Collaboration in true James Bond fashion

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From the silver screen to the racetrack: why the cooperation between the two luxury icons in 2026 completes a story that began with Sean Connery and a Navitimer.

Some brand partnerships sound like marketing strategy. Others sound like fate. Now that Breitling becomes official partner of Aston Martin, this is no mundane sponsorship announcement — it is the belated wedding vow of a couple that already made cinematic history in 1965.

Let us write the year 1965. Thunderball lights up cinemas. Sean Connery — still, to me, THE James Bond — embodies the ultimate gentleman with a licence to kill. Two elements defined his style in that film: in the pursuit scenes he steered the legendary Aston Martin DB5, and on his wrist ticked — as the very first gadget ever modified by “Q” — a Breitling Top Time. That these two icons of British elegance and Swiss precision required more than 60 years to officially “put a ring on the finger” almost borders on scandal. Yet in February 2026, the circle finally closes.

Timeless Design Meets 300 km/h

Breitling CEO Georges Kern summarises it perfectly: “Aston Martin stands for presence and performance. Every line has a function.” That statement applies just as much to the new Formula One car AMR26 as it does to the watch that seals this partnership: the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco.

The Return of the Drivers’ Watch

Although the Navitimer originally entered the world as a navigation instrument for pilots, complete with its famous slide rule, it conquered asphalt early on. Racing legends such as Jim Clark and Graham Hill wore it during their Grand Prix campaigns in the 1950s — they valued it as a cockpit on the wrist.

The new special edition bows to that era. Limited to 1,959 pieces — a salute to the year Aston Martin first entered Formula One — it arrives in a material composition that carries the scent of the pit lane:

Titanium: For the first time in Navitimer history, the case comes in this ultra-light high-tech metal.
Racing Green: The carbon dial wears the iconic shade that represents British understatement in motorsport.
The Look: The embossed leather strap recalls the harness belts of classic racing machines.

A Touch of Hollywood in the Pit Lane

When the Breitling logo gleams on the race cars at the Australian Grand Prix in March 2026, it measures time across two generations: that of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who stands like no other for sustained excellence, and that of rising talent Jak Crawford, who makes his debut as a full-time driver in 2026. This is more than advertising. It recalls an era when cultivation met speed. In a world that grows ever more digital, this partnership argues for the mechanical. For the moment when the chronograph is pressed and the engine roars. Or as Adrian Hallmark, CEO of Aston Martin, expresses it: “Peak performance and virtuoso design.”

Sean Connery would likely have raised an eyebrow, adjusted the crown of his Breitling and started the engine of his Aston Martin. He understood that in life — as in racing — everything depends on timing. Entirely in the spirit of his legendary line from 1965:

“Some people play with fire, and some get burned.” Thanks to the new partnership between Breitling and Aston Martin, we now know to the millisecond how fast one must move to master the fire without burning one’s fingers. James Bond already knew it back then.

The Birth of Speed Measurement: Breitling as the Speeder’s Nightmare

Before Breitling timed the lap records of Formula One cars, the brand had already equipped the Swiss police in 1907. The pocket chronograph “Vitesse” proved so precise that it became the world’s first reliable instrument for the official determination of speeding violations. That Breitling now officially accompanies the horsepower monsters of Aston Martin therefore represents the most charming form of historical reconciliation: speed is no longer measured to sanction it, but to celebrate it.