The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One team is ready to open a new chapter with 2026’s new regulation set. What began with the announcement of famed designer Adrian Newey joining the team last year has culminated with the AMR26’s eyebrow raising first appearance on track last week in Spain. The car, which will sport a new engine from Honda, showed off an extreme design clad in all black, as the livery has yet to make its debut. The full reveal is a few days out yet, but we do have word of a new official watch partner for the team, and that is Breitling. This marks Breitling’s first formal foray into the burgeoning sport, and with it we’re getting a new titanium Navitimer clad in British Racing Green.
In discussing the news with Breitling CEO Georges Kern prior to the announcement, he was quick to point out the historic connections that Breitling has enjoyed with the sport, such as drivers Jim Clark and Graham Hill both wearing Breitling watches. Looser connections to Aston Martin also exist, such as their shared appearance in the James Bond universe, but I don’t think a relationship like this necessarily needs some historic pretext to make sense. Formula 1 is a growing global sport, and Breitling is eager to court new markets. What’s more, an historic Swiss Watch brand is always a good candidate for an F1 team to add to their partner lineup.
To launch the partnership, Breitling is releasing a new Navitimer Chronograph B01 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team (yes, that’s its full name) that not only boasts the racing colors of the team, but also a full titanium case, a first for the Navitimer. The dial is typical Navitimer, with all the bells and whistles a pilot could ever need, but it’s all atop a flaky carbon surface with green and black bits mixed in. The titanium case measures 43mm and gets a mix of brushed and polished surfaces with an open caseback revealing a view of the B01 automatic chronograph movement beating away inside. It is COSC certified here, and the rotor bears the Aston Martin winged logo.
Mercifully, there is no Aston Martin logo on the dial, so there’s a broad appeal with this watch even if you cheer for a different outfit. The green found in the dial appears to be quite subtle in nature, so the real draw here is the use of titanium for the case, a move that would be most welcome in the regular production collection. The strap is belt inspired embossed leather with a green liner. In total, it’s a perfectly expected release alongside the announcement, even if something from the Top Time collection would have made more thematic sense.
This is a relationship that will likely evolve through a variety of releases, and my hope is that we eventually get watches that feel like they were developed for racing. Perhaps something like a high frequency movement for a chronograph, or a full carbon case of some sort. Girard-Perregaux had some quite interesting releases come from their relationship with Aston Martin, and that deserves to be honored with this passing of the torch.
As for the car itself, the AMR26 is easily the most progressive design we’ve seen yet from this generation, however, the move to Honda as an engine supplier will likely be the bigger question mark as the season gets underway in Austria next month. Additionally, the car is slightly overweight as it sits, but nothing a few rounds of in-season development shouldn’t be able to remedy. More than anything, it’s exciting to see Newey cut loose with the car, which, if history is anything to go by, will likely end up being highly influential to the rest of the grid by season’s end.
The new Breitling Navitimer Chronograph B01 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team is limited to 1,959 pieces, a nod to the year the Aston Martin first entered the sport, and will be priced at $11,500. Breitling