REC Watches, a lovely little Danish watchmaking brand that started up in 2011. Now, they are back with their second collection. The P-51 Automatic Collection is made by recycling authentic classic 1960’s Ford Mustang, a car which to our minds is the very symbol of freedom and opportunity! That’s right: it’s recycled horsepower! The collection takes its name after Executive stylist John Najjar, who was a fan of the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, is credited by Ford to have suggested the name.
The 44 millimeters watch, has a cushion-shaped case and an unusual dial configuration. It’s made from salvaged 1960’s Ford Mustangs. Everything, from the numeral fonts to the shapes of the hands, is meant to recall the old cars. The top dial looks like a fuel gauge and shows the power reserve, while the speedometer-inspired main dial tells the hours, minutes, and seconds. Just below that is a date display meant to look like a mileage gauge.
The little plate up around 11 o’clock tells you the year and chassis number of the Mustang, too. If you want to know even more about the car, each watch will come with a card you can scan with your phone to see a video about the specific Mustang your watch’s dial came from. Powering all this is a Japanese Miyota 9130 movement. It is automatic (you can see the stylized winding rotor through the window on the back of the watch), packs 48 hours of power reserve, and has 26 jewels.
The P-51 collection comes in three variations, where each variation has its own distinct expression in terms of color and materials used (black-and-gold version with really elegant grey display dials, the version with creme dials and blue hands and the third version with a combination black PVD and steel case and black subdials).