As the resident racer on the team here at WWR, it’s my privilege to be able to review watches that are said to be “inspired by motor sport.” As a matter of fact, I just recently reviewed such a piece in the Marchand Legacy. While the Marchand truly is a reflection of the owner’s love and passion for the sport, many are simply marketing exercises with little or no direct connection to racing or the automobile. The Halda Race Pilot is not one of those pieces, and today Halda has announced a special edition for Group 63, an exclusive Mercedes AMG model owners club based out of the UAE.
Many of you may recall that Halda was originally founded in Sweden in the late 1800s by Henning Hammarlund, but went belly up in the 1920s. In 2009 Mikael Sandström revived the brand as Halda Watch Co 1887 and released some very forward thinking pieces in the Space Discovery in 2009, followed by the Race Pilot in 2014. These watches consisted of two separately cased modules that clicked into a receiver attached to a rubber strap. One module was a traditional automatic powered by a Zenith Caliber 685 power reserve movement. The second module was fully digital, developed in-house by Halda and containing some pretty cool advanced technology such as a G-Force meter, alarm, world timer, 24 hour timer, perpetual calendar, etc. The Race Pilot also included track data from 150 race tracks throughout the globe, a GPS receiver, lap times for multiple cars, split times, predictive lap times, Formula 1 race start countdown function, etc. There is zero doubt that the Race Pilot is a serious tool watch for racing.
The Group 63 Edition includes an exclusive red and black color scheme featuring heavy use of carbon fiber. The very first piece will actually be presented to an honorary member of the group, Dubai’s Crown Prince. Only 63 numbered pieces of the Group 63 Edition will be produced, at a price just shy of $22,000. If you happen to be a Mercedes AMG model owner, and are also a member of Group 63, you can send an email directly to Mr. Sandstrom at [email protected], or Mr. Khalid Al Mulla, president of Group 63 at [email protected] to place your order and pick your serial number.
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Halda Watch Co 1887 Race Pilot Group 63 Special Edition
- Price: $22,000, IF you’re fortunate enough to be allowed to buy one.
- Who we think it might be for: Group 63 members
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen? If I were a multi-millionaire (billionaire?), Mercedes AMG owning, Group 63 member, of course I would!
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: I’m actually not a huge fan of the look of the automatic module. I’d prefer it to be toned down a bit. I’ll give Mikael a call to discuss.
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: Yes it’s expensive, but this really is a serious racing tool watch. The coolness factor is off the charts.
