Vroom! Three automotive-inspired watches

Resolutions, eh? Three days in and I'm already hating 2016, which so far has been suspiciously reminiscent of 2015. I still haven't shifted the beer belly, I still can't swim, I still can't drive - 2016 sucks. Some of you will be thinking, "You give up too easily", but I'll be honest, if I could swim I would have to go on more interminable junk trips, if I could drive I would be made to do so and the beer belly, well, I've made peace with it and some women think it's cuddly, so that's a win.

OK, enough ranting about resolutions, lets segue back to watches in the most abrupt and clunky fashion. This week, inspired a little by my lack of driving ability, we're going to talk about automotive-themed watches. Primarily, I wanted to talk about the new Bremont MKIII (right), the latest watch in the British brand's excellent Jaguar collection. Now, I realise some people will turn their noses up at the notion of a Bremont watch and at a watchmaker partnering a carmaker, but leave aside your prejudices for a moment and take a look at what is a well designed timepiece. Inspired by the icon that is the Jaguar E-Type, which, some would say, is the most beautiful car ever made, the MKIII is, as the name suggests, the third in this collection and undoubtedly the best. The 43mm steel case is slimmer than previous versions and the dial pays glorious tribute to the E-Type's dashboard including a "red line" quadrant between the three and four o'clock positions. Other nice features include the heritage decorations on the case back and the leather racing strap. Bremont's technical skills aren't as widely known as those of its Swiss competitors but the BE-36AE modified movement is dependable and has 38 hour power reserve, and the chronometer is Cosc-certified, if things like that matter to you. Prices for the Bremont MKIII are available upon request.

Another collaboration of which I approve is Breitling for Bentley, a very muscular and manly line that blends the best of both brands. One of the latest additions to what is now a big collection, is the GT3 limited edition (right), inspired by the Bentley Continental GT3 race car. The huge 49mm case is made of titanium, so even though it takes up a lot of the wrist it is super light. The best thing about this watch is the colour scheme; the use of black for the dial and strap is accented perfectly with the red and green of the indices and markings. As you would expect from such a sporty watch there's dials and indications aplenty including the Cosc-certified chronometer, the Breitling slide rule bezel, a chronograph, three subdials and a chunky black rubber strap. Other features include a date indication and 100 metres of water resistance. Inside is an in-house calibre 27B movement. Limited to 500 pieces, the GT3 is priced at HK$98,960.

Finally, we have a left-field choice that isn't necessarily a watch-car collaboration but rather a watch business that grew out of one of the best car design studios in the world. Porsche Design is an arms-length subsidiary of the car marque and designs all sorts of sleek accessories. Porsche Design's history goes back 40 years, to when the studio designed futuristic pieces for the likes of IWC, but only in 2014 did the company set up a dedicated watch business in Switzerland. The Swiss-made Chronotimer Series 1 All Titanium (right) is a perfect encapsulation of PD's watches; a slick polished-titanium case chronograph with a relatively clean and uncluttered dial. Inside is a respectable ETA 7750 movement. The watch is priced at US$5,150.