The 417 ES Chronograph by Hanhart is one of the defining models in the German brand’s history, introduced in 1954 as a pilot’s chronograph for the German armed forces: robust, reliable and legible. The stainless-steel version, designated 417 ES, which also happened to be one of Steve McQueen’s favourite watches off-screen, became the foundation for a modern re-edition, now a key part of Hanhart’s collection. The model now comes in two colourways through a collaboration with Lex Borrero, founder of 0260 and the Time to Drive Car & Watch Festival, and Eric Peng Cheng, founder of BAIT. Both are collectors whose interests span watches, cars, and design.
The collaboration model retains the proportions of the most compact version of the 417 ES, while introducing a new combination of dial colours and details, somehow a re-edition of an imaginary racing chronograph designed by Hanhart in the 1950s, but that never existed…
The stainless-steel case measures 39mm in diameter, 13.3mm thick and 46mm from lug to lug. Satin-finished surfaces meet polished details. The fluted bezel retains its red marker, a signature feature of Hanhart’s pilot chronographs. The bezel rotates continuously in both directions without click stops. A domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides protects the dial, and the screw-down caseback carries the limited-edition number. Water resistance is 100m.
Two versions are released. The first features a black dial with cream-coloured sub-dials and red accents. The second boasts a cream dial with brown counters. Both retain the bi-compax layout, with a small seconds display and a 30-minute chronograph counter. In this edition, the dial features fine, oriented Arabic numerals and a minutes/seconds track on the dial’s periphery, drawing on Hanhart’s earlier history. The minutes and seconds hands with curved tips reduce parallax errors. Hours and minutes hands are treated with Super-LumiNova. Apart from Hanhart, both references carry 0260 and BAIT logos.
Like the regular 417 ES model, the collaboration editions use the manually wound Sellita SW510 M. Running at 28,800 vibrations/hour, the movement provides a 48-hour power reserve. Each watch comes with a vintage-style saddle-leather strap, available in black, light brown or dark brown, with bar-tack stitching and a pin buckle bearing Hanhart’s historic logo.
Each dial colourway is limited to 88 pieces. The Hanhart 417 ES x 0260 x BAIT is priced at EUR 2,890 or USD 3,300. For more details, please visit www.hanhart.com.
https://monochrome-watches.com/hanhart-417-es-x-0260-x-bait-chronograph-39mm-vintage-racing-introducing-price/