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Breitling Watches
Breitling - Instruments for
professionals : Swiss chronograph watches. High level watch-making and
aeronautics partner.
www.breitling.com Instruments for professional, original Swiss
chronographs watches, pilots design watches, automatic chronograph and swiss quarz movements Breitling Timepieces Original Watches, quality and inventive design watches Breitling Wristwatches For Men & Wristwatches For Women Watches information, price guides, comparisons and users reviews
and rating for Breitling Watches Breitling Watches: The
breitling wrist watch family tradition for quality and accuracy in timekeeping
has continued for nearly a full century. Historically at the breitling watch
company the achievements of L. Breitling (watch maker), who along with his son
and successor Gaston Breitling, developed and built the very first wrist
chronograph, to Willy Breitling, the founders grandson, who modified and
improved the modern chronograph.The early breitling watch chronographs featured
both center chronograph seconds as well as a 30 minute totalizer. Breitling
watch company were founded in 1884 in Switzerland & breitling watch company
have been famed for their work in the field of aviation timepiece, breitling
watch company fell upon hard times, until it's rejuvenation in the mid 80's.
With breitling watch company new ownership and design team the breitling watch
marque has enjoyed a meteoric rise to it's present position as the aviation
fraternity's preferred watch. The breitling watch-aerospace model is standard
issue to RAF pilots. The dial is embossed with the eagle and wreath, and each
one is individually numbered. Special squadrons receive unique issues. For
instance, Harrier, Tornado, Red Arrows, etc. The breitling watch-Chronomat model
was designed in conjunction with the Italian Air force in 1984, strength of
design and reliability see it still in production today, in fact one of their
best selling watches.
The model for which they are most famed is the Navitimer wrist watch. Originally
a manual watch it has been updated to automatic. This watch is a legend among
pilots, the first to be fitted with a slide rule to calculate fuel consumption;
rate of assent, air speed, distance, the list is endless. Also having a
chronograph function, supplying the pilot with minute and hour totalisers, it
made the watch the complete aviation timepiece. Here at watchfinder we have
experience in all areas of the watch industry. Specialising in quality watch
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Old Navitimer wrist watch | Heritage Navitimer wrist watch | Cosmonaute | Navitimer wrist watch
Breitling Fighters | Spatiographe | Montbrillant | Chronomat watch | Chronomat
Blackbird | Chronomat Longitude | breitling Wings Crosswind watch | Crosswind
Special | Aerospace | Emergency | Chrono Avenger | Superocean | Chrono Colt
Ocean | watch repairs | watch technical advise
Breitling were founded in 1884 in Switzerland, the company have been famed for
their work in the field of aviation timepieces. For various reasons the company
fell upon hard times, until it's rejuvenation in the mid 80's.
With new ownership and design team the marque has enjoyed a meteoric rise to
it's present position as the aviation fraternity's preferred watch. The
Aerospace model is standard issue to RAF pilots. The dial is embossed with the
eagle and wreath, and each one is individually numbered. Special squadrons
receive unique issues. For instance, Harrier, Tornado, Red Arrows, C.A.A etc.
The Chronomat model was designed in conjunction with the Italian Air force in
1984, strength of design and reliability see it still in production today, in
fact one of their best selling watches.
The model for which they are most famed is the Navitimer wrist watch. Originally
a manual watch it has been updated to automatic. This watch is a legend among
pilots, the first to be fitted with a slide rule to calculate fuel consumption;
rate of assent, air speed, distance, the list is endless. Also having a
chronograph function, supplying the pilot with minute and hour totalisers, it
made the watch the complete aviation timepiece. Breitling sponsor almost every
prestige aviation show. Their dedication the aviation has lead them to form the
Breitling Fighters. A stable of Second World War fighter aircraft, restored to
mint condition, and flown by the worlds top pilots. Each bares the Breitling
yellow nose cowling, and famed Breitling wings emblem. It's not only older
planes that they choose to be associated with. Breitling are patrons of the Red
Arrows, they receive a special Aerospace on induction to the team, and are
regular visitors to the U.Ks head office, happy to be present at functions at
Breitling's exclusive stockists. A measure of their regard and confidence in the
marque. Famous Models. The 'Old Navitimer wrist watch'.The flagship
chronograph of the Breitling watchmaking company is the 'Old Navitimer wrist watch'.
