After leaving the shadows of Mercedes-AMG and Lewis Hamilton behind, Valtteri Bottas seems to have found a second wind and performing relatively well given the equipment he’s using at Alfa Romeo. After putting his IWC back in the safe, he’s moved on to two different watch brands believe it or not. A work watch brand and a personal watch brand at that!
The work watch is of course, a Rebellion, the watch brand partner for Alfa Romeo F1 team. It’s not bad already, and I’m sure this will be considered quite debatable whether a Rebellion watch is a step up or down from an IWC… but we’re here to talk about this personal watch.
Bottas is a closet watch nerd and released from the bounds of Mercedes corporate deals, he was able to pursue something closer to his heart – working with fellow Finnish watchmaker, Stepan Sarpaneva, and producing a Bottas special edition of the “Flying Finn” model.
S.U.F stands for Sarpaneva Uhren Fabrik, an entry level brand to Sarpaneva’s namesake brand, proudly made in Finland with Finnish steel, and powered by Swiss movements. The Bottas watch is limited to 77 pieces, a nod to his racing number, and the number is also reflected on the date disc. So instead of being the 7th of a month, it’s now the 77th….
Using design cues from the Sarpaneva brand (including the bezel and hands), and priced at 5250 Euro (before shipping and taxes) this is a great way to get into a Sarpaneva, and to bask in the reflected glory of the Finnish “Sisu”.
Daniel Ricciardo’s Next Watch?
Now that it’s confirmed Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren are parting ways at the end of 2022, let’s hope he gets to keep his 6-figure work watch in the shape of a Richard Mille. It does look like his best bet for a drive next year is to return to his former team, Renault/Alpine.
Bell and Ross as we’ve covered before is the watch partner brand for Alpine, and their latest release, the A522 could very well be Ricciardo’s next watch.
It won’t be Daniel’s first Bell and Ross watch though, but it’ll be the first one with blue hits instead of yellow. The A522 is a 42mm ceramic case with hours, minutes, seconds and date display at 6:00, and limited to 999 pieces.
Funnily enough both the Bell and Ross and the SUF Flying Finn features hits of red, white and blue on the dial, but ironically, a lot more prominent on the Finnish watch…
For more, check out the Tag Heuer & Porsche collaboration, the Connected Calibre E4.
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