ASTON MARTIN X BREITLING: WHEN SPEED LEARNS TO TELL TIME - AT A PRICE.
Two brands born from a shared obsession with speed, precision and doing things properly have clicked back into alignment. Breitling has been announced as the Official Watch Partner of Aston Martin, uniting the ultra-luxury British carmaker with the Swiss watch brand whose history is written in tenths of a second.
This renewed partnership spans design, engineering and performance, and will culminate in the launch of the first Aston Martin x Breitling timepiece in Q3 2026. A mechanical handshake between two houses that have been running parallel for over a century. The symmetry runs deep. Back in 1907, Léon Breitling introduced the Vitesse, French for “speed” and the world’s first chronograph capable of measuring velocities up to 250 miles or kilometres per hour. So accurate, in fact, that Swiss police used it to issue the very first speeding tickets. Around the same time in England, Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford were hurling their hand-built sports car up a steep, chalky incline known as Aston Hill. They won the race. The name stuck. History quietly nodded.
“Aston Martin and Breitling have crossed paths at key moments in design and culture,” says Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark. “The partnership is a perfect showcase of excellence, design mastery and performance, something that is integral to everything that Aston Martin puts its name to.”
By the 1960s, both marques had become global shorthand for style, innovation and modern engineering. Willy Breitling, Léon’s grandson, broke free from post-war restraint with the Top Time, a bold chronograph aimed at a new generation chasing speed and style in equal measure. When it appeared on Sean Connery’s wrist in Thunderball (1965) as the first Q-modified gadget watch in the James Bond franchise, it became an instant cultural artefact.
On four wheels, Aston Martin’s DB5 had already cemented its legend with Goldfinger (1964), before returning alongside the Top Time in Thunderball. Together, they defined an era where elegance, danger and cutting-edge tech existed in perfect balance. Bond’s world, distilled.
“Aston Martin builds cars that are as much about presence as performance,” says Breitling CEO Georges Kern. “We share that same heritage of iconic design. Every line, finish and proportion has purpose. Nothing is left to chance.”
As this shared legacy accelerates into the future, enthusiasts of Breitling, Aston Martin and the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team can expect a series of exclusive releases across the partnership’s multi-year run. It all begins with the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Formula One™ Team edition, marking Breitling’s emphatic return to racing and setting the tempo for what’s to come.
Take a look at the YouTube video from the top dogs of watchmaking, sorry, timepiece making. This is proper impressive stuff for the larneys out there: Breitling and Aston Martin | Navitimer | Navitimer B01 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team | Breitling Official
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