The precision and ease with which crucial information is made legible is
probably one of the main reasons why Breilting timing instruments have claimed
an important position on the instrument panel of many legendary aircraft. Not
only was their significance understood in the military arena, they have also
been accompanying instruments on commercial aircraft such as the Boeing Clipper
and the DC3. Modern Marques.
Breitling Emergency
The Breitling Emergency was originally design for pilots and aircrews. It is a
watch with a built-in micro-transmitter broadcasting on the 121.5 MHz aircraft
emergency frequency and is designed to complement the distress signalling
equipment of any aircraft. Following a crash the 'Emergency' will broadcast a
signal on which rescuers can home in.
Cosmonaute.
History of Breitling Watches.
1884 - 2000.
1884 - Leon Breitling opens a workshop in St. Imier, Switzerland that
specialises in making chronographs and precision counters.
1892 - Due to significant growth the company of Breitling relocate to La Chaux-de-Fonds,
the centre of Swiss watchmaking at that time.
1914 - Leon Breitling's son, Gaston takes over the running of the company.
1915 - Breitling produce the first chronograph wristwatch.
1923 - Breitling develop the first independent chronograph pushpiece. (chronograph
functions had previously been controlled using the crown).
1932 - Willy Breitling takes the helm of the Breitling empire.
1936 - Breitling becomes the official supplier to the Royal Air Force.
1942 - Breitling launches it's Chronomat, the first chronograph with a circular
slide rule.
1952 - Breitling creates the Navitimer wrist watch. A wristwatch capable of
handling all calculations called for by a flight plan ensuring that the Navitimer wrist watch
becomes a firm favourite among pilots around the world.
1965 - Breitling invent the self-winding chronograph movement.
1979 - Ernest Schneider, a pilot and watch enthusiast takes the reins of
Breitling from the founder's Grandson, Willy Breitling.
1984 - Breitling launches the Chronomat. It quickly becomes the best seller in
the Breitling range.
1985 - Breitling introduces the Aerospace. A multifunction electronic
chronograph crafted in Titanium.
1992 - The Breitling calibre 10 movement is launched. The world's smallest
'modular' chronograph movement.
1995 - Breitling presents the Emergency. A multifunction chronograph with a
built-in microtransmitter capable of broadcasting on the aircraft emergency
frequency (121.5MHz).
1998 - Breitling launches the B-1. The B-1 embodies significant progress in the
field of Swiss microelectric engineering.
1999 - The 'all chronometer challenge'. Breitling sets itself the challenge of
submitting it's entire range to the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute.
2000 - Breitling move to new Headquarters in Grenchen Switzerland.
Limited Editions.
Breitling Emergency 'Orbiter 3'.
On March 21st 1999, Bertrand Piccard and his fellow crew member Brian Jones
touched down in the Egyptian dessert to complete the first non-stop round-the-world
balloon flight aboard the 'Breitling Orbiter 3'. To commemorate this unique
achievement in aviation history, Breitling have issued a limited 'Emergency
Orbiter' series, made up of 1999 watches in Titanium, as well as 20 in Yellow
Gold and 20 in White Gold. Each watch comes with a certificate as well as a
piece of the original Breitling Orbiter 3 envelope.
Breitling Chronomats -
The Chronomat has a long and storied history. Ernest Schneider acquired
Breitling from Willy Breitling in 1979 when the company was on the brink of
bankruptcy. Beginning in 1984, the 100th anneversary of the firm's founding,
Ernest Schneider sought to bring out a new mechanical wristwatch.
Up until that time, Schneider's Breitling offerings were mostly quartz watches
with a military flavor. The Breitling version of the story is that they
consulted with the Italian airforce aerobatic team known as Frecce Tricolori.
The result was a chronograph with some peculiar case details. First, it had a
flat profile. Most large chronographs have lugs that bend downward toward the
wrist. Breitling instead put the "bend" in the lug end of the bracelet.
The second curious feature of the Chronomat design was screw-on markers at noon,
15, 30 and 45 minutes on the bezel. The rationale for attaching these "rider
tabs" with screws was that the bezel could be converted to a countdown
timer (although it ratchets in one direction only) by exchanging the 15 and 30
minute tabs.
