Saturday 31 July 2021

Longines Collection Ferrari Watch / Horloge / timekeeping

Yes, this blog is about Ferrari watches. A little while ago my interest in watches got a new boost. It's not unusual for classic car owners to have an interest in watches. So far I only spend once serious money on a watch and to my surprise I rarely have worn it. Personally I have more interest in matching Automobilia. Recently I purchased an original Ferrari wind jacket, it's an original one from early the eighties produced by Italstyle


This is the jacket in question. I mostly bought it to shock people and have a laugh. 

Clearly I'm aware of the fact that Ferrari also had watches produced. Just like the clothing and other merchandise this is often purchased by people who doesn't own one. Apparently Ferrari does make more profit with their merchandise (and logo rights) rather than the actual car business. 

Since I have an official Ferrari mechanic shirt (by Cerutti) as well I thought I needed to extend this with an original watch.


Clearly it had to be a time period correct watch. In fact I believe I had this on my radar for a while but I always considered them slightly tacky (and mabye a waste of money). After a little investigation I figured it had to be a Longines. These were in fact the first official serie produced watches for Ferrari. And as I know by now they signed the contract in December 1979 and became official timekeeper for Ferrari. Prior to this it was Tag Heuer.

As my car is from 1979 it does make sense to get ahold of this specific watch model. When continuing my research I bumped into the official brochure in English (available in the download section). 

And to my surprise it had this photo in it:


And as you can see it does have the Ferrari 365GT4 2+2 on the wall. How cool is that? Clearly this was the sign for me to continue the hunt. And as a reminder, Piero once had a 400i as well

During my search I noticed there were a few variants available so I had to work out the models and types. Effectively they produced one model for male, female and for something in between, let's say unisex. 

Apart from the size the distinction can be seen by the location of the date. The male watch has it located at 6 and the female/unisex at 3, and the strap sizes are each different in size, see example below

All models are using Quartz and are made in stainless steel with gold plating. 

The dials are available in three colors: White, Black and Gilt
Furthermore the dials are optional with Roman numerals or bar markers.
And I noticed one variant with the Roman numerals, which is per quarter only rather than each hour.

And there is one more variant available with the above options. Instead of the name Ferrari printed on the dial it is also available with the prancing horse logo. 

And more thing, I have seen a few watches whereby the bracelets did not had the screw pins. Looks very original though and it was not a one-off (I like the clean looks - a proper dress watch). And by now my guess is these straps were available for the 1985 and 1986 series (the last produced).

I'm unsure till when these were produced since in the early eighties Ferrari closed a new deal with Cartier and launched the Ferrari Formula accessories line (watches & pens). The Longines timekeeping deal lasted at least till 1986 and was renewed in 1988. 

To briefly touch base on the Ferrari Formula Watches (by Cartier). Apparently these watches were still developed and produced by Longines, I captured this quote from an online article (source at the bottom of this blog):

"Claude Emmeneggersays:

it was Longines in St-Imier that took care of product development and production and also some designs."

And to make it more interesting the Ferrari Formula watches by Cartier had a quartz chrono movement by Seiko, model 7a38. How's that!? The Longines Ferrari watch however does remind me very much about the Cartier Santos model, it's quite similar. Interesting to see how this all links together. 

For the records, I tracked these reference numbers on the Longines watches, other then a connection to the gender I could not figure out a relation to a year or dial options (ie roman/bar markers or color):

3238 male

4870 male
4888 female
4897 unisex

4908 unisex
4909 male
4919 female
4920 male

Furthermore I found this package box, not sure if there were different ones:

It took a little effort but I bought one. For some unknown reason it got almost stuck for 3 weeks in Dutch customs. I feared I had to pay import duties but luckily this didn't happen. Note, despite it's a male model the size is very moderate, about 31 mm x 30 mm.

So here it is, click to enlarge:



And last but not least, the adverts - unfortunately none with a 400 as a prop but instead the BB, 308 and Mondial are used though:








And a nice travel bag I came across, just for the records. Unfortunately it's a very small one, 40 cm in length.


sources: 


Monday 26 July 2021

Michelin - pressioni pneumatici per vetture

I bought this one at an auction. It's an early eighties print on plastic, I guestimate around 1983. Only the corners are slightly damaged. I placed it on a thin plywood board using double sided tape. And then put it up in the garage. Turns out this a true Italian print, it does mention "Ferrari Pubblicita". And yes, it does have the Ferrari models listed including the 400 - that's why I bought it. Even the "de Tomaso" models are listed, how's that? I never actively searched for it but I sense it must be a rare item. Am very happy with another piece of  matching automobilia in my garage. 






Friday 23 July 2021

Ferrari 400 - SAY 400

 Found this photo on Instagram. If you look closely you will see 2x 400. One has the license plate "SAY 400" which is a known one. Just adding it here for the records. Click to enlarge:

Sunday 18 July 2021

Dutch Magazine Autoweek Classics : Italiaans feestmaal : Iso Lele, Maserati Indy, Lamborghini Espada and Ferrari 400

Now available in the download folder. The original article was first published in a German magazine and a English magazine (also in the download folder). So now finally the Dutch version. 


Saturday 17 July 2021

Salvage Ferrari 412 in the UK

Due to yesterdays posting I also came across the following photo in one of the remarks:

Click to enlarge:


Yes, that's a 412 in a scrap yard. When checking with the publisher I got the following response:

Skelmersdale it's called hills salvage you've got no chance of getting it the car registration had already been processed as scrap so it can't be put on the road 😥

So if you are in need of any parts you might want to reach out to them.

Friday 16 July 2021

For Sale - Ebay Ferrari 412 RHD Automatic

Via Facebook this one got to my attention:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194242039418


I thought I recognized it and yes it was this one:

http://erwin400.blogspot.com/2021/01/abandoned-cars-ferrari-412.html

Adding the Ebay information just for the records:


FERRARI 412 1989 RIGHT HAND DRIVE

REGISTERED WHEN BRAND NEW ON 1st AUGUST 1989
IN NEED OF EXTENSIVE RESTORATION
MAINLY DUE TO RUST
WAS BEING DRIVEN REGULARLY UP UNTIL AUGUST 2017
HAS BEEN STARTED SINCE BUT NOT OFTEN
VIEWING ADVISED AND ENCOURAGED
APPROXIMATELY 62,000 MILES
CREAM LEATHER INTERIOR









Thursday 15 July 2021

Schedoni brochure - Set di valigeria / sets of suitcases.

Finally I obtained this brochure. Now available in the download folder - section brochure.

I have understood the following book will be released shortly in a English language edition:

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2020/12/ferrari-by-schedoni.html