Autodromo

March 2021

Watch Designer Merges His Love of Design and Cars in a Timepiece

Most of us remember our first car. Watch designer Bradley Price can not only describe every car he has ever driven, he recalls where he was, what the road conditions were, and, naturally, his top speed. Price has loved cars for as long as he can remember. A self-described “car nut from the cradle forward,” his grandmother reminisced that, when he was a child, a “Hot Wheels” toy was affixed to his hand from the moment he awoke until bedtime. It was youthful rides in his father’s Austin-Healey 100-6 that introduced Price to vintage European cars. Rather than obsess over the engine—though he admits he loved the gas and other automotive “scents” of the garage—he fell for the sublime beauty and sound of a well-crafted car, especially once he was old enough to get his hands on the wheel. “My first car was a ’73 BMW 2002,” Price says. “I had it when I was seventeen, back when they were not very expensive. It was navy blue and really beautiful, but a handful in the snow.” After studying art history and industrial design at University of Michigan, Price spent 10 years working with leading brand innovators in New York. But he always knew he wanted to create a brand of his own based on vintage cars. During his time in New York, Price continued to cultivate an encyclopedic knowledge of classic European motoring machines. The idea of tapping classic car aesthetics to build a fine watch came one day when he was out in his 1983 Alfa Romeo GTV6. “One day I was driving in the woods and looking at the dashboard of my car when I thought, ‘Why is nobody making a beautiful watch that resembles an automotive tachometer?’ I decided to start a watch brand and focus around vintage cars as the core of the brand.”

One day I was driving in the woods and looking at the dashboard of my car when I thought, ‘Why is nobody making a beautiful watch that resembles an automotive tachometer?" -Bradley Price

The result of this otherwise ordinary Sunday drive was the creation of Autodromo, which launched in 2011 and is celebrating its 10th year of offering automotive themed watches to a growing global collector base. “I wanted to take what is memorable and special about these legendary cars and distill it into a watch that is wearable and beautiful on its own,” says Price. Price personally designs every element of Autodromo, from the packaging to the crown and the small, distinctive screw located on the back of the watch, drawing on skills learned in his years working in design and branding studios. The elegant Intereuropa watch, for example, comes in a lacquered box with a high-polished finish. It has a hand-applied cloisonné badge in the middle of the lid. The popular Group B Series comes in a hand-crafted aluminum collector’s box with serialized number plaque. “All of the packaging that I make is about creating the atmosphere surrounding the watch that you are about to receive,” says Price. “The packaging is like the opening scene of a film,” he says. “It sets the expectation and the mood for the timepiece itself.” “One of the reasons I love running my own company is because I am willing to spend more money if it is going to be so much cooler and so much better made. That is what I think my customers appreciate about the watches we make and the packaging we design.”

The narrative behind the Group B Series, Autodromo’s best selling watch, demonstrates why auto aficionados agree that Autodromo crafts “Instruments for Motoring.” Car enthusiasts consider the Group B era of racing to be the last romantic age of racing, an alchemy of lightweight space-age materials and engines jacked up to 800 horsepower, essentially four-wheeled rockets propelled through dirt roads and mountain passes. Driver and spectator safety concerns led to disbanding the series only a few years after it began. The Group B Series 2 captures the essence of this legendary race series; specifically, the Lancia 037 Rally car. The 39.5mm case is composed of titanium and stainless steel. A true creative with a mechanic’s touch, Price is forever tinkering with how best to design a timepiece that emulates the fabled history of motor racing. When customers suggested a metal watchband for the Group B Series, he re-engineered the case to integrate a stainless steel bracelet. The new stainless-steel bracelet evokes the sleek technical look of watches of the 1980s. “You don’t want to just throw something on a watch or mimic a gauge literally,” Price says. “You want it to feel like the car and feel like the era. You may not take every inspiration from the car itself, but what were people wearing when they drove that car. What was going on at the time?” A study of Autodromo, lauded in luxury watch circles for both craftsmanship and affordability, is a tutorial in motor racing history. The Intereuropa watch, the brand’s first offering with a Swiss Made manual wind movement, pays homage to the Coppa Intereuropa Race held from 1949 to 1964. That the Coppa Intereuropa was only a support event for the Italian Grand Prix is a nod to Price’s nuanced knowledge of auto racing.

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After years of fresh auto-inspired designs, Autodromo has built something of a cult following among gearheads around the globe. Among these gearheads were the folks in the secretive Ford design studio responsible for the Ford GT Supercar. In 2017 Ford Design Director of North America Christopher Svensson approached Price with the opportunity to design a special series of watches for their new flagship supercar. Price created two distinct lines of watches for Ford. One exclusive watch, using exotic and high-end materials with a Swiss Made flyback chronograph movement, is available only to Owners of the Ford GT. A second line was designed for fans of Ford racing heritage, commemorating the Blue Oval’s dominance at the Le Mans 24 Hours in the 1960s, as well as their comeback victory in 2016. “The idea was to celebrate the heritage and illustrious past of Ford at Le Mans with one watch, and to look toward the future with the Owners watch,” says Price. “The two watches were meant to look as if the same design sort of tumbled forward through time from 1966 until today, being constantly developed along the way.” Approaching 10 years in business, Price is often asked what his future plans are. “I love designing watches but I also continually work to broaden our offerings to have a complete range of motoring accessories.” For Bradley Price, fine motorcars have always represented precise design melded with well-tuned craftsmanship, a perfect complement of appearance and execution. Exceptional watches convey this same execution of the creative and the functional. As the Autodromo collection continues to expand, car and watch enthusiasts alike remain eager to see what the next roll out will bring. Visit the Autodromo website to learn more.

Bradley Price in his Dobbs Ferry, NY Studio

Bradley Price in his 1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce

Credit: Autodromo's Instagram