The global brand Michelin and the world’s ultimate hub for personalised luxury products, Bamford London, have come together to create an exclusive 133-piece limited edition watch, one for each year since Michelin was founded in 1889.
The MICHELIN x Bamford B347 Pilot Sport is an exciting blend of the two brand’s visionary spirit and collaborative expertise, continuing to satisfy their customer’s expectations as well as surprise them.
Bamford London launched the Swiss-made Bamford B347 model in 2021 which was another step forward for the brand, driving further ahead with cutting-edge materials and design limits. The MICHELIN x Bamford B347 Pilot Sport turns another corner with the use of new materials and design choices bringing these two brands into perfect alignment.
“What started out as a light-bulb moment, stood next to a line-up of Porsches at a car meet with a friend who works at Michelin, has developed into this stunning display of two pioneering brands. The racing-inspired design, lightweight carbon body, integrating the recycled tyre rubber and marking this by adding the tread pattern from their latest tyre - it all works” comments, George Bamford, Founder, Bamford London.
A Better Way Forward Together The MICHELIN x Bamford B347 Pilot Sport is an automatic monopusher chronograph with a 41.5mm black cutting-edge forged carbon case housing a Sellita SW510 automatic movement. The single push-button located at 2 o’clock provides the start-stop-reset function and the car related references only begin there.
The tachymeter is a racing-inspired chequered pattern like the start/finish flag. This watch launches in time for this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the only show in the year where Michelin appears in the Supercar Paddock without it’s normal blue and yellow corporate colours. However, the signature Michelin yellow is present on the seconds and sub dial hands of this watch.
The black dial features white accents as well as luminous hour and minute hands. The white subdials are a nod to Michelin’s latest brand campaign showing tyres on real life vehicles as white, cartoon-style circles, because of course, tyres used to be white.
The Michelin yellow also features as a unique coloured fleck on the strap which is made using recycled MICHELIN Pilot Sport 5 test tyres. The material is from Michelin’s research and development campus, Ladoux, based in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The strap features a real tread pattern, taken from the Pilot Sport 5: specifically from a 225/40 ZR18 (92Y) tyre. This size tyre would be used on some special cars like the retro BMW E36 and E46 M3s, British-built Lotus Evora and 3-Eleven Models plus the Morgan Aero 8, and various iterations of the VW Golf GTI hot hatch.
Partnering Bamford London and Michelin to create the unique watch strap, Greenology, a specialist in full circle, sustainable solutions for end-of-life tyres, utilised the recycled MICHELIN Pilot Sport 5 test tyres sourced from Michelin’s research and development campus.
Laura Hepburn, Director at Greenolgy, said: “It has been a privilege to work in collaboration with Michelin and Bamford, who are fellow innovative forward-thinking companies, to responsibly deal with tyres in a whole new way. This collaboration is an excellent example of working together to help create a transition to net zero and a greener, cleaner tyre industry.”
Adding to the special elements of this timepiece, the caseback and custom box features a heritage ‘race winner’ Bibendum (MICHELIN Man) which is usually reserved for Michelin’s own use.
“Bamford’s expertise in high precision manufacturing, advanced materials, eye for detail – those are traits we share and made this collaboration an obvious choice. It’s also a statement, highlighting Michelin’s presence as a lifestyle brand. We’re more than tyres. Michelin sets the standards in food, hotels and experiences. George and I thought, why stop there? There is always a demand for Bamford’s brand collaborations, especially when produced in limited numbers. This joint project has allowed us to create something aspirational, that represents Michelin today, all whilst putting some R&D samples of our latest tyres – the Pilot Sport 5 – to good use!" Dan Smith, Communications at Michelin UK
This unique timepiece costs £2,500 inc VAT and it is available from Bamford London
MICHELIN x Bamford B347 Pilot Sport Specifications:
Type - Self-winding – Monopusher Chronograph - Date
Movement - Sellita SW510 MPa, 28,800 per hour (4 Hz), 27 jewels, 62 hour power reserve
Function - Cam operated chronograph - single push-button at 2 o'clock, Hours, minutes and small second at 9 o'clock, 60 seconds counter in the center, 30 minutes counter at 3 o'clock, Date with quick setting, Self-winding mechanism with ball bearing, Stop second device
Case Material - Carbon Fibre
Case diameter - 41.5mm
Case thickness - 14.5mm
Caseback material - Black coated Steel
Water Resistance - 100m / 10 ATM
Lug Width - 22mm
Strap – Recycled MICHELIN Pilot Sport 5 test tyre with rubber lining and square end and black buckle
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