Watchbi

Suiza · Fundación 1884

Breitling

James Bond's Geiger-counter Top Time resurfaced at a car boot sale, bought for £25.

Texto editorial en inglés.

Breitling is a Grenchen-based chronograph specialist founded in 1884 and majority-owned by Partners Group since 2022. It helped define the two-pusher wrist chronograph and is known for the slide-rule Navitimer, the Chronomat, the Superocean diver and its in-house B01 calibre. Most new mechanical watches list between about €5,000 and €10,000.

Historia

Léon Breitling opened a workshop in Saint-Imier in 1884, making chronographs and precision counters for scientific and industrial use. In 1892 he moved to a larger factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and the business became L. Breitling, Montbrillant Watch Manufactory. After Léon's death in 1914 his son Gaston took over and in 1915 introduced a wrist chronograph with an independent pusher at 2 o'clock, separate from the crown. A 1923 patent separated the reset function from start and stop, a step towards the modern chronograph layout.

Léon's grandson Willy Breitling took charge in 1932, aged 19, and the company completed the two-pusher layout still used on most chronographs. Breitling turned towards aviation: the 1942 Chronomat carried a circular slide rule, and in 1952 the Navitimer put a navigation computer on the bezel, later offered to members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The Superocean diver followed in 1957. In 1962 astronaut Scott Carpenter flew the Mercury mission Aurora 7 wearing a Navitimer with a 24-hour dial, sold afterwards as the Cosmonaute.

In March 1969 Breitling, Heuer, Hamilton and Dubois-Dépraz presented the Chrono-Matic calibre 11, one of the first automatic chronograph movements. The quartz crisis then hit hard: the La Chaux-de-Fonds factory closed in December 1978 and Willy Breitling died in May 1979. That year Ernest Schneider, owner of the Sicura watch company in Grenchen, bought the Breitling name and moved production there. Under the Schneider family Breitling concentrated on pilots' instruments, including the 1995 Emergency with a built-in distress transmitter, and sponsored the Breitling Orbiter 3, the first balloon to circle the Earth non-stop in 1999.

Breitling Chronométrie in La Chaux-de-Fonds introduced the in-house B01, a column-wheel automatic chronograph calibre with a 70-hour power reserve, in 2009. Theodore Schneider sold 80 percent of the company to CVC Capital Partners in 2017 and the remainder in 2018, and Georges Kern, formerly head of IWC, became chief executive in 2017. Partners Group took over majority ownership in December 2022. Breitling has since bought two historic brands, Universal Genève in 2023 and Gallet in 2025.

Fundadores

Léon Breitling
Founder · 1860–1914
Opened a workshop in Saint-Imier in 1884 specialising in chronographs and precision counters, and moved the business to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1892. His son Gaston and grandson Willy ran the company until 1979.

Hitos

  1. 1884

    Workshop opens in Saint-Imier

    Léon Breitling starts making chronographs and precision counters for scientific and industrial use.

  2. 1892

    Move to La Chaux-de-Fonds

    Breitling moves into a full factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, later named the Montbrillant Watch Manufactory.

  3. 1915

    Independent chronograph pusher

    Gaston Breitling introduces a wrist chronograph with a separate pusher at 2 o'clock, independent of the crown.

  4. 1942

    Chronomat

    The Chronomat is launched with a circular slide rule for calculations.

  5. 1952

    Navitimer

    The Navitimer adds a slide-rule navigation computer to the bezel for pilots' flight calculations.

  6. 1962

    Navitimer in orbit

    Scott Carpenter wears a 24-hour Navitimer on Aurora 7; the civilian version is sold as the Cosmonaute.

  7. 1969

    Chrono-Matic calibre 11

    Breitling, Heuer, Hamilton and Dubois-Dépraz present one of the first automatic chronograph movements.

  8. 1979

    Ernest Schneider buys Breitling

    After the family factory closes, Schneider acquires the name and moves production to Grenchen.

  9. 2009

    In-house B01 calibre

    Breitling introduces its own column-wheel automatic chronograph movement with a 70-hour power reserve.

  10. 2022

    Partners Group takes control

    Swiss investment firm Partners Group acquires majority ownership from CVC Capital Partners.

Tres cosas que saben los coleccionistas

A £25 Bond watch

The Top Time fitted with a Geiger counter for James Bond in Thunderball (1965) vanished after filming, turned up at an English car boot sale in 2012, where it was bought for £25, and later sold at Christie's for over £100,000.

A wristwatch with a distress beacon

The 1995 Emergency transmits on the 121.5 MHz aviation distress frequency. Buyers without a pilot's licence must agree to pay rescue costs if they trigger it; the 2013 Emergency II added the 406 MHz satellite frequency.

Movements swapped with Tudor

Under a 2017 agreement, Tudor's MT5612 calibre went into Breitling's Superocean Heritage, while Breitling supplied a B01-based chronograph movement that Tudor uses as the MT5813.

Modelos emblemáticos

  • Pilot's chronograph with a circular slide-rule bezel; the name joins navigation and timer.

  • Slide-rule chronograph of 1942; the 2009 Chronomat was the first watch to use the in-house B01.

  • Breitling's dive line, water-resistant to 200 metres at launch.

  • Chronograph aimed at younger buyers, with cushion-shaped cases; a Geiger-counter version appeared in Thunderball.

  • Emergency1995

    Pilot's watch with a built-in micro-transmitter for the 121.5 MHz distress frequency.

Preguntas

Who owns Breitling?
Swiss investment firm Partners Group has been majority owner since December 2022. It took over from CVC Capital Partners, which bought the company from the Schneider family in 2017 and 2018. The Breitling family sold the name in 1979.
Does Breitling make in-house movements?
Some. The B01 automatic chronograph calibre, introduced in 2009, is developed and made by Breitling and powers many Navitimer and Chronomat models. Other models use movements from external suppliers, historically Valjoux, Venus and ETA.
Where is Breitling based?
Breitling is headquartered in Grenchen, in the canton of Solothurn, and produces movements at Breitling Chronométrie in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
How do you pronounce Breitling?
BRITE-ling. The German pronunciation is [ˈbraɪtlɪŋ], with the 'ei' sounding like 'eye'.

Fuentes

  1. The Breitling Story Since 1884 (Breitling)
  2. Breitling Icons (Breitling)
  3. Breitling History and Timeline (BreitlingSource)
  4. Breitling SA – Wikipedia
  5. Léon Breitling – Wikipedia
  6. Tudor Watches – Wikipedia
  7. Breitling Confirms Appointment of Georges Kern as CEO, Shareholder (WWD)

Referencias más ofrecidas

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