Luxury Italian automaker Hublot is partnering with a new brand after nine years.
Since at least the early 1970s, watchmakers and carmakers have formed relationships, and limited edition timepieces are inevitably the result. In practice, the genre is a lot like a game of musical chairs. Once a watchmaker’s carmaker partnership ends, another watch brand steps in to fill its void.
Richard Mille and Scuderia Ferrari’s latest multi-year contract.
There has been a serious, highly prolific relationship between the luxury Italian automaker’s racing division and Hublot from 2011 to late 2020. In spite of co-marketing some 70 timepieces together, it’s unclear why that partnership ended after nine years. Some have speculated that the two brands have reached their creative limit after co-marketing some 70 timepieces.
As a result, Ferrari has teamed up with Richard Mille, whose watches are known as “racing machines for the wrist.” The partnership sets the stage for the most authentic co-branding we’ve seen yet.
Richard Mille and Ferrari are planning to develop a line of watches over the next few years that will stand out from the previous luxury timepieces Ferrari has endorsed.
Since the late great Enzo Ferrari founded the automaker in 1972, Heuer has served as the official timekeeper and sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari, making it the first watch brand to sponsor a Formula One team and the first watch brand to place its logo on a race car.
Since then, the watch industry has seen a deluge of activity. TAG Heuer announced its new long-term partnership with Porsche on Feb. 4, and Girard-Perregaux became Aston Martin’s official watch partner yesterday.
