Bugatti in the World of Watchmaking

Bugatti's story in the world of watchmaking is a testament to its relentless pursuit of technical excellence, aesthetics and innovation.

Over 115 years, the French marque has not only excelled in automotive engineering but has also cultivated a deep and lasting bond with haute horlogerie, inspiring and collaborating with some of the world's most prestigious watchmakers.

This connection dates back to 1925, when the Swiss brand Mido, famous for watches inspired by the automotive world, created a special collection that mirrored Bugatti's aesthetic. These watches, with gold cases shaped like a radiator grille and the iconic red "EB" logo, were given to the best drivers, mechanics and members of Ettore Bugatti's family, and became rare pieces, with fewer than 100 examples made by hand.

The relationship between watchmaking and cars shone again in 1932, when Ettore Bugatti commissioned Breguet to make a series of chronographs for the Type 41 Royale – the most luxurious car ever built. These dashboard clocks, with a cream dial and the inscription “Spécial pour Bugatti”, featured Breguet's characteristic "pomme" hands and a mechanical movement with an eight-day power reserve. One of these pieces returned to Breguet in 2016, strengthening the emotional and historical bond between the two houses.

In the early 2000s, during Bugatti's revival, the marque teamed up with Parmigiani Fleurier, giving rise to the innovative Bugatti Type 370 – a watch with a side-mounted dial, a hand-wound movement with a 10-day power reserve and an architecture inspired by the gearbox of the Bugatti Veyron. This “driver's watch” was initially met with scepticism, but went on to be named "Watch of the Year" in 2006, with special editions celebrating the Veyron 16.4 and Grand Sport Vitesse models.

More recently, in 2019, Bugatti joined forces with Jacob & Co. in a collaboration that pushed the boundaries of watchmaking even further. Models such as the Twin Turbo Furious Bugatti Edition and the Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon explored new aesthetic and mechanical territory, and even featured automatons in the form of engine blocks, dual power-reserve indicators and flying tourbillons, always with a design faithful to the marque's cars. In particular, the Jean Bugatti stood out as one of the most sophisticated and complex chronographs ever created by Jacob & Co.

With the arrival of the Bugatti Tourbillon – the new hypercar unveiled in 2024 – the collaboration between the car maker and Swiss master watchmakers reached new heights. The vehicle's analogue instrument cluster was developed as a true piece of watchmaking, with more than 600 components in titanium, sapphire and ruby, engineered to tolerances of just 5 microns. Fixed to the dashboard, even as the steering wheel turns, this element has become the visual centrepiece of the driving experience and a symbol of timeless heritage.

Inspired by this new car, the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon, scheduled for 2026, is a watch limited to 250 pieces that incorporates ten visual elements of the car. At its heart lies a miniaturised, working V16 engine block, sculpted from a single block of transparent sapphire and visible through the front and rear windows of the watch case – an unprecedented fusion of watchmaking art and automotive engineering.

With new editions to be revealed in Geneva in April, the Bugatti-Jacob & Co. partnership continues to explore the limits of watchmaking, always uniting innovation, art and precision with a sense of absolute luxury. From the days of Mido and Breguet to today's avant-garde creations, Bugatti is synonymous not only with iconic cars but also with true masterpieces of time.