More about Breitling

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Breitling Watches...Created for the Professionals

The name of Breitling is associated with men watches for professional divers, pilots and astronauts. It is a brand with a track record for about 120 years with a long history associated with many professional sports and aviation.

It was founded by Leon back in 1884, his name being linked with numerous achievements. His son, Gaston, is the one, who, in 1915 invented the wristwatch chronographs for pilots. Later on, in 1923 the independent chronograph push-piece was patented. In 1926 another patent is being registered with the 1/10th of a second counter.

The wristwatch chronograph with seconds return-to-zero function was their major patent, created by Leon’s grandson, Willy.

Their international trademark men watch – the Navitimer was launched in 1952. At that time it was the “most wanted” among the pilots around the world. The reason for that huge success among the pilots relies in the capability of the watch to measure speed and fuel consumption levels.

The Cosmonaute was developed 10 years later, in 1962, being a chronograph with a 24 hours dial instead of the usual 12 hours dial. The astronaut Scott Carpenter tested this watch when it was taken for an orbital flight on board of Aurora 7. The Heuer and Hamilton-Buren company produces in 1969 the Caliber 11 Chronomat men watch having a self-winding movement.

In 1995, the company made another remarkable development with the Emergency Mission-526-ST Gents Watch (in the picture above). It is a wristwatch for pilots having beside the chronometric functions an incorporated minuscule transistor able to send out distress signals on international frequencies during accidents. The watch has been proven to have saved 13 lives aboard the raft Mata-Rangi.

An updated version of the original was created during the 50th anniversary of the Navitimer.

The newer version is a self-winding chronograph with slide-rule bezel, including their own caliber 41 high-frequency and 38 jeweled chronometer movement. The sub-dials are a 12 hour, 30 minutes and a 1/5 of a second totalizer.

The limited edition was produced in 18 karat white or yellow gold. The many others are in lacquered silver dial with a steel case to commemorate this classic timepiece.

Breitling unveiled a great diver watch in 2002, the Aeromarine Avenger Seawolf, with a water resistance of 10,000 feet (3000m). Similar watches of the collection are the Aeromarine Chrono Super Avenger and the Aeromarine Chrono SuperOcean.

Among other things, Breitling created a partnership with Bentley Motors in order to develop dashboard devices, sponsorship of Team Bentley and making men watches in the honor of Bentley Motors. Collaborated collections with great interest are the Bentley 6.75, Bentley GT and the Bentley Motors.

Some other great collection are the: Navitimer MontBrillant, Navitimer MontBrillant 1903, Navitimer MontBrillant Datora, Professional B2 and the Professional Hercules.