The DB5 you can actually afford – this watch is made with the hood from an Aston Martin
Published on Jul 09, 2022 at 9:00 AM (UTC+4)
by Patrick Jackson
Last updated on Jul 08, 2022 at 2:42 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The Aston Martin DB5 is perhaps the best known James Bond car, and they’re unsurprisingly worth a tonne of money now.
However, Belgian watchmaker Atelier Jalaper is offering a way you can get into a DB5 for a lot less.
The company is launching a pair of watches made out of the hood of a DB5.
READ MORE: Sean Connery’s James Bond Aston Martin is selling for nearly $2 million
Both models, the AJ001 and AJ002, are practically identical – the only difference is the latter shows the day and date.
Each model is available with either a silver stainless steel or black PVD case as well.
But it’s the dial made from part of the DB5 hood that’s obviously the real selling point here.
The company, which is run by two guys in their 20s, turned to internet users for the inspiration.
The project was crowdfunded, and the company let backers vote on which one of four cars should be used for the watches’ automotive element.
When the DB5 was the winner, it gave Atelier Jalaper quite a task – finding part of a DB5 it could use.
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Although only 1021 DB5s were ever made, the company tracked down the hood from one in a London garage.
The bonnet was then expertly flattened and cut out to make the dials for each of the watches.
Each comes with an automatic Miyota movement as well, so it’s no cheap battery-powered watch.
Just 500 will be made, but surprisingly, they aren’t actually that expensive.
The AJ001 is priced from $810 (€800) and the AJ002 from $1093 (€1080). There’s an $81 (€80) premium for the black case.
That’s about the most affordable way you’ll get near any part of a DB5 these days, even if it’s only around your wrist and not in your garage.
The average price of an Aston Martin DB5 is in the $700,000 region, but many sell for over $1 million.
However, DB5s used in Bond films sell for far more – think $6.4 million, which one sold for in 2019.
With those prices, it makes these Atelier Jalaper watches all the more appealing.
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A car zealot from a young age, Patrick has put his childhood spent obsessing over motoring magazines and TV shows to good use over the past six years as a journalist. Fuelled by premium octane coffee, he’s contributed to Finder, DriveTribe, WhichCar, Vehicle History and Drive Section.
