Now this may just me being slow, but every time I look at the dial I end up thinking that the minute hand is the seconds hand, am confused by what seems like the hour hand moving as fast as the seconds hand, and notice the actual hour hand last. If you’ve lost me at this point, that’s fine – suffice it to say, it is mildly confusing and causes a couple seconds of delay. Now this bothered me enough to motivate me to email Bradley in the first place – as I’m sure the decision to make the seconds hand that small was not accidental and definitely not the result of an under-powered movement.
I will quote Bradley’s reply, with my additions in parenthesis. “If it (the seconds hand) were longer, it would compete with the minute hand. I wanted to emphasize the minute hand, which is the stand-in for the needle of the tachometer on a car. So, if the second hand were of equal length or importance, it would confuse that gauge metaphor. The minute hand needed to be the primary focus.”
This brings up the question of sacrificing function for form. I’m hesitant to unequivocally say that the Autodromo does this because you can still tell time, but need 2-3 seconds more than usual to do it. I will let you decide for yourself and will recommend checking out a piece in the flesh if possible before deciding. However, if we stick with and accept the intentions outlined by Bradley above, I think they’ve done a good job of turning the idea into reality.
The hour hand is skeletonized and a slightly less saturated yellow than the minute hand. The seconds hand, in addition to being shorter, is grey for the most part with a yellow tip that does in fact line up with the markers. The minute hand is the largest in size (it even has a counterbalance) and a nice bright yellow that’s impossible to miss. Thankfully, Autodromo has decided against a date window, which I think would’ve been a terrible eyesore and is ill-suited for this design. It seems like there might be a phantom date as the crown has three positions – something generally associated with time only movements with a date function and indicative of the date wheel mechanics not being removed.
With a fixed lug design – the Autodromo Group B watches ship with two NATO straps, a grey and yellow one in this case. Now I’ve had some lousy experiences with terrible NATO straps – enough to put me off them for good… until I received the Group B. This is definitely one of the best NATO straps I’ve ever had the opportunity to try and it doesn’t chafe or irritate the skin even after a day of wear. It’s sufficiently thick and looks very well put together and my favorite part is that it doesn’t have any of the unrefined hardware that NATOs usually do.
Autodromo redesigned the buckle to have an integrated keeper so that there is no other hardware on the strap – all you have is a single piece of Nylon with a buckle at one end. So slipping it on and off is very fast – sort of like the pit stop at a race track. And, they’ve even added small touches to make the strap evocative of a racing seat harness. There is the small cross stitch over the square where the strap folds over to hold the buckle in place and more obviously the yellow label with ‘Autodromo’ lettering. That patch is similar to what one might find on the back of a racing harness in fact.
When I first received the watch, I thought the strap was designed to be worn with the label facing out and so was confused to find the buckle installed the ‘wrong’ way. I didn’t think too much of it and simply reversed the buckle direction in a matter of minutes. During my correspondence with Bradley, I later found out that the brand didn’t want to force or make the customers wear the strap with bright, yellow branding so they shipped it with the label hidden away.
It was just included for the sake of completeness and the racing harness corollary. However, they soon found out that most Group B owners, like me, ended up reversing the buckles and wearing it label side out. The way I look at it, this is not an entirely inconspicuous watch and wearing one is a bit of a bold statement in itself, so why not go all the way and wear it with the label side out too? Now some of you may wonder if there isn’t a risk of the watch slipping off the strap since it doesn’t have the extra bit of strap at the bottom – the short answer is, yes it does. However, I never quite liked the extra bit of strap that NATOs normally come with and cut them off anyway and would never pick up a watch on a NATO by the strap. So I see no practical issues with this.
The Autodromo is powered by the Miyota 9015, a popular alternative to the Seiko NH35, ETA 2824, and Sellita SW200-1. Like the other movements, it offers 42 hours of power reserve and beats at 4Hz. The choice of movement by micro brands seems to be a hot topic among many watch enthusiasts, so I asked Autodromo why they chose Miyota over the other options. The brand said that contrary to popular belief, it was not driven by cost but by the fact that Miyota welcomed the brand’s enquiries, worked closely with them, and were able to deliver the necessary movements on time and without delay. The other options were… well let’s just say, less than stellar to work with and the brand did not want to risk delivery schedules or their supply chain.
Is there a material difference between the Miyota and the ETA or Sellita? I don’t think so, not unless we’re looking at COSC grade ETA and Sellita movements, but that wouldn’t be apples to apples. They’re all well-tested movements that have proven themselves in the field. The only noticeable difference I could tell is that the winding mechanism on the Miyota seems to be louder than the others, but that could just be my sample.
A nice little touch with the Autodromo is the packaging. Not one to do things in half measures, the packaging for the Group B is actually made from aluminum and I’m told that it isn’t stamped into shape but rather folded by a person using a jig. Upon closer inspection, you can tell that the case is well put together and the aluminum is light but effective at doing its job of offering protection. There is a little plaque on the bottom left and the brand eschews the phrase “Serial No.” in favor of “Chassis No.”
As I mentioned at the beginning, my first experience with an Autodromo has been pleasant and enjoyable. While this is by no means a perfect watch, it is an unapologetic one that is easier to wear than you might initially expect. In a market space that is getting increasingly crowded, I appreciate watches like the Autodromo Group B and despite the legibility issues, I would have this Silver/Yellow one – partly because it reminds me of the surface of a DeLorean and if I wanted a practical, legible, daily wearer, I have other watches for that. All variants of the Autodromo Group B retail for $925 and come with a two-year warranty. autodromo.com
Necessary Data
>Brand: Autodromo
>Model: Group B Silver/Yellow
>Price: $925
>Size: 39mm x 9mm
>Would reviewer personally wear it: Yes.
>Friend we’d recommend it to: One with a small collection or a daily wearer, looking for something different, off-the-beaten-path, and relatively affordable.
>Best characteristic of watch: The dial, without question, and the NATO strap.
>Worst characteristic of watch: The seconds hand – only time will tell if this is a deal breaker for me.