Perhaps the third unusual feature of the watch was the name. When Schneider
bought Breitling from the ailing Willy Breitling, he also bought rights to all
registered trademarks. Schneider chose the name of one of the defunct watch
lines instead of registering a new trademark. Thus the Breitling Chronomat was
reborn, but with no resemblance to the original (which looked much like a
present-day Navitimer wrist watch Montbrillant).
The movement in the Chronomat is the now-popular Valjoux 7750. It has been
reported elsewhere that Breitling began with the 17 jewel version, but upgraded
during their 97/98 product line to the 25 jewel version. Some have said the
Breitling version is not overly adorned or re-tuned. However, in 1997, Breitling
bought Kelek and has incorporated their movement technology into their product
line. The reports of Breitlings having mechanical problems have subsided.
Quietly, people have stopped maligning these watches. Nevertheless, I have been
told (so it is third hand now) that older Chronomats suffered from poor quality
control. Be careful when buying a used chronomat.
Other case features: the crown is screw-down. The pushers are an interesting
rounded/ridged design that keeps them from dominating the side of the watch.
There are crown protectors on either side of the crown protruding from the case.
The case is available in all stainless steel, two-tone (the rider tabs, bezel
screws, pushers and crown are 18k gold OR bezel is 18k gold but rider tabs are
SS), and all 18k gold. Since the 1994/95 model year, the Breitling emblem on the
face is either 18k yellow gold (TT or solid gold versions) or white gold (SS
versions). The hands have changed somewhat over time. They are precious metal in
the TT/18k gold versions, but the chronograph hands are blue metal. Early
chronomats have a central chronograph hand that ends in a simple, squared-off
tail (see the early chronomat picture above). Newer Chronomat chronograph hands
have the Breitling script "B" and anchor at the end (see the pictures
below). The hour and minute hands have tritium fields for luminescence
Chronomat GT Chronomat Vitesse
Continuing onto the face: there are two face styles currently in production. The
"GT" style has large rings around the totalizers (subdials), and large
hour markers ending in tritium dots. The "Vitesse" style has block
arabic numerals for the hour markers, which in turn are filled in with tritium
for luminescence. The immediately previous generation of Chronomats came with
either somewhat thinner hour markers, or somewhat smaller and non-slanted
numerals. The face styles and colors are many and varied. I've put a few
favorites below, but there are many others.
There are several chronomat variants/descendents, listed here in no particular
order:
· One notable variant is the Chronomat Blackbird, a black faced Chronomat GT (technically,
no, it is closer to the Chronomats prior to 97/98), with an all-matte stainless
steel case and (optional) matching pilot bracelet.
· A second variant is the Chronomat Longitude, which has a second, independent
hour hand for keeping two time zones. The Longitude's bezel is also bi-directional
and marked with hours, so that yet a third time zone can be kept track of.
· On the size front, there are several smaller sizes-- Chrono Sextant (mechaquartz,
36mm diameter), Chrono Jetstream (also mechaquartz, 36.6mm diameter), Chrono
Cockpit (automatic, discontinued, 38mm); and, one larger size-- Chorono
Crosswind (7750-based, luminous chronograph hands, 44mm)
The bracelets for chronomats comes in two options-- a so-called pilot bracelet
or a bullet bracelet.
Pilot Bracelet in stainless steel.
Rouleaux (bullet) bracelet in stainless steel.
I only have experience with the Pilot bracelet, but have found it to be quite
comfortable and of high quality. The links are solid metal and fit together
tightly. It doesn't "shave my wrist" when I wear it ok.
Breitling watches
Breitling was founded by the Gastron Breitling. In 1915, Breitling introduced
the first wrist watch for the pilots. Breitling produced the additional
functions watches for the specific purposes. Breitling produced the chronograph
wrist watch. Breitling became the official timer of the Royal Air Force.
Breitling produced the watches for the navy forces also. Breitling produces
watches for the pilots. Breitling watches are designed to meet the specific
requirements of the Aviation department. Breitling watches have the additional
functions which diverse it from other watches like flyback functions, Split
second, Moon Phase etc. Breitling watches are made in Switzerland. For military
users, Breitling also introduced the Breitling Emergency Watch that has the
radio transmitter. Breitling watches recognize in the armed forces due to its
functionality, time accuracy, and sophisticated design. Breitling has a wide
range of classy and attractive watches.
