The coolest luxury watch collaborations by car companies

Ruhi Gilder

Luxury car aficionados and watch connoisseurs have many things in common. The most important of them is a fascination for the intricate, an appreciation for mechanical processes and dedication to the art of car design and watchmaking. While partnerships between luxury automobile brands and high-end horology are part of an old tradition, here are the best recent examples of partnerships between the two.  

Breitling x Triumph  

A collaboration between two marquee brands gave birth to a limited-edition timepiece and bike, both inspired by the café-racer culture of 1960s London. These stylish motorcycles used to transport riders from one hip café to another in the 60s, prompting the rise of an entire subculture. To celebrate this time, Breitling announced a Top Time Triumph watch, with a Zorro dial in the brushed ice blue with a calibre 23 movement and a 48-hour power reserve. The timepiece is a unisex 41mm, ideal for both men and women. Another variation of this timepiece is available exclusively for the owners of Triumph’s new Top Time Speed Twin Motorcycle, a watch with an ice blue sunray dial in the same shade as the bike’s accents. The bike is limited to just 270 units, and each watch will be engraved with the same number as the motorcycle.  

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Bremont x Jaguar  

Bremont Special Edition Jaguar E-type 60th watch was launched as a celebration of the 60-year anniversary of the Jaguar E-Type automobile. An exclusive Bremont box set was launched for this occasion that included a rally timer and a unique driving experience hosted by Jaguar Classic, and an E-Type inspired watch. Featuring a black dial mimicking the E-Type’s instrument gauges, the hour and minute hands replicate the car’s tachometer needle, while the hues of the bezel and strap match the E-Type 60 Edition’s grey-and-green hues. The 43mm dial is water-resistant up to 200m. The rally timer, a first for Bremont, integrates two mechanical instruments, a stopwatch with a tachymeter. The box also comes with a clock with sub-seconds, and both are mounted on a beautiful engine-turned back-plate, which can be displayed on a mantel or fitted into a Jaguar.  

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Girard-Perregaux x Aston Martin  

The Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition released by the two brands in October of 2021 is the latest example of their fine partnership. The dial of the watch is “Aston Martin Green,” achieved by meticulously applying paint twenty-one times, forming seven distinct layers of paint. This green became Aston Martin’s signature shade back in the early 1900s, when colours were assigned to racing cars to distinguish the different nationalities of the teams. French cars were presented in blue, Italian cars were red, and British cars were coated in British Racing Green. From Aston Martin’s DBR1 car in 1959, to the modern-day Formula 1® car, the brand’s racing colour has remained the same, giving the Laureato Chronograph its instantly recognisable hue. The design of the timepiece incorporates automotive influences in the form of cross-hatching, wherein a diamond-like pattern forms with the carmaker’s ‘AM’ logo. 188 pieces of this limited edition 42mm watch have been created.  

Available worldwide at authorised Girard-Perregaux retailers 

IWC x Hot Wheels 

IWC Schaffhausen and Hot Wheels™ in October of last year, unveiled an IWC x Hot Wheels™ Racing Works” collector’s set, limited to 50 pieces. The set contains the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “IWC x Hot Wheels™ Racing Works” and the Hot Wheels Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Racing Works Edition”, presented in a metal toolbox. The first set of the collection was auctioned online for charity by international auction house Bonhams for £70,000. The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “IWC x Hot Wheels™ Racing Works” features a 43mm case made of grade 5 titanium, engraved with a Hot Wheels flame logo on its side. The black dial is decorated with a subtle chequered racing flag pattern around the chronograph totalizers. The set also includes the Hot Wheels Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Racing Works Edition,” one of the most detailed 1:64th Hot Wheels model ever created. The watch and the mini-car model are etched with the number 68, a nod to 1868 and 1968, the years when IWC and Hot Wheels were founded.  

Jacob & Co. X Bugatti  

Two masterpieces were born out of a partnership first established in 2019 — the Twin Turbo Furious and the Epic X Chrono. In January 2022, Jacob & Co. X Bugatti released a mechanical masterpiece in the form of a wristwatch embedded with a miniature version of the Bugatti W16 engine. The Bugatti Chiron Blue Sapphire Crystal took the two companies almost a year to develop. The super-exclusive piece is priced at $1.5 million. Framed by a rich blue hue, the rest of the case has a transparent design with a view of 578 hand-assembled components, and most of the watch’s 51 jewels.  

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Richard Mille x McLaren  

The RM 40-01 automatic Tourbillon McLaren Speedtail matches the design of the fastest road car by McLaren. 8,600 hours of development went into finalising the movement of the watch, while swiss watchmaking brand Richard Mille’s casing department spent 2,800 hours spread over 18 months to perfect its lines. Just like the Speedtail, the watch’s lines mimic the shape of a droplet, bezel’s indentations look like bonnet openings, and pushers remind one of air outlets behind the front wheels. The timepiece comes with an in-house calibre CRMT4 automatic winding tourbillon movement. A limited-edition series of 106 pieces is available for sale.  

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TAG Heuer x Porsche 

An exclusive, asphalt-like coating covers the dial of this special edition watch by two preeminent luxury brands. The 44mm TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph Special Edition has an interlocking bracelet, and accents of Porsche colours, including red, black, and grey. The watch is equipped with an in-house Calibre Heuer 02 manufacture movement, an 80-hour power reserve, and 100 m water resistance. 

Available worldwide at authorised TAG Heuer retailers 

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