Back to the…. Past?? The Romain Jerome Delorean DNA

Following up on their previous iteration of the DNA-collection, the Swiss based brand of Romain Jerome has launched a new chapter in the ongoing saga. We have come acquainted with the recipe for the DNA-line by Romain Jerome over the past couple of years, like the Liberty-DNA, that we recently told you about.

Romain Jerome now now focusses his attention to the world of automobiles and cinematography. Commemorating an icon of motoring history, the new Romain Jerome Delorean-DNA is inspired by a remarkable car. This legend isn’t known because of having an extensive racing career or its blistering speed and handling but for the simple fact it featured in a couple of Steven Spielberg movies. Remember a guy called Marty McFly or a mad scientist known as Doctor Emmet Brown (or simply ‘Doc’)? No? Perhaps the phrase “Back to the Future” brings back some memories.

Using the legendary DMC Delorean as an inspiration, Romain Jerome has crafted a 46mm wide steel case, reminiscent of the all-stainless steel body of the Delorean. RJ has actually used bits of the original material to create the case. Although the watch won’t be equipped with a Flux Capacitor, or store 1.21 Gigawatts of power, it does pack some cool design-cues from the car. One of the most distinctive features is the taillight design of the small seconds counter positioned at 9 o’clock. This counter features yellow, red and white coloring resembling the taillight of the actual car.

The counter at 3 o’clock displays a 30-minute period when using the chronograph function and is accompanied by a 12 hour counter at 6 o’clock. The design of the 30-minute counter is made to look like the rims that the Delorean roles around on. Lacking numerals does make it a tad difficult to read the counter though. Then again, people wearing this probably won’t use the chronograph as much although this is an absolute assumption on my part!

The trademark Romain Jerome design of four struts grabbing the bezel is continued on the brushed and Rhodiumed dial of the watch with cross-strut traverses. The hands adorning the dial are inspired by automotive dashboards. Although I can’t say this for certain, the hands look like they are the same color as the dial and that might become an issue out in the sun. They might blend into the background a bit. The dial is completed with the Delorean-logo between 5 and 6 o’clock.

If you flip the watch around, you will see a medallion paying tribute to Delorean and depicting the actual car with its trademark gull-wing doors flipped open. If you are lucky enough to own one, the screw down caseback will also tell you which number of the maximum of 81 pieces you have. 81 pieces is a lot less then the 6.500 Deloreans that are around though. This number refers to the year the car was first introduced to the public, which was back in 1981.

The hart of the timepiece is the RJ001-CH self winding movement, featuring the time and a 12 hour Chronograph module. The movement beats at the familiar rate of 28,800 A/h and packs 42 hours of power. The strap is made from black leather and finished with grey stitching. The middle part of the strap is raised slightly, to make it look like it came from the upholstery of a car seat. Water resistance comes in at 30 meters.

Romain Jerome offers this tribute to the Delorean and the Back to the Future franchise at a price of $ 15,900 USD or € 12.900 Euro. More information on this piece is available at Romain Jerome’s website.

This article is written by Robin Nooij, contributing editor for Monochrome Watches.