PARIS – Breitling is the latest brand to stake its spot on the Formula 1 starting grid.
The watchmaker revealed Thursday it is joining Aston Martin and the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One team as official watch partner.
“There are obvious reasons why we work together with Aston Martin. We are both technology-driven companies — that’s one thing,” said Breitling chief executive officer George Kern at a conference in January. “But Breitling was also in James Bond when the DB-5 [car] was in ‘Thunderball,’” one of several intersections between the brands over the decades.
The terms and duration of the multiyear deal, which kicks off with the launch of a special-edition watch and will further unfurl from the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in March, were not disclosed.
Kern said he hoped the watchmaker would be “there at least for the next three to five years, minimum” in light of the investment and planned product launches.
Aston Martin’s CEO Adrian Hallmark described the partnership as “a perfect showcase of excellence, design mastery and performance” integral to “everything that Aston Martin puts its name to.”
Jefferson Slack, managing director, commercial and marketing of Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team, added that the partnership with Breitling was “emblematic of what we want to be as a Formula 1 team,” describing the watchmaker as “a brand that reflects everything that we are.”
Breitling’s Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team.
Courtesy of Breitling
The first reveal from the partnership is the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team, a co-branded timepiece available through Breitling boutiques in a limited run of 1,959 pieces — a nod to the year of the car manufacturer’s first foray into the elite motorsport.
The 43-millimeter watch, in Aston Martin “racing green” and lime accents nodding to the racing team’s livery, is the first of its design family to feature a titanium case. It contains the COSC-certified Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01 chronometer with a 70-hour power reserve.
The partnership will not be limited to this design and race weekends, where the watchmaker will be present on car liveries, team uniforms and in the team’s paddock club, which receives 13,000 to 14,000 visitors over a race weekend, according to Slack.
“I’m sure that in a more difficult economic environment this will help us to raise awareness, to raise image,” Kern continued. “And therefore we are extremely happy to have these very big and meaningful partnerships around the world.”
Last year, Breitling inked a multiyear deal as official timepiece partner of the National Football League.
Meanwhile, Formula 1’s popularity continues to surge. Nielsen Sports put its global fanbase at 826.5 million in 2024, up 90 million from the previous year and with a surge in Chinese fans.
The 2026 season, which sees the arrival of American carmaker Cadillac among teams as well as several other major changes in teams, is expected to draw even more attention.
For brands, the impact is very tangible. According to data from Launchmetrics, the announcement of Tommy Hilfiger’s partnership with the Cadillac Formula 1 team generated a total media impact value of $978,000 in the space of seven days.
Announcements around the F1 Academy all-female racing series also bring big boosts. Charlotte Tilbury’s arrival as official sponsor in 2024 garnered $739,000 in MIV in the space of 48 hours, while Hilfiger’s entry, leveraging Spanish driver Nerea Marti, netted $370,000 over two days.
For Tag Heuer, which became the elite motorsport’s timekeeper last year as part of a wide-ranging 10-year deal with parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a third of the brand’s total MIV was related to Formula 1 mentions, Launchmetrics told WWD.
Such sports offer huge platforms but “the real magic happens at the next level down, which is engaging with customers,” said Aston Martin’s Hallmark. “Customers that like cars like watches, and vice versa; it’s totally win-win so that’s where the real energy will come from.”
Kern said that the tripartite partnership gave the opportunity to launch products across different segments and that corners allocated to the Aston Martin brand would also be installed across Breitling’s network of 300 boutiques around the world.
Other watch launches, notably around vintage cars, are lined up after the Navitimer, he added.
“I would hope [that] if we have this conversation in a year, people [will] say the relationship between Aston Martin and Breitling is the one that activated the most, was the deepest, the most well-thought-out, the most authentic,” said Slack. “So we don’t want to do it [by just putting] a sticker on a car.”
Prior to Breitling, Aston Martin had Girard-Perregaux as its official watch partner since 2021. In January 2025, the automotive company inked a licensing agreemend with Timex, to design, manufacture and distribute watch and jewelry collection under the car and Formula 1 team brands.
