1905 - As automobiles became the preferred mode of transportation,Léon Breitling patented a pocket-watch tachymeter. A precursor to the vehicle speedometer, his easy-to-read speed scale slowed the seconds hand down to make one revolution around the dial in four minutes, allowing the user to measure any speed between 15 and 150 km/h.
1914 - Gaston Breitling succeeded his father and followed in his trailblazing footsteps by focusing on wearability. Gaston eventually created two major innovations that shaped the chronograph as we know it today.1915Gaston Breitling created one of the first wrist-worn chronographs with an independent pusher at 2 o’clock. It separated the chronograph pusher (that controlled the three chronograph functions: “start,” “stop,” and “reset-to-zero”) from the crown. This stroke of genius not only made the chronograph easier to use, but it also helped prevent errors by making the start function a very deliberate action, separate from any action on the winding crown.
1923 - Breitling further improved his chronograph control system by moving the “reset-to-zero” function back to the crown, while keeping the “start/stop” functions on the pusher at 2 o’clock. This patented innovation now allowed users to add several successive times without having to reset the hands to zero, whether to time sports competitions, scientific processes, or flights.
1934 - The third-generation Breitling owner patented his own breakthrough chronograph function: a second pusher at 4 o’clock, dedicated exclusively to resetting the chronograph to zero. It was more than a functional improvement. This feature was the final stroke in developing the chronograph we know today, with two independent pushers on either side of the winding crown.
The 1880s to 1930s were marked by major technical inventions at Breitling. Precision and wearability were the order of the day. In innovation and design, this family of movers-and-shakers was always one step ahead. Willy Breitling would soon take marketing and product design to the next level. Leveraging the technical foundation laid by his father and grandfather, he would begin to name his products and push the limits of their design.
In 1932, Willy Breitling took over the reins of the family business and leveraged the technical improvements made by his father and grandfather. Having witnessed the rise of military aviation and already sensing the role aircraft would play in the future of the modern world, Breitling began to focus on this burgeoning industry.
The second half of the 1930s saw increased production of one of Breitling’s emerging specialties – the onboard chronograph for aircraft. This indispensable cockpit instrument allowed for precise flight-time calculation, cementing Breitling’s name and reputation in the aviation industry.
Despite the brand’s rapid growth in the flight sector, Breitling’s attention wasn’t on instrumentation alone. Even in the dark days of WWII, Willy Breitling – a man of great personal taste – recognized a desire for practical, yet refined, personal timepieces. To meet this demand, he developed Breitling’s first style-driven wristwatches, the Premier, Duograph and Datora.
1938 - Breitling founded the “HUIT Aviation” department to meet the military and civil-aviation sectors’ need for reliable onboard instruments.This newly specialized department developed, manufactured and tested its products for use in demanding conditions – under, amongst and above the clouds. To guarantee the quality of its products, Breitling had its own testing laboratory equipped with the latest technology. It included a micro-oscillograph for radioelectric inspection of the movements, test-simulators for temperatures ranging from -40°C to +100°C and “vibration tables” for stress-testing the instruments in various positions.In 1939, the British Air Ministry placed a large order of onboard chronographs for the Royal Air Force. Other armed forces soon followed suit. Thus, Breitling became one of the world’s best-known suppliers to the aviation industry.
1940 - Breitling patented an innovative circular logarithmic slide-rule applied to a chronograph. This system was capable of easily handling a wide range of mathematical operations with tachymeter, telemeter and pulsometer functions; multiplication, division and rule-of-three problems; production calculations and more. The Chronomat, a catchy contraction of “Chronographe-Mathematique,” was not only functional, but beautiful, with elegant lines, a slim profile and a well-balanced dial. This refined tool watch became a favorite amongst sports, industry and technical professionals.
1943 - Being a man of great style himself, Willy Breitling recognized people’s desire for products that reflected the elegance and glamor of the era. Breitling was already producing sophisticated chronographs for personal use, but he took things a step further with the development of the Premier collection, a distinctive new line of watches intended for a discerning and stylish clientele.
1944 - Breitling solidified his legitimacy in chronograph innovation by adding more complications to the elegant Premier collection. In early 1944, he launched the Duograph, a highly complicated split-second chronograph that would allow the user to time two separate events at once. The Duograph had a similar design aesthetic as the Premier, as well as numerous variations, including some with atypical square pushers and the choice of cases in stainless steel or gold.
1945 - Breitling added an elegant, yet useful, complication to its new Premier line, the Datora. It could read the date, day and moon phase all while maintaining a very elegant, balanced design and case proportions.
Despite the turbulence of the 1940s, Willy Breitling continued to make his company a household name. He built on his predecessors’ innovations and elevated the brand to a new level with great design, ahead-of-its-time marketing and superior technical skills. Already with a major client base among military, aviation and engineering professionals, he decided to expand his clientele even further by crafting elegant yet practical watches for stylish customers. Always keeping an eye on trends, he was already seeing a shift in the aviation industry. No longer was it the exclusive domain of military and governments. The world was on the cusp of a boom in civil and leisure aviation – and Breitling was going to be there.
Whereas the 1940s were characterized by military expansion, the 1950s represented a Golden Age of consumer expansion. Civil aviation took off at a meteoric pace as airliners supplanted ocean liners as the most efficient (and glamorous) means of travel. The great American aircraft manufacturers – Lockheed, Convair, Douglas and Boeing – were locked in a heady competition to develop increasingly high-performance, reliable and comfortable long-range aircraft. At the same time, leisure motoring and nautical pursuits also burst onto the scene, fuelled by the freewheeling post-war lifestyle.As a wise businessman, Willy Breitling didn’t miss the opportunities presented by these social and economic changes. In fact, they were the impetus for some of Breitling’s best-known watches designed for air, land and sea.
