A rally car does everything a watch is supposed to hate. Vibration, impact, dust, temperature swings, violence in every axis. So why has one Swiss watchmaker spent decades strapping its watches to exactly that?
Somewhere on a gravel stage, a co-driver is reading pace notes at 180 kilometres an hour while the car beneath him tries to shake itself apart. Every rivet, every bracket, every component is being interrogated. Including the chronograph on his wrist.
That wrist is the most honest testing lab in watchmaking. And it is where Edox decided to live.
The instrument came first
Forget the sponsorship story for a moment — the watch itself is the interesting part. When Edox introduced the Chronorally in 2008, it was not a dress watch with a checkered flag on the box. It was developed for rally crews, with a party trick nobody else offered: the original model could measure and accumulate up to twelve separate lap times. A timing instrument, not a costume.
The racing logic runs through every detail you can touch. The seconds pusher is oversized and placed where a gloved hand finds it without looking. The caseback is sculpted like a tire rim. The strap is rubber, moulded with actual tread pattern. Cases come in titanium and carbon — materials chosen by engineers, not stylists — and every single Chronorally is assembled by hand in Les Genevez, a village of watchmakers in the Swiss Jura where Edox has been headquartered, still family-owned, since 1983.
Plenty of watches have a racing name. Very few were designed around the question: what does a driver actually need?
Racing noticed
You cannot fake competence in motorsport; the sport finds you. Edox’s timing credentials read like a masochist’s bucket list. Official timekeeping partner of the FIA World Rally Championship, signed in 2009. Official timekeeper of the Dakar Rally, arguably the most brutal motorsport event ever devised. The FIA World Rallycross Championship. A partnership with the Sauber Formula 1 team. Even offshore — Edox became the first watch brand ever to time the Class-1 World Powerboat Championship, where twin-hulled boats fly clear of the water at over 200 kilometres an hour, and built the CO-1 collection around what it learned out there.
Notice which disciplines. Not the manicured ones. Rally, rally raid, rallycross, offshore — the categories where machinery gets destroyed and finishing is a victory. For a company that spent the twentieth century patenting waterproofing systems and pressure-testing cases to absurd depths, this was less a marketing plan than a homecoming.
Then came the phone call from Munich
In 2021, BMW M Motorsport — the division behind some of the most successful racing machines ever built — chose Edox as its exclusive Official Timing Partner. Not a logo swap: the Edox name runs on BMW M cars at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, the race drivers call the Green Hell, and through the BMW Junior Team and BMW M2 Cup. The drivers themselves wear Chronorally chronographs in titanium, steel and carbon. A year on, the partnership expanded to BMW Motorrad Motorsport, adding superbike racing — timing machines that corner at lean angles most physics teachers would refuse to draw.
Out of that partnership came the watches collectors actually chase: Chronorally limited editions in BMW M racing liveries — white, black, blue, red — capped at 2,000 pieces. Same instrument the works drivers wear. No velvet rope.
What the abuse buys you
Here is the practical question: you are probably not going to drive the Dakar. Why should any of this matter when the watch is on your wrist at a desk, a dinner, a departure gate?
Because durability is not a feeling — it is a history. A case architecture that has survived rally seasons does not notice your gym bag. A movement family that includes COSC-certified chronometers — each one individually tested by Switzerland’s official institute for fifteen days, in five positions, at three temperatures — does not drift because you took it skiing. The racing programme is not image-building. It is the world’s least forgiving quality-control department, and every Chronorally sold in a showcase graduated from it.
There is also the price, and this is where independence pays off — for you. Edox has never belonged to a luxury conglomerate; it has answered only to itself since 1884, when founder Christian Rüefli-Flury turned a pocket watch made for his wife into a company. No group overhead, no marketing empire to feed. The result: a hand-assembled Swiss racing chronograph, with genuine works-team pedigree, typically priced between $1,000 and $5,000 — a fraction of what conglomerate racing brands ask for the same seat at the same tracks.
Try the pusher
Specifications persuade the head. The Chronorally persuades the hand — the heft of the titanium, the strap’s tread under your thumb, the mechanical certainty of that oversized pusher. Find an authorized Edox retailer in Canada or the United States through our stockists page, and try it in person.
The drivers did. They kept it on after the race.
Frequently asked questions
Why do racing drivers wear Edox watches?
BMW M Motorsport drivers wear Edox Chronorally chronographs because Edox is the exclusive Official Timing Partner of BMW M Motorsport and BMW Motorrad Motorsport. The Chronorally was originally engineered for rally crews, with features like an oversized pusher for gloved hands and shock-resistant titanium and carbon cases.
What is the Edox Chronorally?
The Chronorally is Edox’s motorsport chronograph, introduced in 2008. The original could measure up to twelve lap times. Signature details include a tire-rim caseback, tread-pattern rubber strap and oversized seconds pusher. Each piece is hand-assembled in Les Genevez, Switzerland.
Is Edox partnered with BMW?
Yes. Since 2021, Edox has been the exclusive Official Timing Partner of BMW M Motorsport — with its name on BMW M race cars at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, the BMW Junior Team and the BMW M2 Cup — and it also times BMW Motorrad Motorsport in superbike racing.
Are there Edox BMW limited edition watches?
Yes. Edox produces Chronorally limited editions in BMW M Motorsport racing liveries, each limited to 2,000 pieces — the same model worn by the works drivers.
What motorsport events has Edox timed?
Edox has served as official timekeeper of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Dakar Rally, the FIA World Rallycross Championship and the Class-1 World Powerboat Championship, and previously partnered with the Sauber Formula 1 team.
What is the Edox CO-1?
The CO-1 is Edox’s offshore racing collection, created when Edox became the first watch brand to time the Class-1 World Powerboat Championship, where boats exceed 200 kilometres an hour on open water.
How much does an Edox Chronorally cost?
Edox motorsport chronographs typically retail between approximately $1,000 and $5,000 — hand-assembled Swiss racing watches priced well below conglomerate-owned racing brands.
Where can I buy an Edox Chronorally in North America?
Through authorized Edox retailers across Canada and the United States. See our stockists page for the nearest authorized jeweller, with full warranty and certified service.