Design icons from the 1960s team up again
High-end automotive brand Aston Martin has announced a new collaboration with Swiss watch company Breitling.
As a tribute to the Aston Martin DB5, Breitling has developed the Top Time B01 Chronograph 41, presenting it in three distinct limited editions.
In the 1960s, the Top Time became a popular Breitling watch. The company described it as “an unconventional chronograph, created for a new, youthful, speed-driven audience”.
It appeared on screen on the wrist of Sean Connery when the Scottish actor was playing James Bond in Thunderball. It shared screen-time with James Bond’s car of choice, the Aston Martin DB5.
“Two icons of the era shared a defining moment in design history,” the automotive company has said. It explained that the new collaboration with Breitling was a reinterpretation of that moment.
The three editions of the new watch include a stainless steel version with a silver dial, a steel and platinum version with a black lacquered dial, and an 18-karat red gold version with an onyx dial.
Common to all three choices are wood-inlayed details, hand-coloured gradient leather straps and “refined dial executions”. The automotive company said these details echo the interior of the DB5, resulting in watches that capture “the feel of being behind the wheel of Aston Martin’s classic grand tourer”.
Specifically, it pointed out that the hand-coloured leather strap reflects “the depth and tone of fine automotive upholstery”.
