Do you like watches and vintage Formula 1 racing? Then you are in the right place. Back in January, I reviewed the Tribute by French microbrand Arpiem, a racing chronograph brimming with fun design cues that evoked the legends of motorsport. Today, I have their latest creation, the Racematic, which trades the Tribute’s MechaQuartz movement for a three-hand automatic. I sampled a green and yellow TCC prototype for this review.
Each of Arpiem’s watches honors a particular figure in auto racing. In the case of TCC, it is Colin Chapman, the British engineer who founded Lotus Cars and led the company to several racing championships through the 1960s and 70s. Of course, it wears the iconic British Racing Green and Yellow livery most often associated with the marque.
Like the Tribute, the Racematic has a multicolored, multi-layered dial. The top layer is green with yellow markings. It has been cut away for the upper power reserve meter and the lower 243-hour dial, both of which are shaped like dashboard instruments. The bottom layer is yellow with green printing and a checkered flag that shows through the bottom of the power reserve and bisects the large open swath between 1 and 4 o’clock. When viewed off-axis, you will notice a band of red sandwiched between the green and yellow surfaces. The date is black on white and framed in porthole so it resembles a racing number’s roundel.
It is all beautifully executed. “Racematic” is wrapped around the left-hand perimeter, balancing the right-hand cutaway. At 6 o’clock, we find “Light is Right” a nod to Chapman’s famous axiom, “Simplify, then add lightness.” The 12 o’clock power reserve, in particular, deserves special mention because it is a complication that often looks awkward. Here, it makes perfect sense, both in the way it echoes the sub-dial below and in its faithful imitation of a fuel gauge.
Baton hands give the TCC its only touch of lume. You will find none on the markers or the yellow second hand. While I’m tempted to bemoan the absence of glowy stuff, I’ll forgive it because the dial looks so damn good without it. The asymmetric layout really doesn’t give you many places to put lume dots and frankly, I think the overall color scheme would suffer. It’s not great for lume freaks but given the overall design scheme, I understand the decision.
The Racematic is a good deal larger than its stablemate. It measures 43.5mm wide, 50.7mm long, and a healthy 15mm thick from the display caseback to the domed sapphire crystal. All case surfaces are brushed, including the curved bezel. I love that the engraved tachymeter index is filled in British Racing Green. Of course, that index is of limited use on a three-hand watch. I do hope we see a mechanical chronograph from Arpiem in the future, perhaps with a Seagull ST19 to keep the costs down.
The push-pull crown is good for 100m water resistance, more than enough for a non-diver. Its head is polished and signed. If I must pick on something (and I must) it is the crown. First, I wish it were brushed like the rest of the watch. Second, I wish it were a little larger. Not taller (base-to-crown), but a touch wider (edge-to-edge) than its current 6mm. As it is, it functions just fine, but I think it looks just the merest bit undersized for the case. [Update: Arpiem says they will change the crown before production.]
It’s not at all small – or even mid-sized – and the sheer sides only emphasize its heft, but then again, the Racematic is not the sort of watch you would wear to dress up. It is a sporting watch, pure and simple. I thought it looked pretty sharp on my 6.75″wrist.
Take a glimpse under the hood and you’ll find a 26-jewel, 28.8k bph Miyota 9132 automatic with a custom rotor. Like the rest of the 9000-series Miyotas, it is a smooth, reliable unit. It would have been more in keeping with the Racematic’s overall theme if it were a manual shift instead of an automatic, but that isn’t a real thing and now I’m just making terrible puns. I’ll stop. (Is a hand-winding movement the horological equivalent of a stick-shift? Discuss amongst yourselves.)
As befits a racing watch, the Racematic comes on a 22mm rally strap. The leather is soft and lightly padded, and it secures with a butterfly deployant clasp. That clasp is just a placeholder for now. We can expect the production unit to be better finished and engraved.
Once again, Arpiem has given us a fun, clever, and brightly nostalgic watch that successfully channels the spirit of auto racing into a quality wristwatch. Not a Lotus fan? Then perhaps the black TRB honoring Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez, or the Gulf-colored John Wyer TJW3 will be more to your liking. All three are available to order from Kickstarter for €365.
