This partnership will be inaugurated on the occasion of the launch of the new Clifton Club collection: a series of five watches that mark the time, created for young men who are elegant and sporty: the “Gentlesportsmen”.
Racing could ensue, the thunder of pistons bashing off as the riders trapped back their throttles at the start line, slamming their brakes a 1/4 mile later, then ripping through the gears again back to where they had started from. A blend of drag racing and barrel racing; each rider would begin in neutral using their left hand on their own helmet, and when the flag fell, they’d shift into gear, race down to the barrel, whip a u-turn and return-to-home as fast as they had left it, while riding side by side with their competitor.In between all of the racing could be an easy, lively, peg dragging 3 hour joy ride beginning along HWY 101 then into Templeton, Paso Robles, and Big Sur.The weekend would be about the Clifton Club collection of watches and, later in the weekend, the unveiling of the Burt Munro Tribute Limited Edition. I was excited about trying out this collection as I had to get some hands on time with these watches. I’m a sucker for daily use sailors, so my very first watch of the weekend was the stainless steel Clifton Club with a sunburst satin-finished blue dial, strapped into a textured orange rubber NATO. The daring color blend was fitting to the coastal city setting as it reminds me of the sea and the sun reflecting off the water’s surface. The rubber NATO was a fantastic bit as it felt like a miniature hi-viz wetsuit round my wrist and it was amazingly comfortable, as the material would provide a bit during little impacts and vibrations with continual wear. The 42mm case size and the 10.3mm thickness fit snuggly around my 7.25 inch wrist, fitting comfortably beneath my riding gloves during long kilometers and hours of road vibrations. The Sellita SW200 movement is not glamorous, but it is dependable and with all the road vibrations being exposed to it over this weekend, so I wouldn’t have wanted it to be an in-house, handmade marvel.