BREITLING

When you mention Breitling a definite image comes to mind.  Extremely fast airplanes and aviators who weren't afraid to push the envelope a bit.   They relied on the precision of their instruments, and one of those instruments they relied on most was their watch.   The watch of choice for the best aviators?  Breitling of course.   But how did the legend begin?

Louis Breitling opened a studio workshop in La Chaux de Fonds in 1884.  In Germany, Gottfried Daimler had patented his internal combustion engine, and Karl Benz had produced the first practical gasoline-driven automobile.  Louis Breitling realized these new machines would need timing instruments and made it his aim to produce chronographs and timing devices for them.

With the outbreak of war, his son Gaston devised a wrist chronometer for the artillery, while Louis's grandson Willy set his sights on higher things- the airplane.  When Lindbergh navigated the Spirit of St Louis across the Atlantic using a wristwatch, Willy saw the need for accurate cockpit timepieces.  In 1936 he designed a dashboard chronograph which brought orders from some aircraft manufacturers from whom Breitling is still standard equipment.

It was a logical step from panel clocks to timekeepers, and in 1952 Breitling produced the model that became its international trademark- the Navitimer, the favorite of pilots all over the world.  Ten years later, its supersonic version, the Cosmonaute, appeared.  A chronograph with a 24-hour dial instead of the usual 12-hour one, it accompanied Scott Carpenter into space.

The aging Willy found it difficult to cope with the advent of quartz, and Ernest Schneider took over the company in 1979.  He was no horologist, but an electronic engineer and a trained pilot; he was joined by another, Francois Thiebaud, and together they set up a new factory at Grechen to meet the needs of the aircraft industry.  They changed the movements to quartz and convinced their aeronautical clients that the new technique was reliable by introducing a unique chronograph that displayed three time zones simultaneously and had two separate movements with independent power sources---a significant safety factor.

An encounter with Eric Tarbally; the famous yachtsman, led Schneider to develop a line of watches for yachtsmen: this was followed by a series of diver's models of increasing sophistication.  For over one hundred years, Breitling had concentrated on producing what it calls "Instruments for Professionals."   The product line includes the best-selling Chronomat; the Aerospace, originally designed for and used by the RAF Red Arrows  and now available with a multi-function electronic movement with audible indication of hour and minute by pressing the crown (a world first); the Scott Carpenter, a hand-wound mechanical chronograph which is an identical replica of the one Commander Carpenter wore aboard the Aurora 7 space capsule; the Montbrillant, a high frequency self-winding chronograph which features the classic circular slide rule found on every Navitimer; and the Spatiographe, an especially complex automatic chronograph with a digital minute display system visible through a dial aperture that is especially appreciated by pilots.

The most recent example of Breitling's ingenuity is the Emergency- a wrist worn instrument for pilots that, in addition to its chronometric functions, incorporates a minuscule transistor which, in the event of an accident, can send a signal on the international distress frequency to assist rescuers.

Breitling Time Line

1884
 Léon Breitling opens a workshop specializing in making chronographs and precision counters for scientific and industrial purposes.  

1892
 Léon BREITLING relocates in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the center of Swiss watchmaking.   His success as a skilled watch maker leads to rapid expansion of his company. 

1914
 Léon Breitling passes away.   His son Gaston takes over the firm, wishing to continue with the family tradition of fine watches.  He also shares his fathers love of aviation.

1915
Gaston creates the first wrist-watch chronograph and subsequently provides pilots with the first wrist instruments.

1918
World War I spurs on the technology of aviation.  Chronographic watches prove invaluable to pilots.

  1923
BREITLING develops the first independent chronograph pushpiece. Start and return-to-zero functions had previously been controlled using the winding-crown.

1927
Charles Lindbergh flies the "Spirit of St. Louis" across the Atlantic from New York to Paris in 33 hours, 30 minutes.

1932
 Willy Breitling takes the leadership of the family firm.

1934
BREITLING develops the second return-to-zero pushpiece. This invention, making it possible to measure several successive short times with an added function using the first pushpiece, gives the wrist chronograph its definitive form.

1935
 Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland.   This feat romanticizes aviation in the American press.    The popularity of "the pilots watch" grows.

1936
BREITLING is now THE official supplier to the Royal Air Force. 

1942
BREITLING launches the CHRONOMAT, the first chronograph to be fitted with a circular slide rule.  Breitling is now the official Pilots Watch of the  United States Air Force.

1945 

Breitling is acknowledged by both the RAF and USAF as instrumental in providing technology very instrumental in the war effort.

1947
Chuck Yeager of the US breaks the sound barrier.   His favorite watch?   Breitling of course!

1952
BREITLING creates the NAVITIMER, a wrist instrument equipped with the famous "navigation computer" capable of handling all calculations called for by a flight plan. This chronograph becomes a favorite instrument of pilots around the globe.  Breitling is now supplying airlines with specialized navigational and cockpit counters.

1962
Astronaut Scott Carpenter wears the COSMONAUTE chronograph on his wrist during his orbital flight aboard the Aurora 7 space capsule.

1969
BREITLING invents the self-winding chronograph movement.   This proves to be a major break-thru in watch development.