Breitling: Where Aviation Meets Timepiece
How does one company become the official supplier to the world of aviation? Certainly not by luck. More like over 100 years of dedication, reliability, performance, and of course, superior style. Breitling is not just a timepiece manufacturer associated with luxury and quality. They are also the leader in aviation watches, watches that are more than just accessories; these are high-performance instruments. Breitling is the only watch brand to use chronometer-certified movements on every watch model, offering the highest in precision. They are also one of the few companies to develop its own mechanical chronograph movement completely in house. And let us not forget to mention Breitling is an independent Swiss brand.
Leon Breitling began the company in 1884 with the sole purpose of working on chronographs and timers–instruments for sports, science, and industry. Breitling’s first big break came in 1915 with the development of the wrist chronograph, an idea propelled by the invention of the first independent chronograph pushpiece. The invention was perfected and patented by 1923 and led to the ability to add successive times without resetting the hands back to zero. The brand continued to push the boundaries of innovation and a decade later added a second independent pushpiece, a useful device for timing competitive sports and calculating flight times. Not surprisingly, the competition seized the idea.
The road to aviation leader was already paved. By the 1930s, the brand had already made a name for itself in the watch world. The company devoted its efforts to a specialty line of chronograph watches designed to be used on board in aircraft cockpits. The watches received enormous success among the Air Forces, including the Royal Air Force’s fighter pilots during World War II.
After the war, one expertly designed watch gained the company complete notoriety among pilots: the Navitimer wristwatch. The watch launched in 1952 and features a circular slide rule for all navigation calculations. The watch received such rave reviews that it has been continuously manufactured for over 60 years. It is the world’s oldest mechanical chronograph still in production. That very same watch later accompanied Scott Carpenter into space on board the Aurora 7 capsule. It was the first chronograph in
space.
With so many milestones and so much success, it is not difficult to understand just how Breitling took both the luxury watch world and aviation by storm. Today, consumers do not necessarily have to know anything about expert timekeeping. Its watches are able to blend style, class, forward fashion trends, and reliable performance.