The coolest car and luxury watch collaborations
Since the early days of carriage clocks and pocket watches, cars and watches have always had an understandably close bond. When cars started to become popular, drivers had pocket watches, so naturally, watch manufacturers like Heuer, began to create dashboard clocks and of course, wristwatches.
Cars and watches share the same target audiences and there have been some great collaborations over the years. Here we take a look at some of our favourites:
Roger Dubuis and Lamborghini Squadra Corse
This partnership began with the 2017 introduction of the Excalibur Aventador S and there have been a fair few models since.
One welcomed watch was the Excalibur Huracán Performante which was limited to just 88 pieces. The thing we like about this watch is the Pirelli tyre pattern on the inside of the rubber inlay.
The 45mm titanium case is coated in black DLC which looks sporty alongside the suede-looking Alcantara (used in car interiors) strap and bright yellow minutes.
The watch also debuted a new movement out of the partnership, which was the Caliber RD630, with a 12° angle balance escapement and a central rotor mimicking the rim’s design.
The upper calibre features a strut bar designed bridge recalling the ones of the V10 engine of the Lamborghini Huracán supercar.
Hublot and Ferrari
One thing links these two vivacious brands – speed. Given that Hublot is fairly new to the luxury watch market, having only debuted in 1980, it was a fair boost to link up with such an elite car brand.
The Hublot Ferrari Unico Carbon, which comes in at around £23,000, is as close to car-like as you can get. As well as its Alcantara red-stitched strap, it has a crown that resembles car pedals. The rotor is inspired by a wheel.
This timepiece is created using carbon fibre. Weighing half as much as aluminum yet three times stronger, it has the highest weight-to-strength ratio of any material. With such unique properties, carbon fibre has replaced traditional alloys in certain fields with ever-increasing applications.
Hublot is one of the few watch manufactures able to create both case and movement components from carbon fibre composites. This is because the material behaves differently and needs several pieces of manufacturing equipment and operations.
Richard Mille and McLaren
A year after Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was founded in 1963, the company built the first McLaren race car, which featured an orange colour.
This became known as ‘McLaren orange’ and is now used in the Richard Mille RM 11-03 McLaren Automatic Flyback Chronograph. This was hugely popular at its unveiling during the Geneva International Motor Show in 2018.
But car and watch enthusiasts alike will struggle to get their hands on one of these pieces as only 500 were ever made globally.
Powered by two barrels, the movement has an impressive 55-hour power reserve while winding is adjusted dependent on the wearer’s activity level.
Both the bridges and the baseplate for this caliber are made of PVD-treated grade 5 titanium, to ensure the stiffness and functioning of the going train.
Breitling and Bentley
Two major brands who share the core values of luxury and achievement are always going to get along well.
In 2002, Swiss watchmaker Breitling and British luxury car manufacturer Bentley got together and they’ve been unstoppable ever since.
The Breitling Bentley Motors Chronograph Bronze Dial Men’s Watch A44362 features automatic self-winding, luminescent stainless steel hands and hour markers, date calendar, bidirectional rotating bezel and chronograph.
Complete with either a leather or stainless steel strap, this watch is a big hit but rare to find.
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