When thinking about Omologato watches, I ask the question what makes a racing watch? The obvious, technical answer would be a chronograph with a tachymeter, something that made its debut trackside. But thematically there are so many more timepieces that link themselves to motorsport, with a splash of livery here and there. Both of these could be considered ‘racing watches’ at a stretch, but when the link’s that tenuous, should they be? So, would it be too much of a stretch to define a racing watch as a watch that’s, well, associated with actual racing?
With that, I think, very fair definition, you cut through the noise to the core racing watches and while you do indeed still have some big names, Omologato stands out as a serious contender. The reason for that lies solely with the British brand’s founder, Shami Kalra.
Today, Omologato have ties with the racing world that the big Swiss maisons could only dream of, with car lovers and team owners both flocking to his various, accessible collections. But they’re relationships that didn’t come out of nowhere. Prior to Omologato, Shami had been supplying watches to racing teams; the kind of watches that owners would thank their crews with or commemorate victories, that kind of thing. They were special pieces for special moments. So when Shami decided to strike out properly with an own-name dial in 2015, he did so with the wind behind him. Those relationships, those connections have driven Omologato ever since.
Omologato Panamericana
Let’s be frank, Omologato is a watch company and their main business is making and selling watches. That much I’m sure we all agree on. I think we can all agree that they’re also pretty good at it, tying a plethora of retro designs to automotive iconography as broad as a famous car, as niche as a famous corner.
There’s a lot I could say about them – especially their ultra-cool TV-shaped Panamericana – but I won’t, at least not here. Because the bottom line is that anyone can do something similar. I could go and research some obscure racing paraphernalia, hire a designer and get some cheap watches turned around in a month. They wouldn’t be as cool or as interesting, but it would be easy – and completely insincere.
Shami awarding his friend with the Omologato Award
Sincerity. It’s that one word that has, for me at least, really come to set Omologato and Shami apart from even the often very sincere British watch industry. Shami doesn’t just design racing watches; he’s a fixture of the racing industry, full stop.
Shami has made it his self-imposed mandate to help racers and racing teams compete across the spectrum of the sport, from amateur level competitions to professional races like the Indy500. Not Formula 1 of course, there’s more than enough money sloshing about there, but the kinds of races that are built on and defined by passion. To that end, he’s become a bit of a fixer, scoring some free Pirelli tires for one team here, brokering a $22 million private jet there, whatever he can do to help dedicated teams keep the lights on. In short, if you’re on a racing team that’s struggling to keep your fuel tank full, drop Omologato a line.
Omologato 911 from the East African Classic Rally on display at thee Rotunda at The RAC Club in Pall Mall London (2019)
If these kinds of deals end with Omologato on some sleek racing livery then so be it, but that’s not the point. They’re a brand that lives and breathes the sport that’s given them so much inspiration. In 2025 in fact, they’re taking the next logical step along that line of thinking: starting their own Indy500 team.
Most of us wouldn’t know how to go about starting and entering a team into what’s a serious competition. For Shami, it involved a call to racing legend Chip Ganassi to get a (quite eye-watering) price, then a friend who specialised in sponsorship deals to secure said price. And it just kept going. When another racer and close friend of the brand found out #TeamOmologato was happening, he brought in yet more funds to the nascent team, topped off by an engine supplier donating the beating heart of the car.
On the one hand, entering a car at all shows Omologato’s dedication to the sport. On the other, the sheer relative ease with which Shami has pulled it all together proves that his is a brand built on relationships and passion, not light blue and orange colourways. There’s still a way to go before Shami can stand trackside as a proud team owner (and most likely an even longer way to go before a win), but they’re on the right track.
More details at Omologato.
