The Breitling Pop-Up Museum In Zurich And Why You Should Visit — Chapter 3: Land

On February 1st, Fratello published the second chapter dedicated to Breitling’s Then & Now Pop-Up Museum in Zurich. Today, we come to the final chapter, featuring Breitling’s third universe — landborne watches. As mentioned in the previous chapters, under Georges Kern’s leadership, Breitling has returned to the three universes of Air, Land, and Sea with an equal emphasis, while under the Schneiders, the brand was unequivocally dominant in air-related timepieces.

To use Georges Kern’s phrase, “In the Schneider era, Breitling was akin to a shark in a swimming pool.” Under the new leadership since 2017, essentially, this shark has returned to its natural habitat, where it seems to have made itself very comfortable. The brand’s renewed commitment to Willy Breitling’s vision of “Breitling time in the air, on the ground, under the sea” has proven incredibly successful.

A product of the times

As has been the case for most (if not all) successful watch companies that have managed to weather economic disasters, currency challenges, and the Quartz Crisis, Breitling was always a product of the times. When there was a demand for cockpit instruments during the war, you can bet Breitling was on it. When the trends leaned towards dive watches, Breitling innovated and developed in this direction. In the 1970s, there was an industry-changing trend towards racing chronographs. Being a race car driver or, more importantly, looking like a race car driver back then was all that.

In parallel to this, Hollywood was undergoing a phase of releasing countless films featuring stars like Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, so the sport of racing gained significant traction. Consequently, under the founder’s grandson Willy, Breitling’s racing-themed chronographs gained popularity and became a huge hit in the brand’s catalog at the time. Today, and in the same vein as the last two chapters, we will be exploring three highlights in this category. Stick around for the last one! It’s a one-of-a-kind and comfortably represents high horology.

Breitling Sprint ref. 2013, 1972

There’s always controversy when mid-range and high-end watch companies release anything using resin. Watch diehards always throw words like, “cheap,” “money grab,” and “compromising quality” around. While resin does enable a lower price point, the notion of a “money grab” crumbles when we take a moment to consider the advantages this case material offers compared to more common ones. The Breitling Sprint ref. 2013 represents just that. It debuted in the early ’70s when a loud aesthetic had made a grand entrance to general designs of the time. This watch was very much about function over form, but it still had style.

An athlete’s tool

Designed for athletes, the Sprint emphasized lightness. This watch was also the inspiration for Breitling’s more recent Endurance, which, as the name implies, is one that athletes can wear without weighing them down and compromising their endurance.

Unconventional, loud, and outside the box

Staying in the vein of sports, this watch doesn’t use the more common tachymeter bezel but a pulsation scale instead, allowing the user to check his or her pulse with the click of a pusher. Like the dial, the case of this Sprint is just as unconventional. It has a modern 40.2mm diameter with lines and angles very reminiscent of the early 1970s.

The Sprint ref. 2013 stands proudly as the cover art featured on Breitling’s newly released book, 140 Years in 140 Stories. This book, like the Then & Now Pop-up Museum, celebrates Breitling’s round anniversary last year.

Breitling Duograph ref. 764, 1970

If I could walk out with any watch from this museum, it would be hard to choose any other than this incredibly beautiful Breitling Duograph ref. 764. It represents everything I love in watchmaking — innovation, balance, golden proportions, high complications, and an (admittedly subjective) infatuation with its beautiful monochrome aesthetic.

I mean, just look at this thing. I’ve said it before, but a manual-wind, two-register, no-date chronograph is the dream of many watch enthusiasts, including me. Add the then-large 38.2mm stainless steel case, and we are left with this amazingly proportioned panda-dial Duograph.

The “uber-chronograph” caliber

Moving on from the aesthetic, this Duograph comes with a high complication — namely, a split-seconds chronograph. This means the chronograph has two stacked central seconds hands, one of which can pause and later catch up to the other with a push of the crown. You’ll notice a slight gap between the crown and the case for this reason. That means this oversized crown has three functions — setting, timing split-seconds, and winding. I should mention that the combination of this Duograph’s oversized crown and lack of crown guards make it an absolute pleasure to wind.

From father to son

This particular example was a gift from Willy Breitling to his son Gregory for his 20th birthday. Upon receiving it, Gregory was told it was an exceptionally complicated piece, so he should handle it with extra care. Breitling had long been famous for creating chronographs, so what better gift could the president of the brand have given his son than one in such a high-end execution?

Breitling Datora Duograph ref. 800 in 18K gold, 1944 — The only known example in existence

As in chapter 2 of this series of articles, we’ll end the trio of presented timepieces on the undeniable peak. This one’s a lot to unpack, but it’s worth sticking around because this is as good as it gets! This yellow gold Breitling Datora ref. 800 is regarded as the only example in existence. There is believed to have been a batch of 20 stainless steel examples released in 1951, but the prominent collector and brand historian Fred Mandelbaum has yet to ever see one. Interestingly, this timepiece was listed with two reference numbers — 800 and 766 — because its 18K gold case was from the reference 766 released in 1944. At the time of release, this Breitling Datora Duograph was one of the most complicated wristwatches ever created.

Manufacturing like the top of the top

Observing the case more closely, the architecture is reminiscent of mid-century cases by brands in the high-end sector, featuring stepped lugs, a stepped bezel, and of course, a precious metal. These are features that offer little functional advantage but instead give birth to a resplendent design that proved Breitling could compete with the top of the industry. In line with this exquisite case, the movement does not fail to impress. Like the previous entry, it is a split-seconds chronograph but, this time, with a calendar function too.

Busy with balance and deliberation

To top off the split-seconds chronograph and pointer date, this timepiece features a moonphase complication at the top of the dial. Now, despite the conservative case diameter and complicated dial featuring a tachymeter scale, it does not appear cluttered. The four-register layout creates balance, and the hour numerals are cut off to prevent overlapping into the sub-dials.

Setting the record straight

In 2021, Breitling launched the Premier Datora with the B25 movement. Some people were screaming bloody murder, saying Breitling had borrowed a design with which it had no historical link. However, Breitling’s Then & Now museum serves as the perfect way to rebut statements like these. Just because the brand hadn’t indulged in timepieces with these movements and designs in the past few decades doesn’t mean they had never existed. This is why this museum was such an important endeavor for Breitling. The idea was never about pushing sales today but, rather, instead educating visitors beyond what they know about the brand from when they were younger. Breitling’s been around longer than all of us, so it’s important for the brand’s storytelling to represent itself with the utmost historical accuracy and integrity.

Curtain call on Breitling’s Then & Now Pop-Up Museum

Speaking of which, the museum will stay open until mid-May this year. Rather than keeping it open continuously, it was important for Breitling to end the museum on a high note. What would have been Scott Carpenter’s 100th birthday will be on May 1st, 2025, so the brand will come out with something very special close to this date. What better place than Zurich’s museum to celebrate Scott’s centennial?

As I’ve done in the previous chapters, I’ll encourage you one more time to visit the museum before it closes if you have the opportunity. It’s unlikely we’ll ever have the chance to enjoy this assortment of Breitling’s back catalog in the same context again. The next big anniversary will be the 150th anniversary in 2034, so I’m excited to see what Breitling will have in store for then! For now, though, we can enjoy the museum for at least another more month.