British watchmaker Bremont debuts first watch in partnership with Williams Racing

A few weeks ago, Williams Racing launched their new car for the 2022 F1 season. The FW44 will be driven by Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi, and borrows its initials from the company’s founder Frank Williams.

This year, with sweeping changes to the F1 rules, Williams stands a credible chance at breaking into the top five within the constructor’s standings.

At the start of the 2021 season though, British watchmaker Bremont became the official timing and watch partner for the F1 team. This year, Bremont – which, like the F1 team, is based in Oxfordshire – continues down that path and marks the collaboration with the released of the first Bremont Williams timepiece, the Bremont WR-22 timepiece.

The 43mm chronograph has a bi-directional tachymeter – an essential function when considering measuring speed is at the very core of any racing team – and a dial configuration that is a nod to vintage chronograph layouts.

Keeping that vintage theme, are the 1970s inspired chronograph hands and a readily highly legible dial accented by a red chronograph second hand and Super-LumiNova filled applied indexes.

Flip the watch over, and you’ll find a tungsten rotor inspired by the Williams Racing car wheel rim that features Williams Racing logo.

The WR-22 chronometer timepiece has a 42 hour power reserve and has options of either an Alcantara strap, a material used for racing car steering wheels, or a steel bracelet option.

Significantly, each watch will come with an original wheel nut from historic Williams Racing cars, certified by Williams Racing.

The black ceramic rotating bezel frames a white dial with the Williams colours of electric blue and oxford blue seen on the 12 hour counter.

“We were incredibly proud for the Williams Racing team to be sporting the ALT1-WT watch last year and this season we’re very much looking forward to both Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi sporting the new Williams timepiece. Precision and timekeeping are everything in Formula 1 and the WR-22 represents the foundations on which our partnership with Williams Racing is based: British engineering, technical excellence and authenticity,” said Bremont co-founder Nick English.

In a sign that the partnership will extend beyond just watches, Bremont and Williams are developing a manufacturing partnership too that brings together the precision machining of car and watch parts engineering expertise and IP to develop the parts together which will be manufactured using machinery housed at Bremont’s Manufacturing & Technology Centre, ‘The Wing’ in Henley-on Thames in England, supported by Williams’ team of manufacturing specialists.