Not many outside the racing world and automotive enthusiast circles know much about the legend of Caroll Shelby, and his feats in the top echelons of sports car racing in the 1960’s. Essentially, he was the man who came up with the idea of stuffing a British roadster with a huge American V8 engine, which is the recipe he used to compete against the fiercest competitor of the time – Ferrari. His formula worked, he went on to beat the Ferrari team fair-and-square. This led to many cars with the Cobra name attached to them, with the most famous ones being the Shelby Cobras. So, to celebrate this rich history, Baume and Mercier has produced a series of watches celebrating Shelby’s feats. The ‘Spirit of Competition’ is a limited-edition piece that gets various small details linking it to Shelby, such as the Cobra-shaped seconds counterweight and the beautiful black and yellow detailing on the strap and chronograph sub-dials. With a large 44mm dial, this watch features a Swiss automatic movement with a 48-hour power reserve. While we’ve seen many automotive-themed watches that are quite overdone, this Baume & Mercier strikes us as being an elegant homage to a genuine automotive legend. Limited to just 1,963 pieces, the watch is now available in India.
