Geneva’s Singer Reimagined is the horological arm of Singer Group, the Californian-based luxury brand that has become globally renowned for its bespoke restorations of the Porsche 911.
While Singer Vehicle Design’s new Porsche DLS-T restomod is taking centre stage at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, it is the perfect time to talk about the latest Singer Reimagined collection: the 1969, that launched last month. And the good news is that, unlike the car, the watches don’t come with a $2m price tag.
The new watches are named for the final year of the decade that saw potentially the biggest social and cultural changes of the 20th century, heralding events including the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Woodstock festival, the first flight of the Boeing 747 and the release of Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather.
Although the design of the new Singer Reimagined 1969 watches could have come straight out of that year, the world had to wait for another five decades of technical development for designer Marco Borraccino – along with Singer founder Rob Dickinson and superstar movement maker Jean Marc Wiederrecht – to deliver it.
Like the cars that came before them, Singer Reimagined timepieces have always been a cutting-edge love letter to the 1960s and 1970s, using all of the technology currently available to improve on an aesthetic that broke the mould and has continued to inspire generations of designers.
One major horological achievement of 1969 was the commercial release of the self-winding chronograph – three coming along at the same time from Zenith, Seiko and a consortium of Heuer, Breitling, Dubois Dépraz and Hamilton-Buren.
And the starting point for Singer Reimagined’s first watch in 2017 was to revisit the complication and, as it says on the tin, to ‘reimagine’ it. Five years on, the Singer 1969 models are the ultimate examples of this goal.
“When it came to the new Singer 1969 collection, I really wanted these watches to provide the feeling that they have been designed back in time,” says Mr Borraccino.
“They are a tribute to the timepieces I love, to an era that is profoundly meaningful to me and that has inspired and driven so many aspects of my life. But at the same time, they are a manifesto of today state of the art technology and quintessential high-watchmaking refinement deployed by Singer.”
Powered by the most recent iterations of calibres created by Mr Weiderrecht’s Agenhor manufacture. The watches feature a new steel bracelet, a smaller 40mm case size and updated dial indications.
The two-piece case fits most wrists and the dials are protected by a domed box sapphire crystal, which magnifies the dial and instantly furthers the vintage feel. Known for its finishing, Singer’s use of mirror-polished edges on the angular case are designed to evoke impressions of speed.
The redesigned bracelet is tapered, graduating from 18mm to 22mm and is made up of brushed “H” links created to resemble the curbs of a racetrack, and polished rounded centre links made to reflect the light. The folding clasp features an adjustable mechanism that enables the bracelet length to be altered by up to 2cm.
The dials (like another famous racing chrono) is executed in JPS colours. Against an elegant piano-black lacquer background are golden accents in the chapter ring and indexes, while the hands are in a dynamic racing orange.
The movements, AGH 6365 and AGH 6363, are reengineered versions of the award-winning Agengraphe and the versatile Flytrack. Both are constructed and produced to Singer specifications by Agenhor.
With the 1969 Chronograph 40mm, data is shown on the middle dial in classic Singer fashion. Seconds, jumping minute and jumping hour hands are centrally mounted and all point to the same base-60 scale (uniquely catering for timing up to 60 hours). Time-of-the-day is displayed on the bottom of the dial, via two rotating discs.
The 491-component, automatic Calibre 6365 within has 72 hours of power reserve and a column wheel chronograph mechanism with three patents including the Agenclutch clutch system. The watch is water resistant to 100 metres.
For 2023, there will be a limited production of 50 pieces priced at CHF 51,000 plus local taxes.
The 1969 Timer 40mm is a three-hander with a traditional time display. Sleek and minimal, it features a zero-reset flyback which enables the central sweep seconds to be used as a one-minute counter.
The pusher at 2 o’clock allows reset and restart without needing to go through the traditional start-stop-reset sequence. A proprietary clutch system allows the central seconds hand to be dissociated from the movement, and to be reengaged as soon as the push button is released.
Housing a Calibre 6363, 237-components manually wound movement with 72 hours of power reserve, the watch is water resistant to 100 metres. The 1969n Timer will also have a limited production of 50 pieces in 2023 and is priced at CHF 29,900 CHF plus local taxes.
Oooh, birth year watch reissue. Nice!