« Lifestyle of Bentley and Spirit by Breitling »
The Swiss watch manufacture Breitling and the storied British automaker Bentley have quite a bit in common: both make products for people with exceptionally high standards, and both share a passion for motorized travel. And, as it happens, both brands also feature a winged "B" in their logos. Breitling has been a prominent maker of pilot's and motorsport watches for many decades, and Bentley belongs to the illustrious circle of official Royal Warrant holders to the British Royal Family. When two companies like these join forces, watch lovers can rightly hope for some new classics.
British Chic Meets Swiss Watchmaking Expertise
An impressive lineup of exactly such results can be found in the Breitling for Bentley collection. This special collection of chronographs grew out of a partnership between two of the world's leading luxury brands, and it shows in even the smallest details of the watches. Here, British chic and classic elegance have been combined with the finest Swiss watchmaking expertise. Customers of both brands are used to getting something that leaves the ordinary far behind.
Anyone who buys a Bentley sooner or later has to come to terms with the fact that they will hardly ever get the chance to fully explore their car's performance reserves. Much the same goes for Breitling's watches. Many models from the Swiss manufacture are equipped with sophisticated complications that may rarely be needed in everyday life, but give the wearer the reassuring sense of being able to take precise time measurements and handle demanding calculations quickly, without a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
The Continental GT: An Elegant Coupé of Superlatives
The partnership between the two luxury brands with the "B" in their logos produced not only a fascinating watch collection but also a car of superlatives: the Continental GT, launched in 2002. With 575 hp, it was the most powerful model Bentley's workshops had ever built up to that point. Breitling's engineers and watchmakers played a key role in designing the car's instrumentation, which stands out as exceptional even in the luxury class. The Continental GT also received a signed dashboard clock from the Swiss manufacture. It was the first time in the brand's history, which by then spanned nearly a century, that a watchmaker had been entrusted with this task.
And when the manufacturer promotes the Breitling for Bentley collection with words like luxury, mastery, performance, prestige, power, and style, crediting it with both class and daring, all of this applies at least as much to this exclusive luxury coupé. But what exactly awaits watch enthusiasts in the collection dedicated to this classic car brand?
Fascinating Luxury Watches with Automotive Design Cues
The most striking shared feature that sets Breitling's Bentley watches apart from the brand's other models is the knurled bezel. Whether the watch in question comes in a gold, steel, or titanium case, this distinctive design element, meant to evoke a Bentley radiator grille, appears in almost every case.
The only exception is the Flying B Chronograph, which also holds a special place within the collection thanks to its curved rectangular case, and on which the characteristic pattern appears not on the bezel but only on the central area of the dial. In a nod to the partnership with the automaker, Breitling's website speaks of "exceptional engines" doing their work inside the chronographs. This refers to Breitling's in-house manufacture calibers, all of which have been tested by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) and certified as chronometers.
As chronographs, the watches in the Breitling for Bentley collection naturally have a certain sporty flair, yet the individual model lines still encompass very different characters. The range extends from models such as the sporty, compact, rather classic-looking Bentley B06 S or the aforementioned Flying B Chronograph, both of which can easily be worn with business attire at the office in most industries, to decidedly sporty models such as the Bentley Supersports B55, produced in a limited edition of just 500 pieces to mark the launch of the Continental Supersports.
A Luxury Watch with Smartphone Support
The combination of a titanium case and carbon dial, along with the mix of digital and analog displays and red hands, gives the latter model a particularly fresh, bold look. But beyond such external features, its inner workings also deserve special mention. The in-house smart caliber B55, which debuted in this watch, has not only been equipped by its maker with several functions especially useful in motor racing, but can also communicate with a smartphone.
Unlike other concepts, however, it is not the watch that supports the smartphone here, but rather the smartphone that supports the watch.
The user benefits from the ease of use of their phone and can transfer timings recorded with the chronograph to it, while also reading the phone's notifications on the watch. The two LCD screens in the upper and lower halves of the dial offer outstanding legibility. This is further enhanced by a backlight that can be activated not only by pressing the crown but also by a simple turn of the wrist.
Barnato 42 – A Tribute to Perhaps the Most Famous "Bentley Boy"
Among the British gentlemen who raced their Bentleys in the 1920s and thereby greatly boosted the brand's fame, Woolf Barnato was arguably the most important to the company's development. After all, it was he who, in February 1926, helped the firm through a potentially existential cash crunch with an injection of capital, thereby securing its survival. Given this, it comes as no surprise to find his name in the Breitling for Bentley collection.
The models dedicated to him, named Bentley Barnato 42, are available with either a black or silver dial. The design of the subdials, with chrome-plated stainless steel surrounds and red accents, evokes the dashboards of early race cars. A particularly interesting variant is the Barnato 42 Midnight Carbon, which is entirely black and features a stainless steel case with a highly resistant carbon coating. Only 1,000 pieces of it exist.
Chronographs in Fresh Colors, GMT Watches, and Two Exclusive "Exotics"
In addition to the Bentley Barnato 42, the Supersports B55, and the Flying B Chronograph, Breitling's collection includes a number of other models and limited editions. So a few more highlights deserve at least a mention. First, there is the GT3, made in just 500 pieces, which impresses with red and green accents on its black dial and is conceived as a tribute to Bentley's motor racing victories. If you like a bit of color on your wrist, the likewise limited Supersports Light Body series is worth a closer look. It is also available in versions with subdials and rehaut in vivid red or rich green.
And if you frequently travel across time zones, you will probably appreciate the GMT Midnight Carbon or the B04 GMT with its second time zone display. Last but not least, two "exotics" deserve mention, rounding out the Breitling for Bentley collection and underscoring its exclusive character: the Mulliner Tourbillon is a pinnacle of Swiss watchmaking, of which only a handful are made each year. And alongside the many wrist chronographs, there is also an elegant desk clock whose angled stand is crafted in one of the three types of wood used in the interior of a luxurious Bentley.
