Depancel’s race-hour dial is clever, but you have to do the counting

I like the proportions of this Depancel, and the black and yellow racing treatment looks pretty good. The thing I had to stop and understand was the little race-hour display. It looks like it might be timing something for you, but you actually advance it yourself. That changes how I'd think about the whole watch.

This is the Autosport Les 2 Tours d'Horloge, a 100-piece edition connected to the historic-car endurance race at Circuit Paul Ricard. The numbered case, perforated leather strap and yellow accents make the connection fairly obvious. I can enjoy a racing watch when the design holds together, and the small French-color detail on the strap is restrained enough that it doesn't bother me.

You press it once an hour

The movement is a Miyota 9122 automatic with a stated 40-hour reserve. Depancel has repurposed the usual month display as a race-hour indicator, with two scales covering 1–12 and 13–24. The pusher at two advances that display manually. You press it as the race progresses; it isn't a chronograph counting elapsed hours automatically.

I think that's a clever use of an existing mechanism, but I would probably forget to press it. Then I'd have a watch showing the wrong race hour until I caught up. I can see someone enjoying the little ritual while watching an endurance event. For me, it makes the display more of a themed extra than a feature I'd pay much more to have.

The regular time, day and date still do their normal jobs. The dial has several textures, two subdials and a lot of short marks around the perimeter. It is busy, although the case size helps keep my reaction away from the oversized aviation watches that really lose me. I prefer the clean view of the whole watch over trying to justify every little racing reference individually.

Published dimensions are 39 mm across, 46 mm lug to lug and 12.6 mm thick including the double-domed sapphire. Depancel gives 11.2 mm without the crystal. Water resistance is 50 meters and lug width is 20 mm. I haven't handled the watch, so I can't tell you how the case height, pushers or strap feel in use. The angled source photographs are a useful starting point, not a wear test.

One edition, three attachment choices

The retained sources identify three references: leather with a pin buckle, leather with a folding clasp, and a beads-of-rice steel bracelet. Reported tax-inclusive prices are €795, €825 and €845 respectively, checked November 4, 2026. The 100 pieces are the edition total, not 100 of each strap option. There is no verified US dollar quote here.

MONOCHROME reports November 5 sales, while the current maker page advertises shipping in two to five days. I haven't resolved that availability conflict. November 3 is the specialist introduction date, not a confirmed first brand announcement.

I'm at 79 out of 120 bezel clicks. I'd want to see the bracelet version and check dial readability before deciding whether the manual race counter adds enough enjoyment for me.