Breitling - Origin and development of the legendary chronographs

After the pocket watch come the chronographs: a passion

Léon Breitling dedicated himself to the manufacture of chronographs, responding to strong demand in the military, industrial, and scientific sectors. In 1889, Léon Breitling filed a patent for a chronometer with clean lines, simple operation and maintenance, and affordable for everyone.

In 1896, Breitling filed another patent for a chronograph with a high accuracy of two-fifths of a second and a large power reserve, which also featured a heart rate monitor. Around 1905, Breitling filed another patent for a countdown/tachymeter. This could be used to calculate the speed of cars, but police could also use it to issue traffic fines.

Invention of the first chronograph in 1915

After the death of founder Léon in 1914, his son Gaston (1884-1927) took over the company. In 1915, Breitling heralded the birth of the wrist chronograph with the invention of the first independent chronograph pusher.

In 1923, the company perfected this system by separating the stop and start functions from the reset function.

This patented innovation made it possible to add multiple consecutive times without resetting the hands. Very useful for timing sports competitions and calculating flight times.

Gaston Breitling died in 1927, and five years later his son Willy Breitling bought the company.

Invention of a second pusher for the chronograph

In 1934, Breitling created the second independent reset pusher. A patent was granted to protect chronographs with two separate buttons: one pusher starts and stops the stopwatch, the other triggers the return of the hands to their zero position.

In 1969, the brand introduced what it claims to be the first self-winding chronograph movement. Following the pocket watch, Breitling continued to perfect its chronographs and specialized in aviation, where timekeeping is of paramount importance for calculating distance, speed, fuel consumption, flight time, and so on.

Chronographs for aviation

In general, Breitling is known for its strong relationship with aviation. In collaboration with pilots and pilot associations, it developed models that met the strict and precise requirements. In the 1930s and 1940s, aircraft were equipped with onboard clocks. A chronograph for aircraft cockpits followed in 1936. A model with an innovative 12-hour counter based on a Valjoux blank was introduced in 1938. The legendary "Chronomat" with a circular slide rule followed in 1944. The Navitimer, created in 1952, with optimized calculation capabilities, became an indispensable timepiece for all pilots who fully trusted the Breitling brand.

In 1952, Breitling created a wristwatch, the Navitimer chronograph, for the highest precision, featuring its famous slide rule and bidirectional bezel. The black dial, either on a pure silver background or in a blue version, features three hands—hours, minutes, and seconds—in the center, along with three additional sub-hands for a total of three counters. The brand's ingenuity, including in the field of aviation, is now undeniable. American astronaut Scott Carpenter wore a Breitling watch during his space flight launch in 1962.

The chronographs' connection with the British car brand Bentley is world-famous: There are several Breitling for Bentley models, and it appears to be a kind of co-brand. Breitling is one of the few traditional Swiss watch companies that remains privately owned. However, in June 2017, CVC Capital Partners will hold 80% of the company.

From the Chronomat in 1983 to the Breitling Caliber 01

The Chronomat is an aviation chronograph commissioned by the Italian Army's acrobatic patrol. Then, in 1995, the first wristwatch with a built-in emergency micro-transmitter, featuring full chronograph, calendar, countdown, dual time zone, and alarm functions, was launched. One invention followed another, including the creation of a new chronograph movement, the Breitling Caliber 01, in 2009.

Source: taschenuhrenshop.de