The New Reservoir GT Tour watch line of chases after the exhilaration of automotive racing, the thrill of a checkered flag, and the smell of race gas. This line’s design evokes a spirit of freedom found only at 200 miles per hour, at the top of the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, or kissing the bricks at Indy.
The retail landscape of men’s watches under $5,000 is incredibly diverse; from the lowly $25 Timex with minimal features to the Rolex Oyster Perpetual, which just skims that price ceiling, there’s a lot of variety. Functionality, build materials, color, and jewels all contribute to the going price of a timepiece, so too can the manufacturer’s name affect the dollars you’ll shill out. For Reservoir, the Paris-based horology enthusiasts, the manufacture of a watch must speak to enthusiasm about a pursuit. Regardless of your automotive fantasy, the GT Tour may help bring that to life on your wrist. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a closer look.
Under the Hood
One should avoid at all costs fixating on the exterior aesthetics of watches alone. There is an incredible amount of things happening under that shiny veneer that you ought to understand. Reservoir is a design house out of Paris, with Swiss manufacturers. CEO and Founder of the Reservoir brand is François Moreau, a banker by day, and a horology (study of time) enthusiast by night. Reservoir’s products follow standard Swiss watchmaking pedagogy: automatic winding, a minute scale, a window hour display, and a reserve indicator.
On the Dashboard
Reservoir is best known for its dashboard-style watch face featured prominently on the GT Tour line. For the regular watch-wearer, the face of this timepiece may appear a challenge to read, but after a few glances, you’ll get the hang of the format quite quickly. The primary gauge on the face of the watch is a minute hand, the indicator falls on a number that you simply multiply by 10. Below the minute indicator is an hour window that quickly, through numerals, indicates your place in time. The cheeky gas gauge style window at the bottom approximates just how much time you’ve got left in the hour, an indicator that will put any commuter’s gas foot to the floor.
For the GT Tour lineup, all of these watches feature a black or blue face with a reddish-orange hand, reminiscent of the indicators in the vehicle you hopefully aren’t driving while reading this. The minute hand’s slow movement over time resembles the winding up of a high octane motor on a racetrack, only slightly slower.
On the Road… er Wrist
If you fancy a timepiece that is slightly out of the ordinary, something that speaks to the passion you have for a revving engine and carbon brakes, the Reservoir GT Tour may just be the watch lineup you have been waiting for, but with a few cautions. This watch lineup does not boast significant waterproofing. Even though it claims a 50-meter rating the bezel itself is a screw-down, so be cautious that it does not come loose lest you be without a functioning timepiece. Another concern is that there is no illumination to speak of, so if you’re racing in the dark, or just looking to find the time en route to the kitchen past sunset you’ll find it challenging to place the time.
The Reservoir GT Tour Watch
All of that said, these are stunning timepieces. With the haute design requirement of the Paris-based leadership team and the incredible Swiss manufacturing, you can be sure this is a well thought out piece of timekeeping. Starting at around $4100, there are several band and dial options for your purchasing pleasure. But before you checkout, make sure that the design you’ve landed upon will look appropriate in the vehicle that inspired your purchase.