Hublot presents the F1 King, official timepiece of Formula One

Hublot F1 King – Click above for high-res image gallery

There’s seemingly no limit to the extent of commercial partnerships taking place every day in the fast-paced world of Formula One racing. But while the teams, and sometimes even the races themselves, have been the beneficiaries of such consideration, the series itself has largely stayed out of it. That’s all changing now, however, as Bernie Ecclestone is taking a page out of the NASCAR playbook in bringing aboard various commercial partners for the series. LG, for example, was one of the first, and now the series has announced a new partnership with Swiss watchmakers Hublot as the sport’s official timekeeper.

Replacing the previous arrangement with Jacques LeMans, the Hublot deal promises to bring a series of specially-branded timepieces to market. And this is the first. Called the F1 King, it’s the opposite of the kind of flashy, bling-tastic jewelry you might have associated with the series. Instead, as you can see from the image above, the F1 King is all decked out in matte black, from the microblasted ceramic bezel and PVD-coated titanium fittings to the tungsten-carbide and black chrome mechanical components inside.

Follow the jump for full details in the press release and browse the images from the announcement this past weekend in Bahrain.

Gallery: Hublot F1 King