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Formula 1

Brawn GP Racing Chronographs by Graham-London

Filed under: Timepieces, Wheels



The correlations between high-performance racing machines and high-precision timepieces hardly need any elaboration, and the examples are plenty. It seems every premium automaker and every top-tier racing team has its own line of watches, usually crafted by Switzerland's finest watchmakers. And now Brawn GP has joined the fold.

If you haven't heard of Brawn GP, it's been a while since you've watched a grand prix. The team – headed by strategic mastermind Ross Brawn – that took over when Honda packed up and left Formula One racing last year is leading the world championship with only two rounds to go. But they've run most of the season without the sort of multi-million-dollar sponsorship deals you'd expect of the rookie race winners. At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this year, however, the team announced a new deal with Anglo-Swiss watchmakers Graham-London, which lays claim to the first chronograph in timekeeping history. Graham has debuted a small line of timepieces custom made for the team, including the Chronofighter and the Silverstone, featuring Brawn GP's signature colors and individually numbered. Only 250 will be made, so you'd better be faster than a Brawn racer to get your hands on one.

Richard Mille RM 008-V2 Felipe Massa Limited Edition Watch

Filed under: Timepieces


Here is a high luxury-Swiss watch company making a nod to Brazil and Formula 1 racing. Actually the entire Richard Mille brand is basically a nod to auto racing with the technically inspired looks - though I don't think Formula 1 cars proportionally have that much gold. This RM 008-V2 watch is undeniably Richard Mille in form, but with colors matching the Brazilian flag. The reason for this colorful flair is the watch's connection with Brazilian Formula 1 racer Felipe Massa. There are actually two Felipe Massa limited edition Richard Mille watches, but this is the more complex of the two. The alternative model (limited to 40 pieces) is the RM 004-V2. The difference is that the pictured RM 008-V2 has a tourbillon based manually wound movement, while the other model does not. Both watches have a split-second 30 minute chronograph, the time with subsidiary seconds, a power reserve indicator, a torque level indicator, and function selection indicator. All functions are understandable when you look more or less straight down at the watch as the dials are applied to the rear of the sapphire crystal.

The hefty case is done in either 18k red or white gold, with just 5 pieces each. That is a total of 10 watches for the RM 008-V2 watch line. Style is typical to Richard Mille which is hard to hate, but probably just as hard to live with full-time. It is classy, manly, and fun, while being luxurious. Though I think it would give me a headache like too much good wine if I wore it long enough. Prices will make your head spin faster than Felipe Massa needs to circle the track a single time.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Toyota F1 Car Parts Available For Purchase

Filed under: Wheels, Sports



Getting a piece of the action is what sports memorabilia is all about. And when it comes to motorsports, there's plenty to go around. Every year, each Formula One team complete redesigns its cars, and builds several of them in pairs to last its drivers the entire season. Once the season's done, many of the teams opt to sell off either the entire car, or pieces of the car to collectors. And while Toyota may not have fared so well in previous seasons, this year the team is in third place, ahead of recent championship-winning teams Ferrari, McLaren and Renault, making their memorabilia particularly attractive to collectors, especially at prices significantly lower than those of its competition. While a 1:3 scale replica of a Ferrari nose-cone from last year, for example, will set you back a whopping 5833 euros, an authentic example from Toyota (like the one pictured above) doesn't cost a fraction of that amount, and there are plenty of tantalizing collectible bits starting at just 200 euros for an authentic wheel, brake disc or carbon-fiber suspension piece.

Martini Girl Too Hot for Formula 1 Drivers in Monaco

Filed under: Spirits, Wheels, Events, Sports


A billboard featuring sultry model Jessiqa Pace (above) on the racetrack at the Monaco Grand Prix had to be taken down after it proved too distracting to Formula 1 drivers over the weekend. Pace, 29, appears in the campaign for Martini, the Italian winemaker founded in 1863 and famous for its iconic vermouth.

F1 team representatives asked for the posters to be taken down after drivers complained during trial runs; champ Lewis Hamilton crashed in Saturday's qualifying round close to the gigantic image of Jessiqa. "All the attention is overwhelming," she told the London Daily Star. "I find it really funny. Obviously it's very flattering that I'm distracting the drivers so much, but I'd feel terrible if someone got hurt."

