From the asphalt to the pulse of car fans: check out the list of 10 car brands that also invest in the high standard of watchmaking
In addition to producing vehicles, large car manufacturers also have an extensive catalog of products, ranging from personal items to decorations. However, few are more attention-grabbing and value-added than watches. Today, major automakers not only license their names, but actively participate in the creation of high-end watchmaking pieces.
These brands take micromechanics seriously and have founded their own divisions or established deep partnerships with Switzerland’s most prestigious houses and traditional companies. Although they seem to be two completely different areas, automobiles and watchmaking have several things in common: materials, such as carbon fiber and ceramics, the search for maximum mechanical efficiency and the sense of exclusivity, with limited run and status.
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In this article you can check out the main car brands that have extended their DNA from the race track to the wrist of collectors through watches.
Porsche is the first example when it comes to an automaker that has consolidated itself in the development of its own watches. In 1972, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (the designer of the legendary Porsche 911) founded the Porsche Design Studio.
The brand revolutionized the industry by launching the Chronograph 1, the world’s first all-black watch, inspired by the anti-glare dials of racing cockpits. Today, unlike other brands, Porsche has its own production facility in Switzerland (Porsche Design Timepieces AG), producing high-tech titanium chronographs that can be configured to match the owner’s car specifications exactly.
The brand also has a long-standing partnership with TAG Heuer, who together launched the Carrera watch as a special edition.
Famous for testing and pushing the limits of speed on the track, Bugatti brings the opulence of its hypercars to haute horlogerie. The manufacturer currently has a partnership with Jacob & Co., but in the past it has also worked with Parmigiani Fleurier.
The greatest exponent of this most recent union is the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon. The watch houses a functional sapphire crystal miniature of the Chiron’s W16 engine. At the push of a button, the clock’s mechanical pistons begin to move, emulating the hypercar’s propulsion block.
The Italian brand has one of the richest histories in haute horlogerie partnerships, having worked with brands such as Cartier, Panerai and Hublot. Its current official partner is Richard Mille.
The culmination of this union spawned the RM UP-01 Ferrari, a mechanical watch with an ultra-thin thickness of just 1.75 mm. As in Formula 1, the focus of the creation is the use of aerospace materials with resistance to extreme G-forces and weight reduced to the minimum possible.
After collaborating with Girard-Perregaux, Aston Martin is now making the most of its British elegance by entering into a global partnership with Breitling.
The union brought to market the Aston Martin Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43, a reinterpretation of Breitling’s classic aviation watch, now incorporating carbon fiber dials and the emblematic Aston Martin Racing Green shade of green. The fusion brings classic aesthetic refinement with touches of dynamism that refer to the automaker’s Formula 1 team.
The Italian super sports car brand’s aggressive design language has been translated from its cars to watch models through a long-term partnership with Swiss watchmaker Roger Dubuis.
The models in the Excalibur Spider Aventador S and Huracán collections use materials identical to those of cars, such as carbon molded in an autoclave. The mechanical gauges are designed in such a way as to visually mimic the anti-torsion bars and engine blocks of Lamborghini supercars.
Mercedes-Benz’s high-performance division has one of the longest-standing and longest-standing partnerships on the market with IWC Schaffhausen, which has been active since 2013.
IWC acts as the official engineering collaborator of the Formula 1 team. Watches created under this seal, such as the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch and the special editions of the Petronas team, abuse titanium, black ceramic and details in the team’s iconic turquoise blue.
McLaren shares a mutual obsession with weight reduction and cutting-edge aerospace materials not only in the cars, but also in the watches it signs. After years of a historic partnership with TAG Heuer, the British supercar and Formula 1 manufacturer has joined forces with Richard Mille.
The recent RM 65-01 McLaren W1, created in honor of the brand’s new W1 hypercar, features a high-frequency (5 Hz) double-fraction chronograph capable of measuring time with surgical precision of up to a tenth of a second. The watch case is made of Carbon TPT (fine technology carbon), and the design of the pushers and crown directly mimics the supercar’s driveshafts and aerodynamic appendages.
Maserati has always sought the top of Swiss watchmaking, having collaborated in the past with Bulgari and Audemars Piguet. In 2026, the Trident brand announced a major partnership with the exclusive independent house Bianchet.
The UltraSlim Maserati Flying Tourbillon has been developed specifically to celebrate the centenary of the iconic Trident logo. The design of the watch is inspired by the Maserati MCPURA supercar. Thanks to the use of grade 5 titanium and high-density carbon, the entire watch weighs an impressive 36 grams (without the strap) and sports details in the color AI Aqua, the same visual signature as the car.
Rolls-Royce takes a completely handcrafted and bespoke approach. Instead of focusing only on mass-produced wristwatches, the automaker integrates ultra-high-end mechanical watches directly into the dashboard of its cars, collaborating with famous brands such as Bovet 1822, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet.
In the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail project, for example, Bovet developed a first-of-its-kind mechanical system where the owner’s wristwatch can be removed and fitted perfectly into the car’s dashboard to serve as the vehicle’s central stopwatch. They are unique pieces in the world, created to combine in a millimetric way with the specific wood and leather of the interior of each car ordered.
The French sports car and Formula One brand, which belongs to the Renault group, has raised the level of its watchmaking credentials by teaming up with independent Swiss house H. Moser & Cie.
For the Formula 1 season, the automaker launched the Streamliner Alpine Pink Edition, adopting the pink tone that stamps the French team’s new racing livery. The model has a flyback function, which allows the chronograph to be reset and reset instantly with a single click, and displays the gears through a skeletonized dial that simulates the exposed mechanics of a racing single-seater.
