History of Breitling

Posted by Daubin Barshtak on July 12, 2011.

  
 

1884 – In the Jura Mountains of Switzerland, Leon Breitling opened a workshop specializing in making chronographs and precision counters for scientific and industrial purposes.

 

1914 – Leon’s son, Gaston Breitling, takes over the firm.

 

1915 – Gaston Breitling creates the first wristwatch chronograph and subsequently provides pilots with the first wrist instruments.

 

1923 – Breitling develops the first independent chronograph pushpiece. Start and return-to-zero functions had previously been controlled using the winding-crown.

 

1932 – Gaston’s son, Willy Breitling, takes over the firm.

 

1934 – Breitling develops the second return-to-zero pushpiece. This invention made it possible to measure several successive short times with an add function using the first pushpiece and gave the wrist chronograph its definitive form.

 

1936 – Breitling becomes official supplier to the Royal Air Force. This marks the start of a longstanding record of cooperation with International aviation.

 

1942 – Breitling launches the Chronomat, the first chronograph to be fitted with a circular slide rule. In the parallel, the company broadens its professional clientele to include the American armed forces.

 

1952 – Breitling creates the Navitimer, a wrist instrument equipped with the famous “navigation computer” capable of handling all calculations called for by a flight plan. This super chronograph quickly became a firm favorite among pilots around the globe. By this time, Breitling was already supplying the major international airlines with cockpit clocks.

 

1962 – Astronaut Scott Carpenter wears the Cosmonaute chronograph on his wrist during his orbital flight aboard the Aurora 7 space capsule.

 

1969 – Breitling invents the self-winding chronograph movement, in cooperation with Buren and Heur-Leonidas. This technical feat represents a major breakthrough for the entire Swiss watch industry.

 

1979 – Ernest Schneider, a pilot, watch manufacturer and microelectronics specialist, takes over the Breitling brand from Willy Breitling.

 

1984 – Breitling launches the Chronomat, in close cooperation with the “Frecce Tricolori” elite flight team. With its sturdy case and famous bezel with rider tabs, the Chronomat marks the return of the chronograph and quickly becomes the best-selling line in the Breitling collection, a position that it has held ever since.

 

1985 – The Aerospace, an innovative multifunction electronic chronograph crafted in titanium, immediately appeals to many pilots.

 

1995 – Breitling presents the Emergency, a multifunction instrument watch with built-in micro-transmitter broadcasting on the 121.5 MHz aircraft emergency frequency.

 

1998 – Breitling launches the B-1, the most versatile multifunction chronograph ever to emerge from its workshops. Designed in cooperation with aviation professionals and fitted with a microprocessor specially developed for Breitling.

 

1999 – The “all chronometer” challenge: as the crowning touch to a century of watchmaking excellence, Breitling has set itself the ambitious goal of submitting its entire product range to the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute. A world first among watch brands.

 

1999 – Breitling hot air balloon, the Orbiter 3, was flown by Brian Jones around the world in the first ever non-stop balloon flight.

 

2001 – With the introduction of SuperQuartz, Breitling now provides movements ten times more accurate than standard quartz. Its electronic movements are the only ones on the market able to meet the COSC requirements.

 

2003 – Breilting launches Bentley collection

 

2009 – Breitling sets the crowning touch to the 125 years of passion for chronographs by introducing its own self-winding chronograph movement, Caliber 01, and by revolutionizing traditional movement assembly.

 

*Source: www.Breitling.com

** Image: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/107/363832928_a5f93cd1a1.jpg

 

 

Daubin Rueschenberg

Pacific Bay Watch

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