iW Magazine Winter 2019 | Page 96

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA RACER’S ROLEX ARTISANS DE GENÈVE HAS TEAMED WITH FAMED RACECAR CHAMPION JUAN PABLO MONTOYA to create La Montoya, a skeletonized version of the Rolex Daytona. To be issued as a limited edition of fifty pieces, La Montoya features a Rolex caliber 4130 dismounted piece by piece, cut, angled, and finished by hand in the Vallée de Joux. Artisans de Genève replaced the bezel from the original Daytona with a new tachymeter bezel machined in a forged carbon block, a use that recalls the same materials found in the racecars driven by Montoya. The dial of the new La Montoya also resonates with the automotive world. It has been skeletonized, angled and polished by hand. The red arrow chronograph hand is sandblasted while the counter hands are now specially shaped, customized pieces. And, like the hands, each chronograph counter is individually painted by hand with the colors of Colombia, Juan Pablo Montoya’s home country. La Montoya, which debuted in November after two years of research and development, also wears Artisans de Genève’s 96 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | WINTER 2019 signature: a solid gold rotor. Manufactured of 22-karat grey gold and completely open-worked, the rotor enhances the beauty of the movement. In addition, the watch’s transparent sapphire caseback is individually engraved, numbered and polished by hand. “I’ve always been passionate about the Rolex Daytona,” says Montoya. “ I probably have seven or eight of them. I won the ‘Rolex 24’ three times, and this is a watch that really relates to all of my racing. So I was amazed when the idea came along to do a skeleton Daytona. Artisans de Genève went far beyond anything I could ask for.” The “La Montoya” is the latest customized timepiece collection from Artisans de Genève, a Geneva-based watchmaker that offers exclusive watch modifications based on request for a very limited number of timepieces. All modifications and finishes are completed in its Swiss workshops. Artisans de Genève SA is an independent company that operates without affiliation to any other watch brand. (Sponsored story) iWMAGAZINE .COM