Michelin and Bamford London – recycled Pilot Sport tyres used for watch strap.
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 brands’ visionary spirit and collaborative expertise, continuing to satisfy their customers’ 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 event 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 representing a 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 its 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 sub-dials are a nod to Michelin’s latest brand campaign showing tyres on 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, a 225/40 ZR18 (92Y) tyre. This size tyre would be used on cars like the retro BMW E36 and E46 M3, and the 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 feature a heritage ‘race winner’ Bibendum (MICHELIN Man) which is usually reserved for Michelin’s own use.
This unique timepiece is available from Bamford London www.bamfordlondon.com