Did you ever stare at the inside of your luxurious Bentley automobile and think, “Something’s missing, but I can’t quite put my finger on it?” We haven’t, either.
For fun, let’s assume you did manage to buy a Bentley. As long as you’re dreaming, why not make it the Bentley Bentayga SUV? Bentley refers to it as “the fastest, most powerful, most luxurious, most exclusive SUV in the world.” With a 12-cylinder, twin turbocharged engine, it has a top speed of 187 mph and can go from zero to 60 mph in 4 seconds. Surely, that is worth the asking price of $229,100 for the base model.
What is the perfect complement to such a fine machine? How about a similarly luxurious and precise (and expensive) timepiece?
As a wristwatch, the Breitling for Bentley Mulliner Tourbillon sells for approximately $175,000 (depending on the Euro-US dollar exchange rate) and can be partially customized to your requirements. You will be happy to learn that you can include this fine instrument as part of your Bentley Bentayga’s dashboard instrumentation for the low, low price of $160,000. That’s right, for the price of a high-end Mercedes and BMW combined, you can buy a dashboard clock. True, that $15,000 discount from the wristwatch price is quite a bargain — although when a dashboard accessory starts to approach the entire cost of the car, it had better come with significant savings.
Bentley chronometers are standard dashboard accessories on the Bentayga, but the Mulliner Tourbillon has an extraordinarily complex and precise mechanism. It is so complex that it takes over a hundred artisans to create the timepiece, according to the Breitling for Bentley website. It also is highly exclusive, with only a few timepieces made each year (thus the ability to customize).
As a Bentayga accessory, the Mulliner Tourbillon can be purchased in solid rose gold or white gold with a black ebony or mother-of-pearl face. Eight rather large diamonds serve as markers for the numbers. Other options are available as a wristwatch, including yellow gold and platinum; so if you have enough money to throw around, why not ask? Maybe you can have the platinum version installed for a bit extra.
As with most classic high-end timepieces, the wristwatch versions must be wound. That could pose a problem for drivers — if you think texting and driving is bad, try winding a watch while driving. However, Bentley came up with a clever mechanism to avoid having to wind the dashboard watch. A built-in mechanism in the casing spins the entire watch three times within the case every 15 minutes, keeping it continuously wound without any effort from the driver. It is a bit odd to see at first, but drivers quickly get used to it.
Such a wonderful timepiece will come in handy for things such as precisely timing your acceleration from zero to 60 — for a total purchase approaching $400,000, you should expect and demand exact acceleration and accurate timekeeping. Perhaps you can use the spinning rewind mechanism to distract the police officer who pulled you over for trying to go 187 mph, or more likely the members of the police blockade they set up to stop you. No classic Crown Vic or even a Dodge Charger is going to catch you at 187 mph.
If you don’t want to dream quite so big, pass on the car and fantasize about buying the Mulliner Tourbillon watch instead. That way, you won’t have to deal with the frustration of owning a car that can do 187 mph and having no place to drive it, or the fines (and maybe jail time) if you try to drive your car 187 mph anyway. However, you may not get that $15,000 discount.
Photo by youtube.com/channel/UCy9Y4en2y1eR1zwcmFkRMzg