The historic racing circuits at Zandvoort in the Netherlands and at Kyalami in South Africa have inspired two new timepieces from Omologato, the British brand founded in 2015 by Shami Kalra, who brought more than 25 years of experience to his new and motorsports-inspired company.
The Zandvoort features a traditional Dutch orange color ring against a black face and is the first Omologato watch with Seiko automatic movement. The watch comes with a leather strap as well as a “NATO” strap as a spare and a strap-changing tool, all packaged in a watch roll.
The watch is named for the racing circuit that swept through sand dunes on the Dutch coast. Among its features is the Tarzan hairpin and fast right-hand turns at Tunnel Ost and Bos Uit.
Siamese driver Prince Bira won the first Prijs von Zandvoort in 1948. The track hosted the Dutch Grand Prix starting in 1955, when Juan Manuel Fangio beat his young Mercedes-Benz teammate Stirling Moss by 0.3 seconds for the victory.
Jim Clark won the Dutch Grand Prix four times. James Hunt posted his first F1 victory at the track.
The Kyalami watch features a green ring on a white face. Its namesake racing track is located at nearly a mile high and is a very high-speed challenge where Niki Lauda won three times and Jackie Stewart and Nigel Mansell twice each.
The track opened in 1961 and hosted its first Grand Prix six years later. Clark and Jack Brabham each posted his last F1 victory on the South African track.
The new timepieces will be available this summer, but can be reserved now through the Omologato website. Omologato time pieces start at £249 ($320).
