If you’re not familiar with Juan Pablo Montoya, he is a Colombian champion racing driver who currently puts the pressure on in competition during the WhetherTech SportsCar Championship. He won the championship as recently as 2019. What you should also know about him is that he loves luxury watches.
In a way, the racing cars he drives and timepieces are quite similar. Both are mechanical machines that have to be finely-tuned in order to run efficiently and well. Just as he appreciated exemplary cars, he also enjoys luxury timepieces.
Recently, this racer teamed up with a bespoke atelier Artisans de Geneve. Together, they have collaborated on a new version of the Rolex Daytona they are dubbing the Montoya Platinum Challenge.
Now, if you are unfamiliar with Juan Pablo Montoya, then you may not know that he already has other watches under his name out there. For this new timepiece, the focus is on his favorite watch of all, the iconic Rolex Daytona.
This particular Rolex Daytona is made with platinum, offering an exceptional look to it. Taking a closer look at it, you will find that it has a 40mm platinum case, which includes a Rolex 4130 caliber automatic movement. There is also a 72-hour power reserve. Additionally, something Juan Pablo Montoya will surely benefit from is the racing chronograph.
The atelier that this racer has collaborated with did quite a deep skeletonization of the Rolex Daytona used for this project. For one, there are the colors of the Colombian flag painted into the dial, showing off Montoya’s proud heritage.
Additionally, you also get to take a look into the interior movement that is quite an extraordinary technical display. Everything becomes more enhanced thanks to the matte palladium finish on it.
It can be quite a bit to soak in when you first see the watch. However, you may find yourself becoming increasingly fond of it the more you peer into the fine aesthetic that artisans de Geneve has put into this watch.
The blue steel hands are also quite a nice touch, and match the theme of the watch, which focuses on high-performance auto racing that Montoya knows and loves as his profession. The carbon fiber bezel that includes a tachymeter scale is yet another testament to this.
While Montoya probably won’t be needing this feature, this watch is also water-resistant up to 100 meters, which is standard for the Daytona. It’s also got the basic functionality of the model it was customized from, meaning it shows the hours, minutes, and small seconds. Its chronograph has both 30-minute and 12-hour counters.
This is a luxury watch that is for people who like seeing the skeleton and bones of a timepiece. While this may not be everyone’s thing, it definitely attracts some people who enjoy marveling at the incredibly intricate nature of luxury watches.
Using the Rolex Daytona Cosmograph ref. 116506 as its base, this 400mm platinum automatic watch is an excellent work of customization that deserves its day in the sun.