The Baltic Rally Timer Tour Auto 2026 is the Set You Need for your Classic Car

Seasoned divers, like our own Derek, will all tell you that, in our day and age, a mechanical dive watch isn’t truly relevant anymore, having been replaced by diving computers. And yet, either for safety or emotional reasons, many still use an old-school timepiece during their seasons. In the world of classic car rallies, the same occurred with the arrival of digital tripmasters. And yet, many still equip their cars with classic, mechanical, dash-mounted stopwatches and clocks. Irrelevant? Maybe. Nostalgic? Surely. Cool? Undoubtedly. Very few brands still produce them, and thus, I’m happy to share that Baltic, a young brand that also happens to be the Official Timekeeper of the famous Tour Auto, has released a new version of its Rally Timer. 

Rally timers, dash-mounted sets of instruments, typically consisting of 2 or 3 devices (clock, classic stopwatch, and split-second stopwatch), were the norm for decades when it came to timing car rallies. Produced by brands such as Heuer or Minerva, they were indispensable to timing regularity events or special stages. With the advent of digital instruments, these were quickly replaced by so-called trip masters, devices offering far more precision and functionality. Yet, not only do some classic car rallies still impose mechanical instruments, but let’s be honest… These tripmasters are not the best looking on the wood-and-chrome dash of an old Jaguar E-Type. The problem is, not many brands manufacture these mechanical instruments anymore. German brand Hanhart, for example, is one of the very few companies left.

Baltic, a young French brand driven by the passion for mechanical watches and vintage cars, is for the fourth consecutive year taking the role of Official Timekeeper of the Tour Auto, a true monument to motor sport and the historic reincarnation of the Tour de France Automobile, created in 1899 by the Automobile Club de France. Baltic has already released several pieces inspired by the Tour Auto, such as the Tricompax Tour Auto 2024 paired with a Rally Timer, as well as the Scalegraph for the Tour Auto 2025. This year, the Rally Timer set returns as a limited, stand-alone edition.

For the first time, a Rally Timer takes centre stage in a dedicated collaboration. A must-have for motorsports, this set consists of two mechanical instruments. First is the all-important stopwatch, here powered by a hand-wound movement with a flyback function, sourced from Hanhart (the Calibre 122 with 6 hours of power reserve). This stopwatch, equipped with a light blue matte dial and a large, lumed blue central hand, is crucial to measuring lap times on a race track or during special stages in rallying. The flyback function makes sure that you can reset and simultaneously start a new timing session. It can time events up to 30 minutes, with a central seconds hand and a minute sub-dial with coloured markings.

The second instrument is a mechanical dash clock, also with a matte light blue dial, with two large, luminous hours and minutes hands, and a small seconds counter at 6 o’clock. Powered by an Enloong 6497 (a Chinese-made version of the Unitas 6497), this hand-wound movement has 42 hours of power and allows you to keep track of the current time, another important factor in rally, when you must reach the start of a spec stage at a given time.

Both instruments are made of brushed and polished stainless steel, measure 60mm in diameter, 18mm in thickness and their dials are protected by a domed Hesalite crystal. A plaque in brushed steel is also included, making sure that you can fix these Rally Timer instruments on the dash of your beloved classic (or modern…) car.

Limited to 300 pieces, never to be reproduced, the Baltic Rally Timer Tour Auto 2026 set is priced at EUR 825 (excl. taxes) or EUR 990 (incl. taxes)… Quite a treat for classic car lovers, and even something cool to put on your desk. More details at baltic-watches.com.