Lewis Hamilton has hinted at what his life after F1 could look like after teaming up with IWC Schaffhausen to design a rare watch. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven F1 world championships and penned fresh terms with Mercedes earlier this year to commit his future to the team until the end of the 2025 season.
Hamilton may well be looking forward to his next two years with Mercedes following his new deal, but he also appears to have one eye on the future. IWC have unveiled the limited-edition Portugieser tourbillon retrograde chronograph, which is co-designed by the blockbuster star.
Just 44 watches have been made, which reflect the veteran’s F1 number, and the brand’s website is selling each one for a whopping £135,000.
According to Bloomberg, the watch has 12 diamond hour markers and a teal textile strap. The 43.5 mm platinum case includes a sapphire crystal back that acts as a window into the 89900-calibre automatic movement and its 18-carat gold oscillating weight.
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The face of the watch has three features. And one has a unique selling point to racing fans as the chronograph function subdial rests at 12 o’clock and can be used to time an F1 race. The watch also includes a retrograde date display and sports a flying hacking minute tourbillon at 6 o’clock. This kinetic feature oscillates to lessen the impact of gravity, meaning the timepiece is able to maintain its accuracy.
This is Hamilton’s third special edition IWC design since 2014 following the titanium ingenieur chronograph edition Lewis Hamilton and the black ceramic big pilot’s watch perpetual calendar edition.
“IWC don’t usually put diamonds on their watches, particularly on the men’s watches,” Hamilton said as he spoke about the timepiece. “So convincing them to do that was really cool. I just thought it (the aquatic colour) was the most vibrant and different. There’s some serious weight to it. Timepieces align really well in my life because I’m literally chasing every millisecond when I’m on track.”
Hamilton clearly has a love for watches and fashion in general so could get more involved in the industry when his days on the track come to an end. And in an interview with Oracle Time two years ago, the ace explained: “I feel naked without a watch. You look at James Bond, the watch is what sets off his suit, his look. I’ve been wearing them a long time, since I got my first from Argos. I remember saving up and going to Argos in Stevenage and buying this watch just because I wanted to uplift my look.”
