1952 - Willy Breitling set out to develop a wrist-worn chronograph that would allow pilots to perform all necessary flight calculations, including average speed, distance traveled, fuel consumption and rate of climb. His idea was to adapt the Chronomat’s logarithmic slide rule for aviation purposes and integrate it into a rotating bezel, capped with small beads to make it easy to manipulate even with a pilot’s gloved hands.
Two years later, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the largest pilots’ club in the world, announced the design as its official timepiece. The Navitimer — its name a combination of “navigation” and “timer” – was born. Breitling’s unprecedented “flight computer” was quickly adopted by pilots worldwide.
1953 - While the Navitimer would be the darling of the airline industry, Willy Breitling wanted to develop yet another pilots’ chronograph, this time for military and recreational pilots who needed a robust chronograph that was easily readable, even from the bumpy cockpit of a small plane. Enter the Co-Pilot, a chronograph designed to be a trustworthy companion to aviators of all stripes. It perfectly embodied the rugged, reliable and efficient principles that were the hallmark of the HUIT Aviation department.
1957 - To mark his 25th year at the company’s helm, Willy Breitling, having already conquered the sky, set his sights on a new challenge: the ocean. It was a time when Jacques Cousteau and his undersea documentaries were sparking a trend in scuba diving and aquatic sports. Professionals and amateurs alike needed instruments that could be safely worn underwater to provide vital information. In response, Breitling launched the Super Ocean, a diving watch that was watertight to a depth of 200 meters (660 ft) – a major technical feat at the time. Every detail of the design and construction was conceived to provide optimal functionality, readability and safety.
These two SuperOcean watches represented two sides of 1950s nautical sporting life: the elegant time-only (Ref. 1004) was intended for the gentleman who cared about his style, even while at the beach. While the sportier chronograph (Ref. 807) was made for the seasoned diver who more interested in straightforward performance and legibility.
1962 - As space exploration was heating up in the early 1960s, Breitling would also have its lift-off. The Americans had started the Mercury Program to practice and perfect its manned space flights as it worked towards a moon landing. Lt. Commander Scott Carpenter was one of the 7 astronauts set to take part in the historical series of missions. Already a fan of the Navitimer from his training days, Carpenter came to Breitling with a special request: Create an astronaut’s version of the iconic pilot’s watch with an enlarged rotating bezel for use with spacesuit gloves, and a 24-hour dial to tell day from night in the darkness of space.On May 24, 1962, Scott Carpenter orbited the earth three times with the custom Navitimer on his wrist. Mission accomplished! This was a major achievement for Breitling and marked the beginning of the “Cosmonaute,” the first Swiss wrist-worn chronograph to have travelled to space. Like the Navitimer before it, the Cosmonaute developed its own cult following and was later made publicly available.
1964 - Willy Breitling launched the Top Time collection with a clear mission: to suit the needs of “young and active professionals.” Thanks to its elegant yet unconventional designs, that included square cases and graphic dials, the Top Time quickly became the watch of choice for a fashionable in-crowd of men and women equally drawn to the watch’s bold proportions.During the second half of the 1960s, Breitling experienced an unprecedented demand for its Top Time chronographs. They appeared on the pages of fashion magazines, and the film industry soon followed suit, with the Breitling watches stealing the show on the silver screen, too.
1969 - As Breitling reached the end of the decade, it undertook one of the most important watchmaking challenges of the 20th century: Building an automatic chronograph.Developed in cooperation with Dubois Dépraz, Heuer-Leonidas and Hamilton Büren, the Caliber Chrono-Matic was a huge undertaking and of such significance to watchmaking, its 1969 unveiling took place before the world press. Based on this ground-breaking movement, Breitling produced an entire line of self-winding chronographs. The fact that the crown was on the left-hand side of the case and pushers were on the right shows just how different the Breitling Chrono-Matic would have appeared at the time.
