Breitling's Watch Debut
Breitling watches were born in 1884 in St. Imier, Switzerland, a rural area of the country in the Jura Mountains. Leon Breitling was the founder, opening a workshop where he specialized in the creation of chronographs and precision counting devices for industrial and scientific projects. In 1914 Breitling died and his son Gaston took over. The next year Gaston debuted the first chronograph wristwatch and was then able to provide pilots with their first wrist timepieces. Gaston Breitling was the developer of the chronograph push piece in 1923.
In 1932, Willy Breitling, the grandson of the firm's founder, and Gaston's son, took over the helm of the firm, making it the official timepiece vendor for the Royal Air Force as of 1936.
Breitling watches evolved even further in 1942, with the introduction of the Chronomat, which was the first chronograph equipped with a circular slide rule. The American military was added to the list of Breitling watches clients at the same time.
Navitimer became the newest of the Breitling watches in 1954. This handy timepiece featured a computer specifically designed for navigation. The Breitling Navitimer was heralded by pilots everywhere and Breitling expanded its aviation offerings to cockpit clocks for major commercial airlines.
Scott Carpenter, in his 1962 space capsule flight in orbit around the earth in the Aurora 7 wore the Breitling Cosmonaught chronograph.
The first self-winding chronograph was a Breitling, and it was introduced in 1969, a major technological find for Swiss watchmakers. The 1984 Chronomat re-introduced the chronograph and its popularity rose by leaps and bounds. It soon became the best selling of any Breitling watches, and that's where it remains. In 1985 the Breitling Aerospace debuted.
Although Breitling is no longer owned or managed by any heir or successor of Leon Breitling, its home office remains where it started - in La Chaux de Fonds, the place where Breitling first opened his factory well over a century ago.
Various Breitling watch models include the Navitimer series which include the Navitimer 50th Anniversary, the Breitling Fighters, the Olympus, the Heritage, Montbrilliant, and Cosmonaute.
Breitling's Windrider series of watches include the Chronomat, Wings Automatic, Crosswing, Headwind, Callisto, Callistino, B-Class and Blackbird.
Breitling's Professional series include Emergency, Aerospace, B-1, B-2 and Hercules.
Windrider - Models in the range include Chronomat, Chronomat Lontitude, Wings Automatic, Crosswind, Crosswind Racing, Crosswind Special, Headwind, Callisto, Callistino, Blackbird and B-Class.
Professional - Models in the range include Emergency, Emergency Mission, Aerospace, B-1, B-2 and Hercules.
A partnership of Breitling watches and Bentley timepieces recently created a unique series of chronograph models that include the Breitling Bentley 6.75, GT and Le Mans and the Bentley Motors Chronograph.