Perrelet Turbine Sung Kang watch
Recently, on HauteTime.com, we presented a one-on-one exclusive interview with actor Sung Kang of The Fast and Furious Franchise fame. An auto enthusiast and drift racer, the American-born Korean actor is also a brand ambassador for Perrelet and has worked with the brand this year to unveil the Turbine Sung Kang watch.Here we bring you a look at that watch and excerpts from the interview with Sung Kang and Haute Time article as we wrap up 2016 watch unveilings that you wont’ want to miss.
Auto Inspirations
Just 350 pieces of the Perrelet Turbine Sung Kang watch will ever be made. Each of the 44mm watches house the P321 in-house mechanical automatic caliber and offers three hands and date at 6:00. The watch features an automatic winding system with ball bearing-mounted oscillating weight and anti-shock system (Incabloc) on the balance wheel. It deftly brings together the wide worlds of automobiles, racing and watches, as well as Sung Kang. It retails for an extremely affordable $4,988.
Sung Kang says the sentimental aspect of creating the Perrelet Turbine Sung Kang came into play when he gave thought to what he wanted his design to be. “The turbine element of the watch, always moving, fits my passion for cars and the brand executives also like the same types of cars as I do, so the synergies are good. But I really wanted something that would make you think of driving, history, being in the garage; I wanted something that when you wear it you have a sense of nostalgia. I don’t mean to be chauvinistic but I wanted something masculine that has a feeling of James Dean or Steve McQueen and I wanted a look that would last forever that you could pass down to the next generation.”
To that end, Sung Kang brought back a very useful design element of decades ago in driving watches, where the 12:00 is offset so that when driving, the time is more easily readable. “The offset 12 is a subtle thing, but it has an element of the past that I love.” He also added red, the color of the RPMs on the dashboard, and yellow, and a car-lover’s color, to the bottom dial so that as the upper turbines move, the color comes through. The Turbine Sung Kang is crafted in stainless steel with black PVD coating and black rubber strap for a real “blacktop” racing appeal.
Sung Kang is most known for his role in Fast & Furious series
Project Underdog
Kang says his love of cars started very early in life. “When I was a little boy, I had a neighbor who was always out working in his garage on a ‘63 Impala, a white convertible with a white interior, and he would let this little boy come over and hang out with him. I would watch what he was doing and ask questions. That was my sanctuary; I could be there anytime I needed to get away, anytime, and that stayed with me. As I got older, I wanted to give that back to someone else,” says Kang, referring to his charity, Project Underdog.
“For me, the biggest accomplishment in my entire life really comes from my childhood and that neighbor next door. It’s the Project Underdog charity, wherein I work with three inner-city kids to completely rebuild a car over a summer. Then we auction it off and all the money is used for their college educations,” explains Kang. In fact, he feels that working in a garage is a wholesome and fulfilling experience. “You learn so much from something like this. Not just how to build a car, but also that your word counts, you learn about integrity. You can cheat when you’re building a car — I call them the bondo warriors — or you can do it right. We do it right, and it is a great learning experience.”
For more about Project Underdog, and for the comprehensive interview with Sung Kang, read the article on Haute Time here.
