We joined IWC for the Australian premiere of the hotly-anticipated F1 movie
Jamie WeissThere’s something to be said about a good old-fashioned Hollywood blockbuster. After years of COVID, I’d kind of forgotten how cool it is to see a big-budget film at the movies – and it’s certainly been a while since I’ve been to a movie premiere. But that’s the situation I found myself in yesterday, joining IWC at the Sydney premiere of the official F1 movie, a few days after its particularly star-studded world premiere at NYC’s Times Square. More details on its creation here.
To start off the day and set the scene for the high-octane film, I joined IWC and a small group of motoring journalists for a drive day with Mercedes-Benz, jetting up to Peat’s Ridge on the Central Coast just outside of Sydney and back again. Of course, IWC has had a long and fruitful relationship with both Mercedes the car company and Mercedes the F1 team, the latter of which was particularly involved in the creation of the F1 movie.
Not only did the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (to use its full name) create the highly-modified ‘APX GP’ cars driven by Brad Pitt and Damson Idris in the film, but Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff also both have production credits on the film, with these professionals helping the action appearing on screen be as realistic as possible. The fictional APX GP team and Mercedes even share sponsors, most notably IWC.
Anyway, I had the chance to drive a Mercedes-AMG GT 63 as well as the new electric G-Wagen – two very different cars – while wearing the red gold Pilot’s Watch Performance Chronograph 41 ref. IW388309, as worn by Damson Idris in the film. There’s something particularly cheeky about wearing a motorsports chronograph while whipping around in a fine-tuned piece of German muscle… Speaking of muscle, the Performance Chrono, being gold, has a satisfying heft to it, but it’s quite nicely balanced on the wrist with that robust rubber strap. The temptation is to drive like an F1 driver while wearing it, too… Hard to do in Sydney traffic, though.
After burning some rubber, we then headed to the Entertainment Quarter for the premiere. The highlight was an ultra-accurate IWC-supplied F1 racing sim, which guests could try setting some lap times in. I saw one young guy absolutely send it up Spa’s famous Raidillon de l’Eau Rouge, the F1 cockpit-shaped rig bouncing all over the place as he kept his foot planted. Great stuff.
I won’t share any spoilers about the film, but I really liked it, even as a die-hard F1 fan. A lot of commentary ahead of the film’s release – including from some of F1’s real drivers, who’ve had the chance to see it already – is that it’s fun, but not very realistic. Of course, the plot is a bit Hollywood, but that’s to be expected. I actually think a lot of the discussion from the F1 space (which is where my head’s in) has been a little unfair to the film. It’s genuinely gripping, action-packed to the end, with the dedication to realism (when it comes to the actual racing) absolutely spectacular. There has not been another motorsports film quite like it. And to stay on topic for T+T, you’ll enjoy the watch spotting, too.
But it’ll also appeal to non-F1 tragics, too. Just as it’s an old-school Hollywood blockbuster with a big budget and a marquee name in Brad Pitt, it’s also an old-school sort of story about determination, defying the odds and finding inner meaning. In our irony-poisoned popular culture, it’s a refreshingly straightforward and enjoyable film; not afraid to take itself too seriously without being unremittingly sombre. I highly encourage you to go watch it when it hits cinemas on the 27th of June.
The third wave… Time+Tide x Zenith
There’s been no shortage of events recently, with numerous brands showing off novelties finally making their way to market. We’ve also got something coming up that we’re very proud of, though you’ll have to wait just a little bit longer to find out the details. What you need to know now is that we’re teaming up with Zenith to host two events in our Time+Tide Watch Discovery Studios in both Australia and the UK on the 10th of July. We’ll let you figure out the rest… Register for our Melbourne event here, and our London event here. Get in quick: this isn’t one you’ll want to miss. Have a wonderful weekend!
Jamie and the Time+Tide Team
Watch meme of the week: stealth wealth
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This is why Rolex came up with the idea of reserving ice blue dials for platinum models: so that the hoi polloi know you’re wearing a precious metal watch.
Wrist shot of the week: OOO
Whenever our very own Zach Blass goes on holiday, I know there are two things I can count on: that he’ll still be a workaholic and not stop checking his damn emails, and that he’ll also send me a wrist shot, normally by the beach. Thankfully for this Juneteenth public holiday in the US, he managed to actually disconnect and not do any work – but he still sent the wrist shot, this time of his Grand Seiko SBGH283 ‘Shizukuishi Limited’, a watch I’ll always be fond of as I was there when he bought it at GS’ Studio Shizukuishi in Japan. The way the sunlight bounces off the bezel here is just *chef’s kiss*.
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: Furlan Marri Mechaquartz Sabbia Rosa and Ardesia Blu
The Mechaquartz is the watch that started it all for Furlan Marri, and with its accolades, you’d half expect them to just churn iterations of it without any meaningful advancement. Fortunately, Furlan Marri isn’t a brand that rests on its laurels – we’ve seen watches like the Flyback and Disco Volante launch – but still paying attention to its roots with meaningful refreshes. The latest two models to join the range are the delectably soft Sabbia Rosa, which has a 4N rose gold PVD coating, a rosy champagne dial plus applied Roman numerals at 12′ and 6′; as well as the Ardesia Blu, which gives off denim-like vibes and ditches the 24-hour indicator for a refined single register look.
The Furlan Marri Mechaquartz Sabbia Rosa and Ardesia Blu are now available from the Time+Tide Shop, as well as in-store at both our Melbourne and London Discovery Studios. Price: A$1,200, £630
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
What it’s like at the Goodwood Members’ Meet with IWC
Going to the movies with IWC is pretty fun, but Russell had an even hotter ticket earlier this year in April, when he joined the Schaffhausen brand at the 82nd Goodwood Members’ Meet to check out some finely tuned racing machines – as well as more than a few recognisable faces trackside, too. Read his report here or watch on YouTube above.
Norqain hit the back of the net with Soccer Aid sponsorship
UK Norqain fans, rejoice! Last weekend, challenger brand Norqain revealed itself not only to be the timing partner of the hugely popular Soccer Aid event in Manchester at Old Trafford, but also announced a serious push into the UK that will see it increase its number of retail doors to 20 this calendar year. Of course, we’ve been soft launching Norqain in the UK for the last six months, but things step up a notch from now as the young Swiss brand seeks to increase its doors in the UK year upon year. Andrew has more here.
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms range reaches new depths with the Automatique 38mm
Blancpain’s iconic dive watch has been on a weight-loss regime as of late, shrinking down from 45mm to 24mm and now to 38mm – and as Zach puts it, he has “never met anyone who felt 38mm was not an acceptable size for most wrists… It’s known as the Goldilocks diameter, so surely everyone will be glad to see the new 38mm Blancpain Fifty Fathoms joining the Automatique 42 and 45 in regular production”. Read his full hands-on review of these new Blancpains here, or watch above.