Breitling History

Breitling History

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

1927: On May 20 and 21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh flies the "Spirit of St. Louis" across the Atlantic from New York to Paris in 33 hours, 30 minutes.

1932: Gastons son, Willy Breitling, takes the helm of the family firm.

1934: Breitling develops the second return-to-zero push piece. This invention, making it possible to measure several successive short times with an added function using the first push piece, gives the wrist chronograph its definitive form.

1935: On January 12, 1935, Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland. This feat takes aviations popularity to dizzying heights.

1936: Breitling becomes official supplier to the Royal Air Force. This marks the start of a long-standing record of cooperation with international aviation.

1938: Boeing presents the first pressurized commercial plane, the Boeing 307.

1940: Igor Sikorsky demonstrates his mastery of free helicopter flight by keeping his VS-300 in the air for over 15 minutes, on May 13, 1940.

1942: Breitling launches the Chronomat, the first chronograph to be fitted with a circular slide rule. In parallel, the company broadens its professional clientele to include the American armed forces. July 18, 1942, sees the test flight of the world\\\\\\\'s first jet aircraft, the Messerschmitt 262. Equipped with arrow-shaped wings, an aerodynamic fuselage and an ejection seat, it is considered to be the forerunner of modern aircraft.

1947: At 10.30 am on October 14, 1947, the Bell X-1 flown by Chuck Yeager breaks through the hitherto inviolate sound barrier. The era of supersonic flight dawns.

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 becomes a firm favourite among pilots around the globe. By this stage, BREITLING is already supplying the major international airlines with cockpit counters. The De Havilland Comet, the first ever-civilian jet aircraft, inaugurates the era of jets on May 2, 1952, with a regular London-Johannesburg flight.

1957: On December 20, 1957, the first series produced Boeing 707 takes off from Seattle. Twice as fast as other commercial aircraft, it offers hitherto unrivalled levels of comfort.

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

1965: Entry into service in the US Air Force of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird; this high-altitude strategic reconnaissance plane, able to reach three times the speed of sound, quickly pulverizes all speed and altitude records.

1969: Breitling invents the self-winding chronograph movement, in cooperation with Büren and Heuer-Leonidas. This technical feat represents a major breakthrough for the entire Swiss watch industry. The year of superlatives. On February 9, 1969, the Boeing 747 or Jumbo Jet makes a successful test flight. Weighing 315 tons, able to carry 400 passengers or 50 tons of freight and 178 tons of fuel, it is the largest civilian aircraft ever built. Barely a month later, on March 2 in Toulouse, the Franco-British Concorde supersonic plane takes off for the very first time.

1974: The European Airbus project takes shape with the entry into service within Air France of the A-300, the first twin-engined wide-bodied jet airliner.

Breitling History

1979: Ernest Schneider - a pilot, watch manufacturer and microelectronics specialist - takes over the Breitling brand from the founders grandson, Willy Breitling.

1981: Aeronautical innovations continue with the first stealth bomber, the Lockheed F-117. This aircraft, capable of avoiding radar detection systems, is secretly put into service from 1983 onwards, but its existence will only be officially recognized in 1988.

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 it has held ever since.

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

1986: Aboard the experimental Voyager plane, Jeana Jaeger and Dick Rutan achieve the first non-stop round-the-world flight without refuelling, in only 216 hours.

1993: On March 4, 1993, the Saab Gripen began operating within the Swedish Air Force. It is the worlds first 4th-generation fighter plane in service. Described as a "multi-role" aircraft, it can be used for interception, attack and reconnaissance missions.

1994: Entry into service of the B-2 stealth bomber made by Northrop Grumman.


1995: Breitling presents the Emergency, a multifunction instrument watch with built-in micro-transmitter broadcasting on the 121.5 MHz aircraft emergency frequency.
 
1997: A major development in military aviation, with the first flight of the F-22 Raptor from Lockheed Martin; this 4th-generation fighter aircraft, which is also a stealth bomber, is the most sophisticated plane ever built.
 
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, the B-1 embodies significant progress in the field of Swiss microelectronic engineering.
 
1999: The last aviation record is set on March 21st 1999. After 20 days of flight, the experimental Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon, flown by Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard, touches down in the Egyptian desert. It has achieved the apparently impossible: a non-stop round-the-world balloon flight.1999: 1st Round the World Balloon Flight by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones in the Breitling Orbiter 3 - Duration of the flight was 19 Days 21 Hours 47
 
Today, Breitling is still established in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the town where Leon Breitling opened his first chronograph factory 125 years earlier.