Aera Introduces a New Automotive Inspired C-1 Chrono

I have a reputation among family, friends, and colleagues for being car crazy, and though my obsession with motor vehicles tends to lean more towards Sunday cruises and wrenching rather than pure motorsports, I always appreciate a good lap-timer on my watches. That appreciation quickly turns to excitement when the watch in question veers away from the legions of brawny, busy chronographs on the market, and towards a more targeted design ethos, particularly anything midcentury modern. Enter the C-1 Chrono, the latest timepiece in the C-1 line from young British brand Aera.

While not their first motorsport watch, the new C-1 Chrono takes aesthetic cues from the Porsche-inspired C-1 Rennsport and simplifies them down to a more legible, streamlined whole. The most striking element is, of course, the reverse-panda color scheme; a matte black dial, devoid of markings save for a very, very fine minute track around the outer diameter, allows the two matte white chronograph subdials at 6 and 9 o’clock to pop aggressively. The red hour, minute, and chronograph hands, and red and white seconds hand add that touch of automotive flair, bringing the aesthetic straight into the cockpit of a golden era sports car. The sans-serif Aera logo wears Globolight to glow white in low-light conditions, while the hands are coated in Grade X1 Swiss Super-Luminova. 

Like their other C-1 watches, the Chrono is housed in a chunky 42mm brushed stainless steel case, measuring 49.55mm lug-to-lug. Two pushers flank the crown, making it easy for a driver in thick gloves to engage the lap-timer functions. Inside, a Sellita SW510 Bi-compax Elabore Grade automatic movement drives the C-1 Chrono, and allows for hacking seconds and a 56-hour power reserve. Snuggled within the 22mm lug width are two strap options: one black leather, and the other gray scuba rubber. Lastly, a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and a screw-in case back complete the C-1’s clean-and-bold styling. 

Though I have driven few true motorsport legends, I have spent a decent amount of time in 930 Porsche 911s, and the C-1 Chrono’s bold, contrasting colorway instantly reads as a German motorsport-inspired look, somehow even more so than the previous C-1 Rennsport model’s more complicated visuals. The white chrono subdials mirror the white-faced gauges that many enthusiasts swap in to their Porsches, Ferraris, Toyotas, and more, all to feed that desire to balance performance with style. The C-1 Chrono comes off as cleaner, more legible, and more aesthetically cohesive than other watches from the brand, and has the potential to be a favorite in the ever-growing crowd of microbrand timepieces that aim to capture the thrill of motorsport. More information on the latest Aera C-1 Chrono can be found at the brand’s website, here.