Breitling Windrider Chrono Cockpit
Breitling produces the windrider chrono cockpit watches for the men in different
sophisticated style and design. These watches have the automatic movement,
chronograph functionality, and date, and Scratch resistance sapphire, water
resistance to 330 feet. These watches are available in different and attractive
leather straps and stainless steel bracelet and in stainless steel case of
different size and design also.
Navitimer Cosmonaute
Breitling produces Navitimer Cosmonaute watches for the armed forces. These
watches have the functionality of the self winding, stainless steel case and the
classy bracelet design in different colors, 42 minutes reserve power, different
dial colors and the water resistance. Cosmonaute watches are available in the
comfortable leather straps.
Breitling Professional Aerospace
Breitling produces Aerospace watches for the men and women in different style
and fascinating colors. These watches are design to meet the requirements of the
pilots. These watches have chronograph, countdown timer, alarm, titanium case,
different dial color, and stainless steel bracelet in different colors, and
water resistance.
Breitling Aerometer Super Avenger
Breitling creates Aerometer watches in different style and case design in many
charming colors. These watches have the self winding; 40 minutes reserve power,
different dial colors, and water resistance. These watches are available in
stainless steel case and in colorful comfortable leather strap.
Breitling Navitimer Heritage
Breitling Navitimer Heritage watch is slightly larger than original Navitimer,
the new version features a bracelet integrated within the case. The Navitimer
Heritage watch has another feature in its Flyback mechanism, allowing successive
timing operation. The Navitimer Heritage watch has three subdials in a steel
case. The Navitimer Heritage watch has self winding mechanical movement and
minimum of 42 hours power reservation. Breitling Navitimer Heritage wrist watch’s
case back is screwed-in and has non screw-locked crown with bidirectional bezel.
The Navitimer Heritage watch is water resist to 3 bars. Breitling Navitimer
Heritage watch’s diameter is 43mm, thickness is 15.40mm weight is 173.60 grams.
This watch is available in steel and white gold color.
Breitling Windrider Cockpit
Breitling Windrider Cockpit watch has solid steel case and is an extremely
masculine stylistic watch. The Windrider Cockpit watch is designed for those
whose activities do not necessarily require chronograph functions but who likes
a watch that is extremely sport and elegant. The Windrider Cockpit watch’s 49
caliber drive the double window calendar. Breitling Windrider Cockpit wrist
watch has 22 jewels and unidirectional bezel. The Windrider Cockpit watch
vibrates to 28800 v.p.h. and has power reservation to 42 hours. Breitling
Windrider Cockpit watch’s cambered sapphire crystal is glare proofed from both
sides. The Windrider Cockpit watch’s diameter is 41mm, thickness is 14mm and
weight is only 90 grams.
Breitling Professional Airwolf
Breitling Professional Airwolf wrist wear is resolutely designed chronograph
watch in a steel case. The Professional Airwolf watch’s numerous functions
required by pilots: chronograph with split time, alarm, countdown, second time
zone, UTC and perpetual calendar. This watch is loaded with NVG-compatible
display backlighting system enables night-time reading. The Professional Airwolf
watch has super quartz and thermo compensated quartz electronic movements with
analog and digital display. Breitling Professional Airwolf watch has digital and
perpetual calendar and resists water to 5 bars. The Professional Airwolf watch’s
back case is screwed-in with sound signal resonance chamber. Breitling
Professional Airwolf watch has glare proofed sapphire crystal.
Breitling Aeromarine Superocean
Breitling Aeromarine Superocean watch is no exception to the rules having sturdy
steel case with tempered crystal. The Aeromarine Superocean watch is equipped
with screw-locked crown and glare proofed sapphire crystal. The Aeromarine
Superocean wrist watch has a safety valve that automatically evacuates helium,
when internal pressure reaches up to 3 bars. Breitling Aeromarine Superocean
watch has self winding mechanical movement and power reservation to minimum 42
hours. This watch is water resistant to 1500 meters and has unidirectional
bezel. Breitling Aeromarine Superocean watch’s diameter is 42mm, thickness is
15mm and weight is only 99.70 grams |
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