Breitling just released a trio of heaters: the Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Aston Martin DB5, a three-edition collaboration with the British carmaker. The connection between the Swiss watchmaker and the British car company runs back to 1965, when a Top Time ref. 2002 appeared on Sean Connery’s wrist in Thunderball, worn alongside the DB5 — the first Q-modified watch in the Bond series. It’s a nice bit of trivia that the DB5 and that Top Time shared the screen in the same film, and both went on to outlive the movie by decades.
The car cues go deeper than the “squircle” gauge-shaped subdials: a wooden inner ring nods to the DB5’s steering wheel, and each edition rides on a hand-colored gradient calfskin strap meant to read like automotive upholstery. All three run on Breitling’s in-house Manufacture Caliber 01, a COSC-certified automatic chronograph with a 70-hour power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback and finished with an Aston Martin-engraved rotor. The case measures 41mm. The editions are divvied up by material and rarity. Stainless steel with a silver dial is limited to 1,022 pieces and sticks closest to the original ref. 2002, while steel with a platinum bezel and black lacquered dial drops to 315 pieces.
At the top sits 18k red gold with an onyx dial, held to 250 individually numbered pieces, and the first time Breitling has cut a dial from natural onyx.
Why the Top Time, of all Breitlings
When Breitling launched it in the 1960s, the Top Time wasn’t the brand’s serious pilot’s instrument — it was the affordable, style-forward chronograph aimed at a younger, faster crowd.
That youthful streak is exactly why the ref. 2002 ended up on Bond in the first place. When Thunderball needed a watch that read as modern and sporty rather than stuffy, the Top Time fit — and it became the first watch Q’s gadget lab modified on screen, kicking off a spy-gear tradition that outlasted the model itself.
The DB5 needs less introduction, though the release leans on the Thunderball tie rather than the more famous Goldfinger appearance a year earlier. Either way, the car has been Aston Martin’s cultural anchor since 1963.
Both brands are also riding current F1 visibility — Breitling through its modern-retro repositioning under CEO Georges Kern, Aston Martin through the Aramco F1 team it’s run since Lawrence Stroll took over as executive chairman in 2020.
The gold edition is the technical flex. Cutting a dial from natural onyx is finicky work — the stone is brittle and no two cuts come out identical — which is part of why it’s capped at 250 and positioned as their big-deal piece.
Where to Buy It
The Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Aston Martin DB5 launches July 20 through Breitling boutiques and authorized retailers in three editions.
The stainless steel with silver dial (1,022 pieces) runs $11,400; the steel-and-platinum with black dial (315 pieces) is $18,600; and the 18k red gold with onyx dial (250 pieces) tops the range at $41,500.
