada y prácticamente embutida en la caja hace que quede muy integrada y no molesta en absoluto. En cuanto a la legibilidad de las informaciones suministradas podemos decir que es correcta… siempre que sea con luz, porque el lumen de las agujas es insuficiente. También tienen tratamiento de SuperLuminova las cifras del rehaut, pero es más decorativo que útil. Las indicaciones de fecha no están tratadas con lumen.
The price on their website is (it will be, because they are still in the pre-sale phase) 1,695 US dollars, about €1,560, with worldwide shipping included. Faced with the possible debate about the correctness or not of that price, it is worth seeing the tremendous success they have achieved on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding page: in a single month they have raised more than four million Danish crowns (€548,000) from 546 enthusiasts who will receive their watches starting next September.
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