- Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Aston Martin DB5.
- Based on watch worn by Sean Connery's James Bond in Thunderball
- Celebrates Aston Martin’s partnership with Breitling.
The Sean Connery-era movie character of James Bond goes with the Aston Martin DB5 and Rolex Submariner watch like a super-spy with access to Her Majesty's chequebook.
The Rolex Submariner featured prominently in the first three Bond films, Dr No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965). The Aston Martin DB5 made its first appearance in Goldfinger and was called in for some idiosyncratic stuntwork in Thunderball.
Bond and the Submariner are so intertwined in popular culture, the watch is sometimes referred to as the "James Bond Rolex".
But Connery also wore another watch in Thunderball, the Breitling Top Time, which was modified in movie-world to incorporate a geiger counter (the first Q-modified watch to feature in the series).
As one of the lesser-known Bond watches, it's a source of deep delight to 007 nerds, and hopefuly some well-heeled ones. Because Breitling has just reissued it with a DB5-inspired design.
New Breitling watch picks up Aston DB5 interior details
The Breitling Top Time was aimed at a youthful audience in the 1960s. The new version, officially the "Top Time B01 Chronography 41 Tribute to Aston Martin DB5" takes more of a heritage approach.
The wood-inlayed details, hand-colored gradient leather straps, and dial executions are intended to echo the interior of the Aston Martin DB5. The watch was created in partnership with Aston Martin, as part of a colloboration programme announced between the two companies earlier this year, including F1 sponsorship.
The cushion-shaped case, grooved corners, and mushroom pushers recall the profile of the 1960s chronograph, while the “squircle” subdials have the look of classic car dashboard gauges.
A wooden inner ring draws on the DB5’s steering wheel, and the hand-colored gradient leather strap "reflects the depth and tone of fine automotive upholstery".
The watch is offered in three editions:
- Stainless steel with a silver dial, limited to 1022 pieces, with a "balanced take that’s closest in spirit to the original Top Time ref. 2002".
- Steel and platinum with a black lacquered dial, limited to 315 pieces, with more contrast and depth, including a platinum bezel against the high-gloss black surface.
- 18k red gold with onyx dial, limited to 250 individually numbered pieces. The dial is cut from natural onyx, the first use of the stone by Breitling.
The engine of the watch is the Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01, a COSC-certified chronograph movement.
Visible through the open sapphire-crystal caseback, the movement is finished with a dedicated Aston Martin–engraved rotor – rhodium-plated or 18k red gold, depending on the version.
Prices range from approximately NZ$40k to $70k.
What happened to the original James Bond Top Time prop watch?
The heavily modified (almost unreconisable, even) Breitling watch featured in Thunderball was thought lost after the production, but rediscovered in late-2012 and reportedly purchased for just NZ$58 at a car boot sale.
Once autheticated, it was sold at a Christie's Pop Culture Icon auction on June 26, 2013, for £103,875 (NZ$238,653).
