Eberhard & Co. continue their tradition of watches inspired by Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari with the 336, a piece that recalls Nuvolari’s attempt on the world speed record for a car on a road. The location that he chose was the Florence-Lucca motorway, and, driving an Alfa Romeo 16C Twin-Engine , on 15 June 1935 he set a new record in this category of 323.125 km/h, corresponding to 200.781 mph, and he was in fact the first person to exceed 200 mph on a road (in the same year, Malcom Campbell pushed the absolute world record speed up to 484.621 km/h, 301.129 mph, at Bonneville in Utah).
Case and dial
The Tazio Nuvolari 336 is in a large 45 mm case, 12 mm thick, with screw-in crown and a waterproof rating of 100 metres. The bezel is in ceramic with recessed hour markers and a triangle at 12 o’clock, with minute indications on the inner side of the bezel. A pusher at 10 o’clock is used to set the second time zone, and it has a relief “TN” logo. The black dial and clear numerals painted with luminescent coating are reminiscent of a pilot’s watch; there are two subdials in silvered frames, one for the second time zone on a 24 hour scale at 12 o’clock, and one for the power reserve at 6 o’clock. The other elements on the dial are the date window, the Nuvolari signature under the Eberhard brand name, and a turtle logo which recalls a piece of Nuvolari history, 28 April 1932, when Italian writer and poet Gabriele D’Annunzio gave him a small golden tortoise with the dedication “all’uomo più veloce l’animale più lento,” to the fastest man, the slowest animal. The watch has an engraved caseback fastened with 8 screws, and it has a black alligator strap with red stitching. The steel-black-red colour scheme gives it the classic racing looks also adopted by watches by brands such as Chopard and IWC.
Movement
The watch is based on the ETA 2824-2, with an additional Soprod 9035 module that provides the second time zone and the power reserve. The movement is mechanical, self-winding, with a power reserve of 42 hours.
Reference and price
The Eberhard & Co. Tazio Nuvolari 336 is a limited edition of 336 pieces. Its reference number is 41033; price €3,730.
