Most automobile or motorsports-themed timepieces are mostly, if not all, affiliated by name. The watches from Danish watchmaker REC Watches ApS, however, are not. While it does not have any official affiliation with automakers, each timepiece has direct lineage to motorcars because the timepiece incorporates salvaged, recycled parts from iconic vehicles that are beyond repair.
The REC Watches The 901 RWB Rotana Watch you see here is one of the watchmaker’s creations. Two years in the making, the REC Watches The 901 RWB Rotana Watch is a limited-edition timepiece born out of a collaboration between REC Watches and Akira Nakai of a Japanese car tuner, RAUH-WELT BEGRIFF (RWB) that specializes in designing and installation of custom wide-body kits for classic Porsche models.
Each REC The 901 RWB Rotana contains a piece of metal from the RWB Rotana Porsche, the personal custom wide-body kit Porsche of Nakai-san. It has a handcrafted metal dial cut directly from the hood of Akira Nakai’s RWB Rotana, a 1995 Porsche 911 993.
The watch also has a hint of Nakai-san’s lovely Porsche too and is the striking purple finished. The color was inspired by the purple Lamborghini that caught the Japanese car tuner’s eyes during a visit to UAE, near to buildings owned by the Rotana group. Hence, the name Rotana.
Beyond the piece of metal from Akira’s personal ride, the watch boasts a number of design references to the car too. These include a case with protruding sides in the purple finish as a nod to the wide-body kit, the RAUH-WELT windscreen decal on sapphire glass, a case back laser-engraved with an image of the sports wheel of the car, and my personal favorite: a month and week indicator are designed after the oil temperature and pressure gauge found on the car’s dash. These indicators further feature label in kanji that brings out the Japanese vibe.
Beyond the cosmetics (and a piece of Nakai’s purple Porsche), REC Watches The 901 RWB Rotana is powered by Miyota cal. 9100 mechanical movement with over 40 hours of power reserve.
The watch is presented in a 44 mm (46 mm with body-kit) 316L stainless steel, sapphire crystal with 3 layers of anti-reflective coating, stainless steel case back, 3 hands indicator, quick date set, SuperLuminova X1 Green on hands and indices, and 5 ATM water resistance. It is paired to a black rubber strap with debossed texture, finished with RWB logos.
The REC Watches The 901 RWB Rotana Watch has a limited run of just 305 numbered pieces. It is available now from the REC Watches website for US$1,795.
Last checked it is selling fast. How do we know? Because you can choose the serial number of the watch and we can see that many numbers were snapped up. We counted 41 pieces left on March 19.
All images courtesy of REC Watches.
