Breitling has joined Aston Martin as the marque’s official global partner
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team edition, calfskin leather strap in black
It’s a partnership that surprised very few and is now confirmed – Breitling and Aston Martin have made it official. And they’ve done it with a watch. ‘We have been approached by many F1 teams,’ says Breitling CEO Georges Kern at a round table when the partnership and timepiece announcement was made to a specially invited group ahead of the 5 February reveal.
I said “no” over the last seven or eight years to, basically, everybody, but when we had the opportunity to work with this amazing team, this amazing brand with its phenomenal image, I said “yes” very quickly.’
What Breitling has said “yes” to is being the car marque’s official watch partner in a multi-year partnership of both Aston Martin Lagonda, its road-car arm, and Aston Martin Aramco, its F1 team name
For the launch watch, Breitling has looked to the brands’ shared history. In 1959, the year Aston Martin made its Formula 1 debut, drivers Jim Clark and Graham Hill were monitoring their lap times using Navitimers. In the 1965 Bond film Thunderball, Sean Connery wore the first Q-modified watch – a Breitling Top Time with Geiger counter – while traversing France in a DB5. Clark and Hill unite the two further, both driving the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Aston Martins in 1960 and 1962 respectively. Presumably wearing Navitimers.
Given this rich shared history, Breitling and Aston Martin chose to commemorate the latter’s first foray into Formula 1 with a Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team edition.
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43, Aston Martin Aramco F1 team edition, calfskin leather strap in racing green
‘It is a brand that reflects everything that we are,’ says managing director, commercial and marketing at Aston Martin Aramco, Jefferson Slack. ‘It’s taken us a little while to get there, took us a while to convince Georges, but we finally did.’
The new timepiece takes the Navitimer out of the skies and puts it back on the track again, with lots of hi-tech specs befitting a car-brand collaboration. The case is made from titanium, a first for a Navitimer, and the carbon-fibre dial is inspired by materials found in the cockpit of an F1 car.
The textured leather strap is a riff on a racing harness, while the green accents – racing and line – are straight out of the Aston Martin Aramco colour palette. Flip it over and the sapphire caseback allows a gorgeous view of the Caliber 01, a COSC-certified chronometer with a 70-hour power reserve. The matt black rotor is unique to this watch and features the Aston Martin F1 team logo.
‘It demonstrates the DNA of the two companies,’ explains Aston Martin CEO, Adrian Hallmark. ‘We both aim for performance through high technology, the best people and craftsmanship. It also has an affinity for our customers. A luxury car buyer doesn’t just buy luxury cars; they are a part of their life and hi-tech and high-quality watches are all part their sphere of influence, so working with a great watch partner like Breitling fits perfectly with our customer mindset.’
It’s a clever move for Breitling. Since 2019’s Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive, the F1 audience has gone from niche to one with a global viewership of more than 70million people, who tune in to the races each weekend. Demographics now include, crucially, Americans.
If Breitling is looking to appeal to that Venn diagram of young watch and F1 enthusiasts, you can’t do better than having your logo on a car associated with a 007 who still has cultural cachet. With the Navitimer nailing it for now, it will be exciting to see what else this partnership produces, both on and off the grid.
£8,900: breitling.com
