Breitling Launches The B01 38 Racing & Martini

When you think of Breitling, chances are you think of its aviation watches – the Navitimer is most famous, but it’s part of a larger family of technical watches that include the Cosmonaute, Aerospace, and Emergency watches. In the late 1960s and 1970s, though, Breitling also produced a number of chronographs which were an expression of the era’s trend in watch designs towards graphically bold, more design and lifestyle oriented watches. A number of these models had so-called “surfboard” dials, thanks to the ovoid enclosure for the subdials. The watches were often motorsports themed as well, with tachymeter scales and graphic elements connected to car design elements like dashboards and engine grilles. Breitling’s now launching a series of new chronographs that return this now-classic design to its catalog: the Top Time B01 Martini Racing chronographs.

Martini Racing was the name given to the Martini & Rossi sponsorship of various racing teams, beginning in 1962 with Alfa Romeo. Martini & Rossi is a distillery based in Turin, Italy, which is also the home of Alfa Romeo and Fiat. Over the years, Martini Racing would sponsor a number of different teams but perhaps its most famous partnership was with Porsche; Martini Racing Porsches would win the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1971, 1976 and 1977, and Martini Racing would also partner with F1 teams (including Lotus) and rallying, including Lancia Group B cars.

The colors used by Martini Racing-sponsored teams varied but included green (the color of Martini & Rossi vermouth bottles) and most famously, a distinctive pattern consisting of a central red stripe, flanked by two blue stripes on either side, against a black background.

The new Top Time B01 38 watches are an enthusiast-friendly, historically accurate 38mm in diameter and come in three dial executions reflecting the Martini Racing colors – one black, one Martin & Rossi green, and one with the famous red and blue stripes found on cars from the Porsche 936 to Felipe Massa’s Martini Racing F1 car from 2015, to  the Lancia Deltas which were dominating forces in Group A and Group B rally racing.

The stainless steel cases follow the details of Breitling’s historical Top Time “surfboard” racing chronographs, including the cushion cases and pump style pushers. The do however offer significant modern technical updates over the vintage models including 100M water resistance and, most significantly, Breitling’s in-house B01 automatic chronograph movement. Caliber B01, which Breitling introduced in 2009. This is a vertical clutch, column wheel controlled chronograph with a 70 hour power reserve.

As with all Breitling watches, the Top Time B01 Martini Racing watches are also chronometer certified by the COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres). Each of the three dial treatments will be a limited series of 750 watches.

These are well-conceived and handsomely executed watches, and a reflection of a less well-known side of Breitling’s history in chronograph design, as well as its connection to the motorsports world. Like the recently launched Top Time B31 watches, they’re a terrific example of how to make a watch that has tons of personality and a distinctive design that also manages to be very versatile as well. Breitling’s heritage as an aviation supplier and technical watchmaker is an essential part of its history – it’s impossible to imagine Breitling without it – but the two new Top Time launches also show its ability to connect its modern collections to less immediately visible elements of its history as well.

The Breitling Top Time B01 Martini Racing Chronographs: cases 38mm stainless steel with sapphire crystal and closed caseback, 100M water resistant. Movement, Breitling B01 automatic chronograph, vertical clutch with column wheel control, 70 hour power reserve and certified as a chronometer by the COSC. Three versions with Martini & Rossi green, black, or Martini Racing stripes; limited editions of 750 pieces each worldwide. Price at launch, $7,700.

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