IWC Schaffhausen has been a long-term partner of the Mercedes F1 team. They often have Lewis Hamilton as their face and brand ambassador to endorse their high-quality premium watches. The Swiss brand did their third collaboration with the seven-time champion in 2023, by launching the IWC Portugieser Tourbillon Retrograde Chronograph. This timepiece was a limited edition with only 44 pieces (Hamilton’s racing number), priced at $175,000, which would earn IWC an estimated revenue of $7.7 million.
F1 photographer Kym Illman talked about this IWC watch collaboration with Hamilton in his latest YouTube video. He cited how he saw the Briton wearing this timepiece in the Media Penn at the 2023 Japanese GP.
Illman highlighted how the piece that Hamilton was wearing did not show the time or day correctly. The reason behind this is it was purely for sponsorship purposes. Thus, he cited how the PR people may have given the Mercedes driver the watch, without winding it.
Nonetheless, he highlighted some of the features of the watch. The watch is made from 950 titanium with a 43.5 mm face with almost 16 mm thickness. It has a retrograde date display and also a stopwatch, besides having 12 diamonds to mark the hours on the watch face.
Before 2023, IWC collaborated with the seven-time champion in 2014 and 2019. The Swiss brand often capitalizes on Hamilton and Mercedes’ popularity via these collaborations.
On this timepiece, they have also featured the #44 driver’s logo. And of course, as his racing number, they only produced 44 pieces of the limited edition watch. Another intricate detail is how on the back of the watch face, it is mentioned which number of 44 is that particular piece.
Why does IWC partner with Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton?
IWC has been in partnership with Mercedes ever since the 2013 season as its Official Engineering partner. As per their official website statement, they cite their long-term association due to a shared passion for mechanical engineering and a commitment to excellence. Both brands also advocate for sustainable practices in their business operations, thus making them more aligned in values.
Besides IWC, there are a few other watch brands that partner with the Silver Arrows’ competitors. Many luxury brands like Richard Mille and TAG Heuer have been the top watch brands as sponsors in F1 recently. Richard Mille is a sponsor for McLaren and Ferrari currently.
Meanwhile, TAG Heuer has been a long-term partner with Red Bull Racing. Before 2019, they were even in a badging deal on the team’s Renault power units. However, since Red Bull switched to Honda engines, TAG Heuer has stayed as a normal team partner.
Aston Martin has Girard-Perregaux on board, not as famous as the others but works well the agile and sporty Silverstone team’s image. Rolex is the other big brand name that often can be spotted during Grand Prix weekends. Like for many other major sporting events, Rolex is the official time partner for Formula 1 overall.
Although coming back to the Mercedes-IWC collaboration, it always stands out with all the promotional push. Lewis Hamilton’s image and popularity benefit IWC a lot and they don’t fail to capitalize on the same. Also, besides Hamilton, they have a rising star in George Russell to bank on for the future. So IWC will probably stay with Mercedes for the foreseeable future.
