Rebellion – Two watches for the Tour Auto – Sport

Nearly 600 vintage car drivers gathered at the Grand Palais in Paris for the start of a five-day rally supported by Rebellion watches. Only cars that competed in the Tour de France Automobile between 1951 and 1973 are eligible to join the Tour Auto Optic 2000. This year’s event features 298 vehicles, each with a two-person crew, in five grids. On the eve of the April 29 departure, thousands of vintage car enthusiasts came to feast on the vehicles on display at the Grand Palais – Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Aston Martin, Austin Healey, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, MG, Porsche , Shelby Cobras and Triumphs, some of which are worth well over a million euros. Organizer Patrick Peter describes this rare spectacle as a sort of “traveling museum event”. Participants from around thirty countries will complete a series of road stages and racing circuits between Paris and Lyon, crossing around a hundred different French quarters before finishing in Deauville. The stage on the iconic Bugatti circuit in Le Mans is one of the highlights. There are two starting grids for the endurance classic, a race in the purest tradition of motorsport, while the competition category has three grids. Every evening, the pilots are invited to an official dinner with dishes prepared by renowned chefs. The entrance fee is 10,000 euros, then there is at least 50% more for roadside assistance. Any watchmaker would appreciate the appeal of such a concentration of older children who are relatively wealthy and passionate about design and engineering. But Rebellion is the only doubly qualified, with Rebellion Timepieces and Rebellion Racing – whose two teams accompany the drivers throughout the race, and are there to welcome them at the end of each stage.

The only watch brand with its own racing team

The symbiosis between Rebellion Racing and the Rebellion watch brand has recently shifted into high gear. Over the past 12 years, the motor racing team based on the shores of Lake Geneva has acquired an enviable reputation in the endurance community, based on the love of the environment, a spirit of generosity and exceptional performance, as the only private team capable of remaining in competition with the major automobile brands. The famous French comic book series Michel Vaillant even devoted an entire book to the brand. On the pilots’ wrists, Rebellion watches fascinate with their powerful mechanical DNA and the diversity of designs, all with a strong racing aesthetic, covering all price segments. The entry level was enriched this winter with a limited series in the Twenty-One collection dedicated to the Dakar Rally, for which Rebellion was the official timekeeper. Alexandre Pesci, owner of the sister companies Rebellion and Rebellion Motors, whose workshops maintain and test modern and vintage cars, decided to step up a gear by adding the Tour Auto to his CV. His Jaguar Type E will be in pole position from Paris, driven by Bruno Senna and Nicolas Prost, who will each wear one of the two limited editions in titanium dedicated to the Tour Auto. The same weekend, Rebellion will also support the 24H Karting Essec, the largest student automobile event in Europe.

© WorldTempus / Brice Lechevalier

Re-Volt and Wraith Tour Auto

Robustness, titanium, Tour Auto tricolor livery and manual winding movement are the hallmarks of the two limited series bearing the Tour Auto red arrow logo, produced by Rebellion Watches to celebrate this new partnership. The Wraith Tour Auto, a 28-piece limited edition, is already well known in the endurance racing community, given that the collection has previously been associated with races such as the Le Mans Series. The small seconds at 9 o’clock in the shape of a red spoke wheel is a nod to this heritage. Its lightness on the wrist is surprising given the generous dimensions of the case, making it very comfortable to wear. The price is less than 10,000 euros, a familiar reference for Tour Auto aficionados! But you’ll have to spend twice as much for the Re-Volt with its skeletonized dial and barrel-shaped case. The style is more sophisticated and production is therefore limited to 18 pieces.

The Wraith Tour Auto on the wrist © WorldTempus / Brice Lechevalier