Here’s how you can wear a Ferrari 348 on your wrist
You don’t have to look far to find all manner of automotive- and motorsport-inspired wristwatches for sale, but what about a timepiece with a slice of an actual Ferrari or an Aston Martin in it? That’s what Dave Giammetta envisioned when he founded Fuoriserie in 2018. Based in Sydney, Australia, Fuoriserie offers two watches—one from a Ferrari 348TB, the other from an Aston Martin Rapide—with dials made from unsalvageable body panels.
Giammetta’s automotive obsession started with a a ’71 Mazda 1300 he bought for $300 as a teenager. In the years that followed, he spent may paychecks on whatever older cars and parts he could afford. Two years ago, while installing a Sebring-style stopwatch on the dashboard of a project car, the idea struck him to start producing the kind of watch he’d want to wear.
“I wanted to make a functional, affordable, and usable product for kids or adults with a passion for cars who may never get the opportunity to see, feel or own a supercar,” Giammetta says.
Ferraris in particular always seemed to Giammetta like the definition of an exotic car, so for his first watch he had his heart set on a Testarossa—the car he had stuck to his childhood bedroom wall as a poster. After searching for five months for panels from a wrecked car, he ended up with something close: a set of doors from a 348 tb that been sandwiched in a wreck. The doors presented a challenge because of their curves, but once they were cut and delicately rolled out they yielded enough for 150 watches. “The experience taught me a lot, but particularly that flat panels are a lot easier to work with in this context,” Giammetta says.
For his next variant, he knew he wanted to select a vehicle with a different ethos than Ferrari. The winning candidate was an Aston Martin Rapide that had been in a fire, but most of the hood was unscathed. While the Ferrari-flavored watch shows off a Rosso Red hue, the Rapide is a more subdued Storm Black.
Although he hasn’t quit his day job in marketing, Giammetta is wholly dedicated to seeing Fuoriserie succeed. He has invested his life’s savings into the business; despite urging from friends and colleagues to gather support from crowdfunding sites. “I didn’t want to be accountable to Kickstarter or anyone else,” he says.
Though the cars themselves are high-end, the price point of Fuoriserie watches is considerably more affordable even watch context, in which the luxury end of the spectrum can cost many thousands of dollars. Fuoriserie’s $450 price point makes it accessible to a wide variety of customers, Giammetta says. It’s a fashion accessory, clearly, but his goal is to give people the chance to carry around with them something inspired by automotive culture. Aside from the salvaged-part pieces, there are other specific details born of car design. “A keen eye will note the dial is reminiscent of a vintage Jaeger speedo, the lugs are inspired by the bumper bar/over rider found on a 1948 Cadillac, and the strap is motivated by vintage steering wheels such as the iconic Momo Prototipo,” he explains.
As for what powers the watch itself, it’s a Japanese Miyota M203A quartz movement that you can find in many Citizen-branded products. “They’re a quality movement that’s both reliable and affordable for customers and myself as a newcomer to the watch market.”
On the horizon is a new series, for which Giammetta wants to incorporate a mechanical movement, likely also from Miyota. As for the cars that will headline this upcoming series, he’s already sourced two panels from a Leaf Green Porsche 911. Also in Fuorsiserie’s crosshairs is the hood of a Toyota 2000GT, and Giammetta is even planning to use some of the original interior trim for other components.
In the meantime, you can check out Fuoriserie’s website here.
Photography by Oli Coulthard
