MILAN — BMW Alpine Formula 1 Team drivers Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto helped H. Moser & Cie., its official timekeeper since 2024, unveil a new boutique in Milan on Wednesday ahead of the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia 2026 to be held at Monza, Italy, from Friday to Sunday.

The Swiss watchmaker unveiled a 269-square-foot boutique on Via Montenapoleone operated by longtime partner Rocca, the Italian multibrand watch retailer that is part of the Damiani Group.

“Formula 1 has a very special relationship with time because we spend all our life fighting for tenths of a second, milliseconds throughout the whole year and on every racetrack. There are lots of parallels [with watchmaking] in that an F1 factory and a [watch] manufacture [share the same pursuit] of high engineering and precision, research in the different materials, so it’s quite fascinating actually to collaborate and try to learn from each other on how to perfect the two worlds,” said Gasly, who joined the Alpine team in 2023 and currently ranks 10th in the World Drivers’ Championship.

The driver is hopeful about the upcoming race in Monza, which he won in 2020, his first major achievement since joining F1 in 2017.

“I live in Milan a couple kilometers from the racetrack, and I obviously won my first F1 race in Monza. So, every time I go to the track I remember those emotions, [of me] standing on the podium, celebrating with my team [the Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda at the time],” Gasly reminisced.

“Unfortunately, I won during the COVID-19 pandemic, so I had no fans, which gives us a good reason to win it again and enjoy with all the ‘tifosi’ [Italian for fans],” he said.

A passionate watch collector despite his young age of 30 and an H. Moser & Cie. ambassador, Gasly sported a new addition to his closet on Wednesday, when he joined the watchmaker’s co-owner Bertrand Meylan and Giorgio Grassi Damiani to cut the ribbon of the new store.

Marking the boutique’s opening, the watchmaker unveiled the Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton Ceramic Alpine Limited Edition timepiece, the third release — and fourth design — as part of the company’s four-year partnership with the racing team, bound to stretch until 2028, the year of the watchmaker’s 200th anniversary.

“It’s been an amazing partnership for us and a relationship that is based on common values linked to passion and the technicality of the products,” Meylan said. “That’s something we developed together with the team to show really the partnership that we have is not just about the name; it’s also about working together on tools that they can use… [leveraging] the engineering that really help us push ourselves to present new products,” he said.

The 40-millimeter watch crafted from gunmetal gray ceramics is fully skeletonized to reveal the HMC 814 caliber and flying tourbillon, whose bridge is rendered in the shade of blue associated with the BMW Alpine team. It comes with an Alcantara strap and boasts Globolight indexes and hands, also made of ceramics and paired with the luminescent Super Luminova material.

Touting the watch, Gasly singled out the skeletonized architecture and flying tourbillon as his favorite features. “I love seeing the engineering and the mechanism, and also the movements, it just feels like [the skeletonized case] brings some life to the watch,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s not the cheapest [feature to produce],” he quipped.

“I have a small [watch] collection which is growing… I’m someone that likes to link watches to emotions and special moments in my life. So whenever I have a special event in my life, I always try to get a watch that connects me to that moment, the people [involved] or the emotions. Each watch has got a bit of a story,” Gasly said.

The Milan boutique marks the second retail partnership between H. Moser & Cie. and Rocca after the two firms opened a monobrand store in Seoul last year.

The sleek interiors of the Milan boutique, tucked away in a shopping gallery overlooking the main thoroughfare, combine concrete and blue accents, the watchmaker’s signature color.

“Italy holds a special place in the world of high watchmaking. Italian collectors have a true culture of beauty, curiosity and sensibility that deeply resonate with our philosophy,” said Edouard Meylan, co-owner and chief executive officer of H. Moser & Cie. in a statement. He was not in attendance.

“I think Italy has been and still is one of the most important places for watches. Some of the biggest collectors are here and many [watch] trends are started by Italian customers, so we think that for Moser watches there will be a huge potential in the market… We think there is a very big chance [for the brand] to grow very fast and very well in Italy,” echoed Grassi Damiani, vice president of the family-run group.

“We are very proud and happy because we share important values with H. Moser & Cie. First of all, the excellence and the quality, but I think one more important thing is the passion that drives both of us as family businesses,” he said.

As reported, watches have become an increasingly important asset for the Damiani Group, which acquired Baume & Mercier from Compagnie Financière Richemont earlier this year.

The Milan boutique represents H. Moser & Cie.’s 10th retail outpost globally, adding to Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, New Delhi, and Chicago, among others.

As reported, Gucci has signed on as title partner of the BMW Alpine Formula 1 Team, which, beginning with the 2027 season, will compete in Gucci colors under the banner Gucci Racing Alpine Formula 1 Team.