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Baume & Mercier chronograph celebrates Daytona Cobra racing car design

Baume & Mercier is celebrating 50 years since Carroll Shelby’s Daytona Cobra CSX2287 set 25 world speed records on the salt flats of Bonneville.

The speed records were set after the Daytona Cobra enjoyed its most successful season on the racetrack in 1964, which made it a symbol of futuristic design.

Original models of the Cobra racing cars are now valued at million dollars each.

Baume & Mercier has been collaborating with the modern Carroll Shelby Company since 2015. The car company continues to make a limited number of Cobras every year and runs a foundation to celebrate its history.

Peter Brock, the original designer of the Daytona Cobra, has worked with the Baume & Mercier design team to create a number of special timepieces that honour the American race car legend over the past few years.

For 2017, Baume & Mercier and Mr Brock returned to his original drawings of the Cobra as part of the design process to create the Clifton Club ShelbyCobra Limited Editions.

“The graphics of the Daytona were crucial, and it’s the same with the chronograph. You don’t need to see it close up to admire its beauty. Look across the room, and you just know it’s the Daytona Coupe. Every detail mirrors the
original in form and purpose.” Mr Brock describes.

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“You can choose to be conservative, or strive to be an original. That’s the attitude we brought to the Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Limited Edition. Truly a chronograph unlike any other,” Mr Brock adds.

The watch is limited to just 196 pieces in honour of the 196 mph that the Daytona achieved at Le Mans in 1964.

It is powered by a Swiss-made La Joux-Perret 8147-2 self-winding movement with flyback chronograph function housed in a 44mm case is forged in titanium and polished stainless steel.

The key design feature, created by Mr Brock, is the dial with its half blue/half silver-coloured Shelby livery chosen for the Daytona’s tail marking it as a true original.

Framing the bi-colour dial are modern Arabic numerals, while the snailed horizontal chronograph counters offset
by a tachymeter scale that highlights the speed record of “196mph”.

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