Brave and colourful watch dials are all the rage right now, and arriving in the hype at just the right time is this brilliantly bold, tangerine-red Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Gran Premio de Cuba 1957 watch. The limited edition of 162 pieces will also appeal to fans of motorsport as the chronograph retells the story of the Cuban Grand Prix of 1957.
In 1882, an immigrant from northern Spain named Ramón Fernández Cuervo founded his own jewellery store in Havana, Cuba. A few years down the line and Ramón was joined by six of his nephews who would later help the business grow, and in turn make it the Cuervo y Sobrinos watch brand we know and love today. The 1950’s was a defining era for the premium watch manufacturer as Havana itself grew to become the most luxurious city in the Caribbean. The Cuervo boutique drew the attention of several big names including Ernest Hemingway, Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein. In 1957, President Fulgencio Battista, the president of Cuba at the time, wanted to attract even more tourists to the island and so organised the Cuban Grand Prix car race. The inaugural Cuban Grand Prix, which saw colourful vehicles thread their way through the vibrant avenues of north Havana, made Argentinian race car driver Juan Manual Fangio its winner. He famously drove a red and yellow Maserati 300S. Inspired by the colours on Fangio’s car and the exotic backdrop of Havana, Cuervo y Sobrinos has launched the Historiador Gran Premio de Cuba 1957 Limited Edition watch for 2023.
The tropical dial of the Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Gran Premio de Cuba 1957 watch is easily its most distinguishing feature, evoking the red and yellow paintwork of Fangio’s car with a orange-red backdrop and creamy yellow chronograph counters and a telemeter scale. There are three subsidiary counters on the dial, the two in yellow marking the 12 hour and 30 minute chronograph counters while the black sub-dial at 9 o’clock shows the running seconds. The hands and numerals on the chronograph counters are finished in black for ease of legibility while the running seconds elects white print and hands to match with the Cuervo y Sobrinos 1882 inscription at noon.
The dial of the Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Gran Premio de Cuba 1957 Limited Edition also presents two large leaf-shaped central hands for the hours and minutes coated in beige Superluminova and a white central chronograph seconds hand. The same level of legibility is applied to the large Arabic numerals decorated around the red dial’s circumference outlined in black and filled with beige Superluminova. Matching the numerals black silhouette is a black tachymeter scale which can be used to measure the speed of a vehicle over a known distance. It presents the numbers in red, orange, yellow and blue while the word ‘Taquimetro’ meaning tachymeter in Spanish is printed in white. The combination of colours used on the Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Gran Premio de Cuba 1957 watch’s dial is beautiful, perfectly embodying the excitement of the race and its setting and allowing for effortless readability.
The case of the Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Gran Premio de Cuba 1957 Limited Edition watch maintains all the characteristics of their iconic Historiador collection including the unique, long and sculptural lugs, stepped fixed bezel and double-curved sapphire crystal glass. The latter comes with anti-reflective treatment and pairs with a large, knurled crown and piston-style chronograph pushers to ensure a basic 30 metre water resistant rating. The case is engineered from stainless steel with polished surfaces, a 42mm diameter and a height of 12mm. It secures to the wrist by a black perforated leather strap with contrasting red stitching and red lining and an openworked CyS decorated buckle.
Housed within the Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Gran Premio de Cuba 1957 watch is the CyS 8099 automatic winding movement. The calibre takes its base from the Swiss made Valjoux 7753 automatic cam chronograph calibre and delivers a 48 hour power reserve and a frequency of 28,800vph. We’re also told there’s an engraved oscillating rotor but that’s hidden from view behind the closed case back engraved with the Gran Premio 1957 de Cuba insignia.
The Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Gran Premio de Cuba 1957 watch is a limited edition of 162 pieces, a number chosen to represent the 162-mile distance of the Havana race. If you’d like to secure one of these pieces for yourself or learn more about the release, head on over to the Jura Watches website here. Alternatively, get in touch with the team by calling 01335 453453 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
