Independent watch brand Singer Reimagined continues manifesting their own future of mechanical watchmaking with the intuitive 1970 DualTrack.
Nostalgia fatigue is a difficult problem to remedy in watch design. Don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing inherently bad about brands reissuing, remastering, or bringing fan favourites back into their catalogues. But the oversaturation of it in the industry makes every consecutive release feel increasingly inconsequential. However, there are brands that fight the notion of nostalgia fatigue, creating timepieces that use the past as a blueprint rather than an instruction manual. Singer Reimagined is one of many independent brands taking the fight to the wrist.
Following in the footsteps of its sister brand, Singer Vehicle Design, Singer Reimagined aims to capture the golden age of horology with its own unique flavour. It leverages the automotive world as its primary design inspiration, which, given its origins, is hardly surprising.
Yet its watchmaking has stretched beyond simply reskinning the past, instead creating new and intuitive approaches to the industry’s staple complications. Part of this story is the DualTrack collection, released earlier this year as a cleaner, simpler solution to the caller-style GMT. That watch had more of a contemporary flair, though, so now Singer has, well, reimagined the watch as if it had been released during the very era that inspires its designs.
Slimming Down
The fittingly named 1970 DualTrack is the result of this experimentation, launching in three variants as part of the independent brand’s permanent collection. What immediately becomes noticeable about these pieces is how drastically their dimensions have been reduced from the original released earlier this year. Where the first DualTrack GMT was a mighty 43mm wide and 15mm thick, the new trio of models measures a much more wearable 40mm in diameter and 12.6mm in thickness.
Also noticeable is the new case profile, which naturally takes its cues from 1970s automobiles, when geometric design became the norm. Think the Lamborghini Countach, Renault 5 or Lancia Stratos, among others, as blueprints for the watchmakers of the era, and for Singer Reimagined.
With such sports cars serving as inspiration, the 1970 DualTrack also carries a distinctly sporting demeanour. A polished bezel falls sharply into knurling, complemented by polished chamfers along every edge of the case. Hooded lugs give the watch an almost integrated appearance, flowing into the supplied steel bracelet and folding clasp.
But for all its heritage appeal, the watch still comes with all the modern accoutrements. Complete with a micro-adjustment system and 100 metres of water resistance, the 1970 DualTrack proves that you don’t have to let the past get in the way of practical, modern watchmaking.
Triplicate Time Machine
As clearly informed as the watch’s frame is, Singer Reimagined’s dial layout takes an almost entirely singular approach. Its automotive-inspired philosophy becomes apparent at first glance, with a golden cabochon masking the central axis of the hands. This reinforces the impression that the watch has been ripped straight from an old car gauge, with a bright orange needle seconds hand matched by skeletonised plongeur-style hour and minute hands.
This design remains consistent across all three models, which also feature sepia-toned applied indices and a bright orange arrow index at six o’clock. This feature will become more important shortly. Perhaps the only area in which they differ is their dial tones, which are unique to each reference. The olive green and blue dials are accompanied by a golden rehaut (flange) displaying the 24-hour scale, while the brown reference uses a bronze rehaut with golden text instead.
It’s a simplistic layout that again underlines the utility-driven nature of the watch, yet remains refined enough to maintain its distinctiveness while championing function. Nothing detracts from the complication or the case profile, allowing each element to shine individually as the wearer interacts with the timepiece.
Torqued Up
Speaking of function, it’s perhaps the most important and impressive aspect of Singer Reimagined’s latest offering. Turning the watch around reveals the Cal. ST5001 through the exhibition caseback. Beating at a standard 4Hz (28,800VpH), the 1970 DualTrack collection manages to deliver a whopping 144 hours of power reserve. Though the six-day reserve is accessible only through manual winding, the mechanism behind it is remarkable.
Simply put, twin sets of double barrels work in parallel, keeping torque consistent throughout the watch’s entire runtime. As a watch runs down, its available torque tends to decrease, potentially affecting its performance. Keeping it consistent helps the watch maintain peak performance from the first minute to the last possible second.
And that’s not even getting into the added GMT complication. Instead of cluttering the dial further with a fourth hand, the applied index at six o’clock points to the time on the 24-hour scale. A small corrector at nine o’clock advances the rehaut clockwise, allowing the wearer to easily set a second time zone on demand.
Though it’s essentially a more convenient rendition of the caller-style GMT, it’s one that requires less fiddling. Combined with the mighty power reserve and consistent torque, the 1970 DualTrack is truly a rare breed of mechanical watch that can still be described as ‘set and forget’. Well, at least for a week, provided you keep it wound.
Initial Thoughts
Once again, Singer Reimagined has proved that the designs of the past don’t have to be disingenuously copy-pasted into the present to garner acclaim. This is how watch brands should fight nostalgia fatigue: using heritage to inform something new while still providing the very best horological technology available to them.
At the centre of it all, alongside master watchmaker Marco Borraccino, is Rob Dickinson, former frontman of Catherine Wheel. Given his creative background, Singer Reimagined’s approach to horology shouldn’t be surprising. To paraphrase his song ‘For Dreaming’ from 1997’s Adam & Eve, Singer Reimagined’s approach to horology won’t sentimentalise the loss of appetite for heritage-driven watchmaking. Instead, each of its watches – including the new 1970 DualTrack collection – continue to add to the story of watchmaking’s greatest eras without becoming a slave to them.
References & Specifications
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Reference | SR811-2 (Green) SR811-3 (Blue) SR811-5 (Brown) |
| Dimensions | 40mm case diameter x 12.6mm thickness |
| Case | Stainless steel |
| Dial | Green / blue / brown with gold / brown accents |
| Crystal | Sapphire |
| Caseback | Open, sapphire |
| Movement | Manual wind Cal. ST5001 with GMT complication |
| Power Reserve | 144h (6 days) |
| Beat Rate | 4Hz / 28,800VpH |
| Water Resistance | 100m / 10bar |
| Strap/Bracelet | Integrated steel bracelet with micro-adjustable folding clasp |