04 March 2014 | Meccaniche Veloci , When Watches meet Cars ,

MECCANICHE VELOCI

The Italian motor-racing heritage...on your wrist

If you dismantle the cylinder head of a four valves engine, turn it upside down and replace the four valves with four Swiss made calibres, you have just created a MECCANICHE VELOCI timepiece. You just need to choose whether to opt for a 48, 44 or 42mm bore cylinder. To be honest MECCANICHE VELOCI drew their inspiration from a piston rather than a cylinder head, and those four holes represent the valves’ bottom end on the piston. The alternate movement of the piston stands for the watch making movement.

In both cases, the source of inspiration is the world of motoring and mechanics. Take a look at the brand logo in the shape of a gearing, a symbol that has always represented the logo of Italian mechanical companies (take a look at the MV Agusta logo, for example). The idea behind this brand is not just a marketing strategy, for the creator of this brand most assuredly wanted to link it to the Italian motoring world.

That's why any MECCANICHE VELOCI timepiece evokes materials, tools and devices of the racing world. Witness the two co-branding operations, the first one with Brembo braking systems and the second with DellOrto carburetors, which led to the creation of two timepieces whose case was made out of carbo-ceramics, the same one used in making the brake discs, or the light alloy Ergal, used by DELLORTO in making its renowned carburetors.

The third collaboration in this list is even more attractive, and it is mostly a co-design one, as it involves a small sports car manufacturer called Spada Vetture Sport which, in designing its Codatronca, a handmade two seater which reminds one of Zagato's sports cars, has installed a MECCANICHE VELOCI timepiece on the central console and used an endless series of Meccaniche Veloci cases like gauges all over the cabin interiors.

The MECCANICHE VELOCI range consists of three collections: the Quattro Valvole, the Due Valvole and the Chrono Diver. The first series has served as the introduction to this article and is the flagship of the brand. This is an incredible timepiece as it showcases four independent automatic movements (sourced by ETA), that become one in the Power Reserve version whose counters are used for displaying power reserve, day and date. The Due Valvole on the other hand is powered by just two movements, one with an hour graduated scale, the other one with minutes:

The Quattro Valvole is also proposed as a chronograph, and all these models are made in sizes between 42mm and 48mm. MECCANICHE VELOCI's latest creation, unveiled last year at Baselworld, is the Chrono Driver, a timepiece designed to be a real “Driver's Watch”, as its 38mm case is smaller and has been mounted on a frame that allows the driver to adjust it to two positions, and easily read the hour without having to remove his hands from the steering wheel.

(Photo credit: courtesy of MECCANICHE VELOCI, Spada Vetture Sport)

Gaetano C. @Horbiter - Watches e Luxury