Michelin and Bamford London release limited edition watch made from recycled tyres
The MICHELIN x Bamford B347 Pilot Sport sees the watch band made out of old Michelin Pilot Sport 5 test tyres, giving the band a unique pattern and texture.Tyre brand Michelin has teamed up with luxury watchmaker Bamford London to create a limited-edition watch. There will only be 133 timepieces available to purchase, one for each year since Michelin was founded in 1889.
Based on the Bamford B347, 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 designed to be a racing-inspired chequered pattern representing the start/finish racing flag. While the signature Michelin yellow is present on the seconds and sub-dial hands of the 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 brand colours and the ever-famous Michelin Man, showing tyres on vehicles as white, cartoon-style circles as tyres used to be white.
The Michelin yellow also features as a unique coloured fleck on the watch strap, which is made using recycled Michelin Pilot Sport 5 test tyres. The materials were from Michelin’s research and development campus, Ladoux, based in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
The strap features a real tread pattern is taken from the Pilot Sport 5, specifically the 225/40 ZR18 (92Y) tyre. This size tyre is found on classic cars including the BMW E36 and E46 M3, British-built Lotus Evora and 3-Eleven Models, Morgan Aero 8, and various iterations of the VW Golf GTI hot hatch.
Adding to the special elements of this timepiece, the watch's caseback and custom box feature a heritage ‘race winner’ Bibendum (a.k.a. Michelin Man) which is usually only reserved for Michelin’s own product usage.
The unique MICHELIN x Bamford B347 Pilot Sport timepiece costs £2,500 ($4,407 AUD) and it is available online from Bamford London.
Related: The story of Bibendum a.k.a. The Michelin Man
Related: Continental Tyres set to use recycled plastic bottles in tyres from 2022
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