Valentino Rossi (born on February 16, 1979) is an Italian former 500cc/MotoGP racer. He is a nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion, with seven of his titles won in the premier class. Rossi currently competes in in the GT World Challenge Europe series with TEAM WRT, and has tested a BMW M Hybrid V8 prototype at the FIA WEC Rookie Test in November of 2024.
500cc and MotoGP Career
Rossi entered the 500cc class in 2000 with Honda, and won the last ever 500cc title before taking the first two MotoGP championships on the legendary Honda RCV. The Italian made a shock move to Yamaha in 2004, winning four more titles in 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009. After an underwhelming two-year stint with Ducati, Rossi returned to Yamaha where he raced until 2021. The Doctor wrapped up his storied career with a total of 89 premier class wins and 199 podiums from 372 starts, and is widely considered one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time. Rossi was inducted in the MotoGP Hall of Fame at the end of his final season.
Valentino Rossi in 2015. (Photo: © Daniel Lo)
Formula 1 Tests with Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG Petronas
The Italian is also no stranger to Formula 1, having done several tests with Scuderia Ferrari and came excruciatingly close to making the switch to four wheels.
Rossi’s most recent taste of F1 was during a 2019 Monster Energy seat swap event with seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, where he drove the Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
G-Shock Ad Appearance
While details are not well documented, Rossi and his former MotoGP rival Max Biaggi have both made appearances in G-Shock ads during their respective careers in support classes. The commercial arrangement does not appear to involve any licensed or signature editions.
Breil Sponsorship
Breil was Rossi’s first watch sponsor during his premier class career, appearing on the Italian rider’s NSR500 in his first two seasons with Honda. After Rossi’s first 500cc world title, Breil announced the “Special Edition Valentino Rossi” chronograph on a yellow strap. The six o’clock subdial features a stylized “46”, while his engraved signature appears on the case back. The reference number cannot currently be determined (could potentially be 2519740189 or 2519740176), although the model appears to be from the Wide Easy collection.
Jaeger-LeCoultre
In late 2006, Jaeger-LeCoultre announced a partnership with Rossi and released the Master Compressor Extreme World Chronograph ’46’ (ref. Q176247V) in rose gold and titanium. Aside from a checkered flag design within the elapsed seconds indicator, there is little on the dial to visually hint at the partnership. However, both Rossi’s famous 46 logo and engraved signature appear on the case back. The world time bezel also featured MotoGP circuit names for six of the time zones, and had a limited run of 246 pieces.
Rossi continued working with Jaeger-LeCoultre in 2007. The continuation of the partnership was marked by the Master Compressor Chronograph ’46’ (ref. 175.84.7V, limited to 746 pieces) and the Master Compressor Extreme World Alarm ’46’, which made their debut at SIHH. The latter was available in a rose gold version (ref. 177.24.4V) that was limited to 246 pieces while 946 examples were made in titanium (ref. 177.T4.7V). Both versions of the latter continued to represent several time zones with MotoGP circuits.
Rossi was also amongst the list of celebrities to autograph a limited edition “La Monstra” Reverso at the 2007 la Biennale di Venezia, which also had a partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The Italian rider was known to have maintained a relationship with Jaeger-LeCoultre at least through October of 2008.
TW Steel and the VR46 Store
Rossi’s most recent collaboration was through his VR46 brand and TW Steel, which was announced during the 2014 San Marino and Rimini Riviera motorcycle Grand Prix weekend. In total, the VR46 line included two Pilot models (with two sizes each), a Tech model, and a separate VR46 ‘by TW Steel’ collection of competitively priced enthusiast models. The partnership was estimated to have continued through the end of 2015.
Valentino Rossi watches have since been unbranded fashion timepieces, available on his VR46 store.
IWC Schaffhausen Ambassador
While no special edition timepiece has been released (yet?), Rossi began working with IWC Schaffhausen in 2022. His first event was at that year’s Watches and Wonders exhibition in Geneva, where he and Lewis Hamilton participated in a Signature Talk titled “Being a Pilot”. Later in the same year, Rossi donated his personal IWC Big Pilot’s Watch in Ceratanium at the Laureus Charity Night event that took place in Zurich, Switzerland.
Related Pages
References
https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/valentino-rossi-and-ferrari-in-f1-what-might-have-been-862154/3009695/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17U3aagCtOA
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/funny-g-shock-pictures.4544061/?post_id=44228919#post-44228919
https://web.archive.org/web/20250612095554/http://valentinorossi.fc2web.com/foto6.html
https://www.wallapop.com/item/reloj-breil-chronograph-valentino-rossi-1111201051
https://www.brandforum.it/media/PapersPdf/pdfs/534.pdf
https://www.brandforum.it/media/PapersPdf/pdfs/506.pdf
https://www.lorologiaio.eu/shop/index.php?id_product=398&controller=product
https://www.europastar.com/news/1003350098-jaeger-lecoultre-teams-with-motogp-champion.html
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/fine-watches/master-compressor-extreme-world-chronograph-46
https://www.watchprosite.com/jaeger-lecoultre/a-new-extreme-watch-from-a-world-expanding-company-that-wants-to-wake-up-the-race–/2.336912.2154247/
https://www.watchprosite.com/jaeger-lecoultre/report-sihh-2007–jaeger-lecoultre/2.364397.2226682/
https://www.europastar.com/magazine/features/1004085274-the-year-of-the-sports-watch.html
https://www.europastar.com/news/1003633872-jaeger-lecoultre-and-la-biennale.html
https://www.europastar.com/news/1003878790-jaeger-lecoultre-and-valentino-rossi-unite-talent.html
https://www.essential-watches.com/Jaeger-LeCoultre/Master-Compressor/Valentino-Rossi-Limited-Edition
https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2014/09/15/valentino-rossi-watch-collection-unveiled-tw-steel/
https://www.watchpro.com/tw-steel-partners-with-valentino-rossis-brand/
https://www.mcnews.com.au/vr46-by-tw-steel-watch/
https://www.watchbands.co.uk/vr46-yamaha-racing-watch-straps/
https://timetransformed.com/2014/09/19/watches-for-nico-rosberg-lewis-hamilton-and-valentino-rossi/
https://press.iwc.com/iwc-signature-talk-being-a-pilot-with-lewis-hamilton-and-valentino-rossi/
https://press.iwc.com/iwc-and-valentino-rossi-present-a-special-big-pilots-watch-auction-at-the-upcoming-laureus-charity-night-en/