NEWS

Breitling Celebrates 100 Years of Bentley with Premier Centenary Limited Edition


The partnership between Breitling and Bentley Motors — the longest between a watch brand and a luxury automaker, established in 2003 — made another stride at this year’s Geneva International Motor Show. Alongside the British marque’s launch of the Centenary Limited Edition Continental GT Number 9 Edition by Mulliner, the Swiss watchmaker released a very special collectors’ timepiece, the Breitling Premier Bentley Centenary Limited Edition.

Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 44 Bentley Centenary - Gold - reclining
The Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 44 Bentley Centenary in Gold
Bentley Continental GT Number 9 Edition by Mulliner
The Bentley Continental GT Number 9 Edition by Mulliner, and the restored vintage “Blower”

The watch, the latest Bentley-branded model from the re-established Premier collection that debuted in  2018, is offered in either an 18k rose gold or stainless steel case, each measuring 42 mm in diameter and each limited in number — 200 pieces of the gold edition, 1,000 of the steel. Its distinguishing feature, the one that links it to both the Continental GT Number 9 automobile and to Bentley racing history, is its brown elm burl dial, which matches the wooden inserts in the car’s dashboard. Those inserts come from the wooden seats of the legendary 1930 No. 9 Le Mans “Blower” Bentley race car, driven by Tim Birkin of the legendary Bentley Boys team, which Bentley restored as part of its centennial celebration. The handsome wooden dial is enhanced with two subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock, for chronograph minutes and running seconds, respectively, a date window at 6 o’clock, and a white-on-black tachymeter scale, with the inscription “TACHYMETRE” in red, on its periphery. Sweeping over the dial, under a convex curved, nonreflective sapphire crystal, are a Super-LumiNova-coated hour and minute hand and a red-tipped chronograph counter hand.

Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 44 Bentley Centenary - steel - side CU
A special Bentley-branded plate is screwed to the left-hand side of the case.
Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 44 Bentley Centenary - steel - side
The watch, above in steel, is mounted on a specially patterned leather strap.

The left-hand side of the case carries another aesthetic nod to history, with a plate engraved with “Bentley” whose design echoes the look of the dashboard of the supercharged “Blower” Bentley of 1929. The brown leather straps on both the steel and gold versions of the watch are enhanced with a pattern and stitching reminiscent of those on classical Bentley leather seats. The watch’s engine is a self-winding movement, Breitling’s manufacture Caliber B01, on display behind a sapphire pane in the caseback. Equipped with a built-in column-wheel-controlled stopwatch function and certified for its chronometric performance by the Swiss testing agency COSC, the movement boasts a power reserve of 70 hours, or nearly three days.

Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 44 Bentley Centenary - gold - Caseback
The watch’s Caliber B01 movement is seen through the caseback.
Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 44 Bentley Centenary - steel - bracelet
The steel version of the watch is offered on a steel bracelet.

The Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph Bentley Centenary Limited Edition will retail for $9,950 in steel on a leather strap with tang buckle, $10,200 in steel on a strap with folding buckle, $10,500 in steel on a steel bracelet; and $28,000 in gold on a leather strap with tang buckle.

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  1. barbara meyer

    i am trying to buy the Bentley 2019 centenary watch in rose gold but cant seem to find one anywhere. have you any suggestions where i can purchase this watch

    Reply
  2. Ellen Munday

    Interested in either green band or brown. Stainless steel.

    Reply
  3. Ramesh Bhatia

    I have already ordered one for myself—-fabulous and gorgeous!

    Reply
  4. Michael Taylor

    That is a classically beautiful watch. Great dial. The car is nice too!

    Reply
  5. Steve Carlson

    Although this comment does not reflect on the movement, the change in the logo from the wings and anchor will stop me from purchasing anymore. I current have 4. Both Rolex, have 6 and Omega, have 3 have stayed true.

    Reply
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