In the late 1970s, mechanical watchmakers faced the biggest challenge in their history: the “quartz crisis.” Quartz was exponentially more precise and reliable than mechanical watches, while being inexpensive to produce. So when precision ceased to be the defining factor in the quality of a timepiece, traditional watchmaking went into upheaval.
Willy Breitling’s health was rapidly deteriorating, yet he would not retire until he had secured a successor he could trust to resist merging with other brands to survive the crisis. At last, Willy found his man—someone he was convinced would uphold the brand’s independence and preserve its heritage.
Ernest Schneider, a technical and aviation enthusiast, took over Breitling in 1979 at the height of the quartz crisis. Schneider understood that he was the guardian of a unique legacy. For the brand to succeed, he would have to steer it down a path of specialization that no one else could replicate. That path was “instruments for professionals,” high-performance watches designed for functionality, reliability and durability, even in the toughest situations.
Schneider’s strategy would pay off. Breitling successfully weathered the crisis and, in 1984, was able to revive its hundred-year-old craft by introducing the famous Chronomat, a revolutionary timepiece that paved the way for the return of mechanical watches.
1979 - The brand was sold to Ernest Schneider. Schneider was an electronics engineer who specialized in transmissions within the Swiss armed forces. Previously he had directed the Sicura watch company, which flourished under his leadership and stood out for various technical advances, especially in the area of solar-celled and quartz watches. In his personal life, Schneider was an aviation enthusiast who had a pilot’s license and owned his own plane. As a watchmaker and aviator, Ernest Schneider had been a longtime admirer of Breitling. On April 5th, 1979, he signed the contract that gave him the reigns of the Breitling brand.
Early 1980’s - Schneider didn’t see quartz as the enemy. In fact, he recognized an opportunity in it. On the one side, quartz provided the kind of precision and reliability that true professionals demanded in their timepieces. On the other, the crisis has made mechanical watchmaking a niche industry that was now occupied by a much smaller pool of competitors. “Instruments for professionals” became the tagline for this new era at Breitling. While other brands were using quartz for its price, Breitling began using it as the basis for developing the most precise and reliable watches on the market. At the same time, the brand didn’t stop building mechanical watches. In fact, Breitling would go on to play a major role in securing their comeback.
Early 1984 - Breitling marked its centennial by launching the Chronomat. This exceptional model triggered the renaissance of the mechanical chronograph on top of becoming a Breitling bestseller. Its design and, in particular its recognizable rider tabs, were inspired by the Chronograph “FrecceTricolori” launched a year earlier.It was a bold gamble that went against the quartz trend. The Chronomat’s commanding size was in sharp contrast to the extra-thin quartz watches popular at the time. But Breitling’s bet paid off. The watch quickly became a success, especially in Italy (a key market for fine watchmaking) and the United States, making the mechanical chronograph cool again.
Early 1983 - Schneider learned that one of the world’s most prestigious aerobatic teams, the Italian army’s FrecceTricolori, was issuing an invitation to tender for its official watch. The elite aerobatics team favored an analog display, so their watch would have to be mechanical. Schneider saw this project as this perfect opportunity to reaffirm Breitling’s traditional watchmaking expertise while celebrating the brand’s ties to aviation.In 1983, Breitling created the Chronograph “FrecceTricolori” for the Italian jet team. It introduced key design elements like a rotating bezel with four rider tabs on the quarter hours, and a Rouleaux bracelet that later became a staple of the Chronomat.
1985 - The brand’s dual philosophy was to continue Breitling’s mechanical tradition while also taking advantage of the latest electronic improvements to enhance the user’s experience. The introduction of the multifunctional Aerospace chronograph in 1985 was a brilliant illustration of the latter. This completely innovative quartz model, equipped with the latest generation Swiss technology, had a double display – analog and digital – and its dial contained two LCD screens .
1986 - The brand launched the Old Navitimer, a reinterpretation of the original design from 1952. It was equipped with an automatic Valjoux movement. Because of its rich history and elegant design, this piece contributed to the return of the mechanical chronograph.
