Breitling Teams Up With Triumph Motorcycles : A Spectacular New Top Time Collaboration
4 min read
Cars and watches have had a long withstanding ongoing relationship for years now. Here however we have a collaboration that will ignite the engines of all you motorcycle fans. Presenting the new Top Time collaboration between Breitling and British motorcycle brand Triumph.
In the mid-1960s, when auto racing was having a heyday, and a whole subculture had sprung up around “café racers,” stylish motorcycles to literally transport their riders from hip café to hip café, Willy Breitling set out to capture the speed-driven style of the day with a completely new take on the timekeeper. The result? The Breitling Top Time, an unconventional chronograph designed for “young and active professionals.” It quickly became the watch of choice for a sporty in-crowd of men and women equally drawn to the watch’s bold proportions.
Today, that freewheeling 1960s café-racer spirit is back in a spectacular new Top Time collaboration between Breitling and British motorcycle brand Triumph. Now in its 120th year, Triumph combines historic craftsmanship with contemporary design to create its classic motorcycles.
“Triumph’s heritage and modern-retro aesthetic are just two of the many things we have in common. “Their blending of tradition with technology is completely in sync with what we do.” Georges Kern, CEO of Breitling.
To begin with, the Top Time Triumph watch features a distinctive brushed finish in the bow-tie motif nicknamed “the Zorro dial” by Top Time collectors. Triumph, meanwhile, is launching 270 co-branded motorcycles—the Speed Twin Breitling Limited Edition—whose buyers will have the privileged opportunity to purchase a special owner’s version of the Top Time Triumph, this one with a sunray dial and engraved caseback featuring the individual number of the bike (owner’s version orders must be placed with Triumph by August 22, 2022).
The stars of both watches are their ice-blue dials inspired by a blue Triumph Thunderbird 6T from 1951, and a rare, blue-dialed Breitling Top Time Ref. 815 from the 1970s. Paired with a subdued racing-themed calfskin leather strap that dial surely does shine. This watch is not just an aesthetic delight. Given the functionality of the watch, those oversized mushroom pushers allow for easy control of the chronograph’s stop-start and reset functions and that high contrast tachymeter scale provides clear legibility of speed readings.
Powered by the Breitling Caliber 23, a COSC-certified chronometer both the watches boast of a power reserve of approximately 48 hours. Besides sporting the Breitling and Triumph logo’s on the dial, the casebacks of both these Top Times are etched with a detailed design sketch of Triumph’s parallel twin engine.
At 41 mm with that striking icy blue dial, the Top Time Triumph is a great fit for both sexes. In our opinion, be it fans of the Triumph brand and prospective owners of the Speed Twin Breitling Limited Edition motorcycle or not, this collection is an absolute must-have.
