Company: Chotovelli & Figli
WEBSITE: https://chotovelli.com/collections
About:
Our Company Chotovelli and Sons is a third generation
Watchmakers from Torino. We manufacture Luxury Pilot Watches designed and inspired by Gauges and
Speedometers made by Italian car and aviation industry .
It all started in the late 1920’s with Simone Chotovelli
the first Chotovelli Watchmaker.His craftsmanship
in repairing and restoring old mechanical and automatic
movements was Well known. In 1967 he passed the
knowledge and know-how to his son Yitzchak Chotovelli
who continued the wishes of his father and by that carried
on the legacy to become a well established watchmaker.
In 2005 Sons and daughter of Yitzchak embarked on
a venture to revive the family tradition launching a unique
Military Pilot Watch collection,unsurpassed in craftsmanship
premium quality and exceptional eye for detail.
Model: Petrol Head
Specifications:
Aisi Stainless steel 316 L
50.2 Diameter / 17.1 mm Thickness
MOVEMENT SPECIFICATIONS
CAL. 2115 ANALOG QUARTZ MOV’T
BY CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD. JAPAN
10-1/2”’ / 4.15 mm
MANUFACTURED IN JAPAN
Italian Calf Leather strap
Hardened Sapphire Glass
Engraved 8 mm crown on the 3 O’clock Position
Glossy finish Black Dial with Luminous Hands and numerals
100M /10ATM /330Ft
$355.00 USD
Sometimes a watch comes along that is just fun and that’s what the Petrol Head from Chotovelli is all about. An auto themed watch that is definitely geared towards car enthusiasts. From first glance you will notice is the large case size which comes in at 50.2mm by 17.1mm thick. It definitely will get noticed on the wrist. The large 8mm signed crown is quite impressive and operates as a standard push/pull style. The brushed stainless steel case features an engraved CHOTOVELLI on the non crown side.
Thankfully the lugs are quite short so the watch doesn’t wear larger than its dimensions. I have 7 1/2″ wrists and the wears comfortably. The drilled lugs have decorative screw heads and standard spring bars that hold the straps on. A little disapointing that they aren’t actual screw bars. I think if you are going to go through the process of making decorative screw heads, just commit all the way to make them true screw bars.
The fixed sterile stainless steel bezel is very nice and is my favorite part of the case itself. It’s not flat and has nice angled edges. It looks great especially when it catches the light and it allows the sapphire crystal to sit well below the bezel keeping the crystal protected. The screw down case back features some nice engraving. The engraved airplane is pretty sweet and right underneath is engraved CHOTOVELLI. What I also like about the case back is the 6 holes that encircle it. It would have been really awesome if there were screws in each of those holes. It would have added to the whole auto theme of this watch.
The dial of the Petrol Head is where this watch really shines. The large gloss black dial is extremely easy to read. I absolutely LOVE the fuel gauge set up on the dial. At 10 and 2 there is an E and F that obviosouusly stand for empty and full just like a real fuel gauge. I also like how they are positioned at 10 & 2 which is the correct hand placement on a steering wheel. Immediately taking me back to drivers education class in high school. There is a confidently place small date window at the 3 o’clock position. Because of the large dial on the Petrol Head the date window is non-obtrusive.
The dial also has some great color pops and stealth colors throughout it. The white hour hand and red minute/second hand to start really makes telling the time easy despite only featuring actual numbers 20 & 40. The numbers are printed in dark grey so at certain angles they actually blend into the dial. The red fuel pump at the 12 o’clock position is the highlight of the dial for me. It just adds such a great detail that makes the auto theme perfect on the Petrolhead.
The citizen made movement inside the Petrolhead has a -/+ 20 seconds a month accuracy rate. I personally would have liked an automatic movement inside with a dashboard style indicator to show remaining power reserve. That would have played nicely into the theme of this watch.
The Petrol Head comes on a nice black leather strap with white stitching. The strap is very soft straight out of the box. I like how thick the strap is makes it feel quality and not cheap like it won’t last. The brushed stainless steel tang buckle is unsigned. The strap works well on the watch and I think it’s the perfect strap choice. A NATO style strap would also work really well on this watch.
The Petrol Head is a really fun watch to wear. It’s a large but comfortable watch that has great wrist presence. It’s the perfect watch for auto/race enthusiasts. My older brother is a car fanatic and he absolutely loved this watch when he saw it during my review process. Even if you aren’t a car enthusiast the Petrol Head is just a watch is a nice break from the seriousness that some watches have or try to have. The dial is hands down my favorite part of this watch. There are so many little fun details that holds true to the overall theme of the watch. I like how committed Chotovelli was to holding the consitancy throughout this watch.
The large crown is also a great highlight of this watch. What would have been cool is if it was engraved with some kind of auto themed logo other than just the Chotovelli engraving. The dial, crown and commitment to the auto theme are definitley pros on the Petrol Head. The cons are the faux screw bars for the strap and I would have liked to see an automatic movement inside of this watch. I think having a mechanical/auto movement inside would have taken the auto theme commitment over the edge into greatness.
I want to personally thank Chotovelli & Figli for the opportunity to review the Petrol Head. It was a really fun watch to experience. I also want to thank you all for reading. You make what I do so worth it.
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