Breitling Celebrates Its 140th Anniversary With A Trio Of Gold Flagship Watches
This past June, Breitling invited me to its Chronometrie facility in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The tour offered an opportunity to see the various Breitling manufacture calibers in different production states. The meticulous yet efficient nature of the assembly leads to a robust and reliable B01 chronograph movement along with modules for calendar and GMT functions. For Breitling’s 140th anniversary, the Swiss watchmaker builds on this impressive repertoire with the new caliber B19. This technical tour-de-force mechanism includes Breitling’s first-ever manufacture perpetual calendar chronograph. The B19 also has an incredible power reserve of 96 hours on a full wind. With such a prestigious announcement, Breitling debuts the new caliber in three flagship wristwatches. Namely, the Chronomat, Navitimer, and Premier are housed in 18K red gold cases representing key eras in Breitling’s 140-year history.
Breitling is synonymous with the chronograph function in wristwatches. In 1915, Gaston Breitling pioneered a wristwatch’s independent start, stop, and reset pusher. Previously, this operation was integrated into the crown. Then, in 1934, Gaston’s son Willy Breitling patented the second independent pusher at 4 o’clock for optimal usability. This advancement established the modern wrist-worn chronograph, which we still recognize today. Along with that of the founder Léon Breitling, these pioneers’ DNA is represented in every Breitling chronograph. One could even refer to the crown and two pushers as Léon, Gaston, and Willy. In 1969, Breitling was part of a consortium with Heuer-Leonidas and Buren-Hamilton in a race to release the first automatic chronograph. The Chrono-Matic launched on March 3rd, 1969, and it was the first to hit the international market.
Super Chronomat B19 44 Perpetual Calendar 140th Anniversary
In recent times, the major milestone that is still relevant today is the Breitling 01 (B01) automatic chronograph manufacture movement. The brand’s lengthy and expensive research and development resulted in an in-house automatic chronograph. This caliber is a boast that very few Swiss watch brands can claim, and it forms the backbone of Breitling’s catalog. In fact, with recent refreshes in Breitling’s core collection, the B01 has largely replaced off-the-shelf chronograph calibers. The Chronomat was the first model to house the B01 movement in 2009. Therefore, let’s kick off this celebratory trio of 140th-anniversary watches with the Super Chronomat B19. The Super Chronomat takes the already-macho Chronomat platform and amplifies each element. Launched in 2021, the Super Chronomat has a 44mm case, a scratch-resistant ceramic bezel, and oversized pushers.
For 2024, Breitling takes the Super Chronomat even further by incorporating the B19 perpetual calendar chronograph. The B19 includes a full calendar accommodating the varying months with 28, 29, 30, and 31 days. Thanks to it taking leap years into account, the B19 can, theoretically, continue unadjusted for nearly 100 years. Obviously, in that time, the mainspring may wind down, and services would occur every five years. Nevertheless, the glee in witnessing the date sub-dial account for February 29th during a leap year is worth it. The Super Chronomat is partially skeletonized on the dial side, with the moonphase indicator occupying the top half of the dial. With the integrated date function, the dial maintains the 30-minute chronograph totalizer at 3 o’clock. It also has the leap year and month in the 6 o’clock sub-dial and the day and running seconds combined at 9 o’clock.
Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43 Perpetual Calendar 140th Anniversary
Each model in the trilogy shares the same placement of indications powered by the B19 movement. Also similar is the black and red gold theme, which I find particularly fetching in the Navitimer guise. As CEO Georges Kern revealed, the Navitimer is Breitling’s best-selling watch. The 18K red gold shade is prominent on the dial, with red accents denoting some markings for the slide rule. As with all three timepieces, the B19 is visible through the exhibition case back. You can appreciate the 22K red gold rotor with an engraving of Breitling’s historic Montbrillant factory via the sapphire window. As much as I enjoy the 140-year black and gold motif, the Navitimer B19 is a model I cannot wait to see in more variations. A Navitimer B19 could hopefully become a holy grail for me in steel with a reverse panda dial and some gold touches.
Premier B19 Datora 42 140th Anniversary
Last is the Premier B19 Datora, which swaps the Navitimer’s gold dial with an inky black surface. The tuxedo-ready style matches the Premier’s dressy nature and buttoned-up approach. That said, the moonphase disc features a more characterful design mimicking the calendar watches of the 1940s. This era is the same as the early Premier models from Breitling, which debuted in 1943. On the dial are polished gold Arabic numerals with the central hour and minute hands featuring the only application of Super-LumiNova. Unlike the pilot’s Navitimer and sporty Super Chronomat, the Premier is less concerned with everyday practicality. Instead, the Premier is all about charm, with only the flush rectangular pushers giving away the chronograph function. The strap is an elegant, glossy black alligator leather and comes with an 18K gold folding buckle.
Final specs and pricing
The Naivtimer is also available on a black alligator strap, but it has a more matte-like surface and contrasting white stitching. The outlier is the Super Chronomat on the rubber strap, which emulates the look of the brand’s famous Rouleaux bracelet. Fittingly, Breitling will produce each of these watches in a series of 140 pieces,
Each one of these 140th-anniversary Breitling limited editions is the same price of £48,000. Also, each watch is presented in a suede-lined wooden box that allows space to display three timepieces. There’s also a drawer in this box for storage and a removable travel pouch included. In a year celebrating 140 years of firsts, the B19 movement is the real star of this announcement, and I look forward to its future inclusion in the range. You can learn more about these releases via the Breitling website here.
