An NOS 1970s Chronograph Engine Gets a New Life in This Striking Modern Sports Watch

The allure of vintage watches is undeniable. They have an effortless cool about them that’s nearly impossible to replicate in a modern piece; a result of their historical ties to a romanticized bygone era.

But vintage watches also have an inherent downside: Their reliability, or rather, lack thereof. Even a cheap contemporary watch will be more reliable than a luxury vintage piece, as you likely won’t have to worry about water ingress from a rainstorm or gentle knocks against a doorknob potentially causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.

But what about watches that combine certain authentic vintage elements with modern technology? Well, then you’re really cooking with gas, and that’s what Italian microbrand Veneziancio has cooked up with its intriguing new Bucintoro 1976 chronograph.

Venezianico

Aviation’s Golden Age

Flying these days generally sucks, I think we can all agree on that. But 50 years ago, that wasn’t the case. In 1976, the Concorde made its maiden commercial flight. The supersonic jet ushered in a new but all too brief era of lightning-fast, luxurious air travel, whisking travelers across the Atlantic in a Space Age-design icon flying faster than the speed of sound.

It’s been decades since the Concorde last took to the air, and the dream of supersonic commercial flight disappeared with it. But with its new chronograph, Venezianico is bringing a little piece of the Concorde to your wrist — along with a new-old-stock chronograph engine from the same era.

First things first, the Bucintoro 1976 is a decidedly handsome chronograph. It features a classic blue panda design with a cream-colored dial with matching dark blue subdials and inner tachymeter bezel that’s protected by a vintage-echoing 1.6mm-tall domed sapphire crystal. The hands and indices are gold-toned, as are several special markings on the dial that allude to the Concorde.

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The 30-minute chronograph totalizer at 3:00 features gold markings indicating when the plane would reach Mach 1 and Mach 2 if you activate the chronograph upon takeoff, while the 12-hour register at 6:00 features a golden “fuel gauge” for the first 4 hours, aligning with the Concorde’s historical capacity. The tachymeter features a second scale in gold tracking speed in knots, and on the caseback, four classic intercontinental Concorde destinations are written in gold.

The left side of the 42mm stainless steel case features a screwed-on titanium plaque with a gold engraving designating the watch’s limited-edition number, but this is no ordinary plaque. It’s actually made from the last remaining original Concorde engine blades, meaning every Bucintoro 1976 chronograph contains an actual piece of the legendary aircraft.

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Even more interesting is the movement powering the watch. Fully visible behind a sapphire display caseback is a restored, new-old-stock Lemania Calibre 1873 movement. This hand-wound integrated chronograph was a fixture of mid-century pilot’s chronographs from the likes of brands like Breitling and Heuer, and even Omega’s venerated Cal. 861, used in the second-generation Moonwatch, was based on the 1873.

Venezianico sourced vintage 1873 movements from European collectors and meticulously renovated them, completely disassembling and reassembling the movements while replacing any damaged parts with custom-made recreations using the same finishing techniques found on the 1970s originals. The renovated calibre beats at 21,600 vph and has a power reserve of 40 hours, along with an expected accuracy of -5/+10 seconds per day.

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In addition to the movement getting a thoroughly modern makeover, you’re also getting plenty of other contemporary touches that would be absent on a vintage watch.

There are sapphire crystals front and back, the hands and indices feature bright-glowing, non-radioactive Super-LumiNova luminescence, and the watch even boasts a 100-meter water-resistance rating; that’s impressive for any mechanical chronograph with a display caseback, let alone one housing a 50-year-old movement. Finally, the watch includes both a Sansovino steel bracelet and an Italian-made leather strap in dark blue to match the dial.

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Pricing and availability

With its handsome looks, legendary vintage movement and its ties to one of the most iconic crafts in aviation history, the Bucintoro 1976 is quite possibly the most ambitious and desirable watch Venezianico has created in its short, 8-year lifetime.

Given the nature of the limited materials involved — the engine blade plaques and the NOS movements — the Bucintoro 1976 is understandably a limited edition. Venezianico is making 100 examples of the watch, which is honestly more than I expected, with each priced at $5,495. They’ll go on sale on Venezianico’s website at 9:00 am EDT on September 29.

Venezianico

Venezianico Bucintoro 1976

Specs

Case Size	42mm
Movement	Lemania Cal. 1873 manual-wind chronograph
Water Resistance	100m

• $5,495 at Venezianico

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