The Best of Breitling
The Breitling brand is one that is much recognized in the world of luxury watches. If you’re a fan of watches, you’ll know that Breitlings were originally created for aviation pilots; to assist them when flying, which is why the Breitling motto is “instruments for professionals.”
If you know this, then you also probably know that most people today that wear a Breitling watch are not pilots of any kind; except perhaps pilots of luxury and status symbols. This is not a bad thing and in retrospect Breitling has definitely made its money off those that seek and can afford luxury items over the percentage of the population that knows how to fly a plane. Breitling watches have received mass press from the many celebrities that wear them as well; thereby “inducting” them into the “Watches Hall of Fame.”
Breitling primarily makes men’s watches, so it is men that primarily wear them. Celebrities like Brad Pitt, John Travolta (also a certified pilot), Dave Chapelle, Tom Cruise and Simon Cowell are all fans and have given many of Breitling’s collections a good rap.
Let’s look the “best of Breitling” by going over the most popular collections.
The Navitimer collection was born in the 1940’s when the brand added a circular slide rule to the bezel, making a better watch for pilots. Over the years the Navitimer has built a solid reputation and is now known as the “world’s oldest chronograph.” During the 1950’s and 1960’s sub-collections like the Navitimer Montbrillant and Navitmer World were released.
The Navitimer Montbrillant is named after the factory in which this chronograph was first made. The design is 40’s inspired and comes with a 38mm case, while the Navitimer World is one of Breitling’s largest watches ever made, measuring 10% bigger than the Navitimer. The Navtimer World is called so because the caseback is engraved with all the time zones of the world’s greatest cities.
The Breitling for Bentley collection is a self explanatory collaboration between two of the most renowned brands within their respective industries: luxury watches and luxury automobiles. Within this main collection are many subcategories such as Bentley, Bentley Flying B, and Bentley GMT.
The Bentley Flying B collection features watches that come with rectangular-shaped cases, which is meant to reflect the “elegance of a coupe or convertible.” The name is dedicated to the “winged B” which has always been known as Bentley’s “mascot” and is seen on the back of each car.
The bold design of the Bentley GMT brings a new look to the chronograph. It features multiple time zone displays and the dial is decorated with “totalizer rims” inspired by Bentley dashboards.
Some of the less popular Breitling collections (among the general populace at least) seem to be the Aeromarine Avenger and Colt ones as well as the Professional Skyracer. Since all Breitlings really are “instruments for professionals” they focus more on the functionality of the watch versus the look and when you first look at these collections, you’ll notice the face is much smaller than the Breitlings that have become so popular, which is a basic reason why watches from the collections mentioned above are not seen around town as much.