On the ‘Breit’ side of the road… in a Bentley

LONDON – The Queen of England, Elton John and David Beckham. You may think they wouldn’t have much to talk about if you put them round one table, but if you check out their cars, you’ll find a common denominator–they all ride Bentleys.

During the Queen’s Golden Jubilee earlier this year, a special limousine was commissioned at the Bentley Motor Works at Crewe in Northern England. The body work and interiors were specially designed by the prestigious Mulliner Bespoking Department (now a subsidiary of Bentley). The limousine was a testament to the quality and craftsmanship Bentley is noted for ("bespoking" refers to the customizing that’s done for the customers of cars such as Bentley and Rolls Royce).

The weather is two degrees Celsius in the North of England and with the wind chill factor, it feels more like below zero. Invited by the Lucerne Group (exclusive distributors of Breitling in the Philippines) to witness the formal launch of the Breitling Watches and Bentley Motor Works collaboration on the Bentley Continental GT, I find that the only bright spots in this corner of Merry ‘Ole England are the radiant faces of the Breitling and Bentley people.

Breitling and Bentley’s is a unique partnership. First, Breitling has participated in the styling of the instrumentation of the Continental GT. Its signature will appear on the dashboard clock, the first time Bentley has featured a branded clock within their luxurious handcrafted interior. And Breitling will join Team Bentley for Le Mans 2003 (in June), producing a chronograph bearing the prestigious Bentley name (to be unveiled during the Geneva car show, March 2003).

Both brands carry a coherent identity; both focus on performance, prestige and tradition coupled with technical innovation. As main sponsor of the Bentley Boys in next year’s Le Mans, the Breitling name will be blazoned across both front wings and side panels. This is the ultimate platform, highlighting mutual brand values for performance and precision in this most challenging of environments.

As my vote for Manila’s Yoda of the Good Life, Louie Ysmael exclaimed before I left, "Breitling and Bentley! If you ever need someone to carry your bags, call me. I’ve loved Breitling watches, since forever. When I was studying in Switzerland, they were the precision watch one absolutely had to have. As for Bentley, if you want performance coupled with comfort beyond your wildest dreams, this is the car. They’re in the process of resurrecting themselves and have gone all out to make themselves the talk of the car industry. The Continental Gran Tourismo (GT) which will be launched next year will be the fastest genuine four-seater, top speed (in excess of 180 mph and 0 to 62 mph in under five seconds) car. Growl!" (Those who know Louie when he gets excited are familiar with that growl.)

With the average price for a Bentley coming in at close to £300,000, it’s a safe bet that not many will think of a Bentley as their Christmas gift. But if you are still looking for an ideal gift for that man in your life, the Breitling watches are here, at reasonable prices that represent the inherent value of these timepieces.

And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that in Europe, while the ladies’ models move well, shops report an increasing number of women who elect to wear the smaller faced men’s watches–a tip for enterprising male gift-givers who can give the watch as a gift and borrow them every so often.

While the commemorative Bentley Continental GT chronograph may not be in the shops until the second quarter of 2003, other models are available. The Navitimer Olympus (the Navitimer, Breitling’s flagship product, is enjoying its 50th year), the Chrono Avenger M1 (water-resistant and operational up to a depth of 1,000 meters), the Callisto, the Hercules and the Montbrillant Datora. These Breitling watches are benchmarks of a proud tradition that dates back to 1884.

Known as the "Instruments for Professionals," Leon Breitling first put up the company as a workshop for chronographs and precision counters designed for scientific and industrial use. To this day, it enjoys a leading position in the chronometer niche–a model that every other watch maker has endeavored to assimilate in its campaign to provide highly user-friendly yet information loaded timepieces. By having each watch certified by the highly respected COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute), Breitling ensures its wearers that the timepiece on their wrist has undergone a stringent battery of tests for 15 days and nights, in five positions and three different temperatures. In consumer terms, this means certification to be 99.99 percent accurate, exhibiting a variations rate that is lower than —4/+6 seconds per day! Nestled near the border between the French-speaking and German- speaking cantos of Switzerland, Grenchen houses the Breitling state-of-the-art facilities.

To expand the breadth of consumers who can enjoy Breitling, they even came up with a Superquartz watch, 10 times more accurate than standard quartz watches. Given that quartz reacts to the surrounding climate–a rise or fall in temperature tends to slow its frequency–Breitling Superquartz watches have movements each individually fitted with tiny thermometers. At regular intervals every few minutes, a device housed within the integrated circuit corrects the rating of the watch according to the temperature recorded. In principle, this resembles a declutching system.

It’s entirely apropos that what could be a motoring analogy is utilized at this juncture when Breitling and Bentley are about to embark on a collaborative journey. The ethos and spirit of cooperation between these two brand names go further than the coincidental similarities in logos–a winged "B." It’s their respective drives for mechanical perfection (or the closest one can achieve) in their differing fields, that stand as the foundation for why the partnership is destined to prosper.

Bentleys have always meant luxury automobiles that can still promise performance unrivaled among high-end vehicles. Having copped several of the Le Mans races of the 1920s, Bentley experienced a 1920s version of a hostile takeover that had Rolls Royce putting the company under its wings (yes, both companies have hood ornaments with wings). When BMW recently bought Rolls Royce, the Bentley division was picked up by Volks Wagen, and VW has shown their commitment to bring the Bentley name back to glory.

The Arnache, the Azure, the Continental–these Bentley models are the rage among discerning buyers on a global scale. If there was a bit of a stodgy, more conservative image associated with the Bentley name, the launch of the Continental GT next year will herald just how far Bentley is ready to give the world the ultimate owner-driven luxury coupe.

With Mulliner now firmly a division of Bentley, these cars will exhibit just how far one can go in customizing and creating "extras." Circular bars that pop up between the rear seats (instead of cup holders, you have champagne flute holders); built-in computer screens attached to the rear of the front seats; a 22" plasma screen that can descend from the partition between front and rear seats; built-in armored protection that can withstand an attack by NATO 7.62mm self loading rifles; Kalashnikov AK-47’s or DM51 hand grenades; a cedar wood cigar humidor; fibre optic spot lighting in the rear compartment–these all are parts of the standard Mulliner experience that one can avail of. Special requests are often made and the Mulliner engineers provide suggestions that aim to satisfy the individual whims of a prospective owner.

While the spokesperson of Bentley/Mulliner refused to divulge names, it didn’t take much to deduce that the special pop-up cosmetic mirror and shelves shown with "Victoria" leather-stitched within one panel was a special request of Victoria Beckham, one of the original Spice Girls, now the wife of footballer David. One Asian leader wanted to have a karaoke installed in the rear compartment. Another owner requested that aluminum be employed in the dashboard and interior sides, giving the car a unique Art Deco feel. As Trevor Gay, sales manager for Bentley Mulliner was proud to expound, "We can certainly do more individualizing than any other car maker. (The owners) can order anything they like as long as it can be built, and it is legal. This bespoke treatment can be as simple as unusual body and trim colors, the most unusual being a clementine orange car with yellow piping and lime green leather upholstery. But there have been even more extreme suggestions that we declined. After all, at the end of the day, it’s our name on the car, so we have to have the final say."

One last bit of information– you know the Golden Jubilee limousine the Queen of England rode earlier this year? While Bentley will refuse to make an exact replica of that car, if they bespoked one that closely approximates what was commissioned for the Queen, the cost would come in at a whopping £1.5 million.

Can you show me those watches again?

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E-mail the author at: peopleasia@qinet.net