$10,000 Ferrari F1 Gearbox Table

Filed under: Decor, Gadgets, Wheels, Sports


For $10,000 you can get a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture crafted from the gearbox of Ferrari's F2000 Formula 1 racecar. At the end of the 2000 racing season, the complete 7-speed gearbox was signed by Ferrari's championship-winning driver Michael Schumacher, Scuderia Ferrari Executive Director Jean Todt and Ferrari CEO Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo. It was mounted to a 18"x18" carbon wall plaque with an authentic Ferrari fender shield mounted in the middle. Performance furniture firm RaceChairs is now offering it for $10,000 with the option of having a custom lamp or table (above) completed showcasing the gearbox. RaceChairs notes that due to the espionage problems with rival teams, Scuderia Ferrari is no longer releasing these kinds of pieces to private collectors, so this is your last chance.

[RaceChairs via BornRich]

Floor Ferraris and F1's at the Ascari Race Resort

Filed under: Journeys, Wheels


For the price of a $160,000 membership plus a $6,500 annual fee, you can get 50 days of high-speed driving in a fleet of supercars at Spain's lavish Ascari Race Resort. Situated in the dramatic southern Andalusian mountains, the Ascari consists of a luxury resort complex adjacent to a 3.4 mile racetrack designed to replicate famous Formula 1 courses. The resort features of a ten-villa luxury hotel, spa, salon, clay shooting range, pools, bars and a helicopter pad to take guests to a beautiful beach 15 minutes away. The fleet of cars ranges from several race-prepped Lotus Elises and BMWs to ex-Formula 1 machines and Ascari's own brand of supercar. However, they can procure Ferraris, Lamborghinis or "just about anything you could wish to drive on the circuit, given time and sufficient credit card headroom," BusinessWeek notes. See the gallery for more.

The Battle Over Sardinia's Famed Billionaire Club

Filed under: Journeys


One of the investors in Billionaire, the famed club for the megarich on Sardinia's swank Emerald Coast, says the club should be shuttered because of the current economic climate. Billionaire, a favored haunt of tycoons who come to frolic with the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Kate Moss and Sean Combs, is controlled by rakish Formula 1 mogul Flavio Briatore (above), but Italian entrepreneur and politician Daniela Santanchè has a 10% stake.

Santanchè says that the ultra-exclusive club, where methuselahs of Cristal go for $50,000 a pop, is an offensive relic of a more wasteful age, the London Guardian reports. "With people struggling to get by, Billionaire should be consigned to history," Santanchè says. "I myself have put my Aston Martin in the garage and get around in a Fiat 500."

"Daniela has been in the sun too long," Briatore, who has dated the likes of Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum, fired back. "What she's saying is absurd. If luxury is suddenly a problem let's close Bulgari and Cartier, or even all the discos, restaurants and the whole of the Emerald Coast." That may not be necessary, in any case. The New York Times recently reported that the hotspot has lost a lot of its exclusivity lately and that some recent visitors aren't even millionaires, let alone billionaires.

Jewelry for Motorsports Fans

Filed under: Jewelry

Our friends at Autoblog found a company that produces "the perfect fusion between sport and jewels." The company is called Circuiti and, with designer Gianfranco Quartaroli, they make jewelery in the shape of internationally known motorcycle and auto racecourses.

Each piece in their collection can be made of steel or of gold, and are available with diamonds and without. A diamond is a popular way to mark the starting point of the course. The steel option might be the best choice of adornment for an everyday key chain, but the tracks set in gold with diamonds or other precious stones are the flashiest way for a fan to support his (or her) team. The stones can even be chosen to ensure that your pendant or cuff links will reflect your team affiliation. Prices start at around €64, depending up course and materials.

Jacques-Leman Formula 1 Watches

Filed under: Timepieces


If you are a Formula fan, now you can get a watch to match your obsession.  Austrian watch manufacturer Jacques-Lemans, has bought the rights to the Formula 1 name and created the sport Formula 1 watch collection. The watches use materials such as carbon fiber, titanium and ceramic and have alarm, timer and chronograph functions. According to Gizmag there will also be ladies’ models in pink with mother of pearl. The watches cost between  200 and 400 euros.

Mercedes Racecar Up For Auction

Filed under: Wheels, Auctions

Bid4Assets an online auction company has announced the auction of a1990 Mercedes-Benz C-11-05 racecar driven by Formula 1 champion driver, Michael Schumacher, in the Le Mans Classic Championship competition. The auction will start on February 20 and has an opening bid of $830,000 and requires a $25,000 deposit. The auction ends February 23 at 3pm. The car is currently located in a storage facility in Boca Raton, Florida. It is being sold as part of a liquidation of assets owned by CLR Associates which is part of the SEC receivership involving the Lancer Group Family of hedge funds. 


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