Toymaker Hot Wheels and Swiss wristwatch brand IWC have announced a joint project dedicated to the iconic 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. The duo will release 50 sets including a painstakingly detailed car replica and a watch for $10,000 USD.
The car is recreated in a scale of 1:64, but still has doors that you can open and richly detailed exterior and cabin.
Rather than designing a new wristwatch from scratch, IWC redesigned an existing model into what is now called the Hot Wheels Racing Works Edition Pilot’s Watch Chronograph. It is a black and grey piece of fine art adorned with a Hot Wheels logo and a stylized racing flag on the dial.
The number 68 on the reverse side of both the car and the watch references two dates at once: IWC itself was founded in 1868, and the first Hot Wheels toys rolled off the assembly line in California a century later. Back in the era, the company was owned by Mattel co-owner Elliot Handler.
Each set will be shipped in a titanium box resembling a toolbox. The first set has already been produced and is up on sale at Bonhams Auctions with a highest bid of £14,000 ($19,300) and three days before closure.