Breitling

Léon Breitling founded a workshop in Saint-Imier in 1884 specialising in chronographs and precision counters for industrial, scientific, and sporting use — deliberately narrow ground at a time when most makers built everything.

The family's technical contribution is the chronograph as we use it. Gaston Breitling introduced a wrist chronograph with a dedicated pusher separate from the crown in 1915, unpicking the start-stop-reset sequence from the winding mechanism. Willy Breitling added the second pusher in 1934, separating reset from stop and completing the two-pusher layout every chronograph has used since.

Aviation followed naturally. The Chronomat arrived in 1942 with a rotating slide rule bezel, and the Navitimer in 1952 refined the idea into a circular flight computer capable of fuel burn, climb rate, and unit conversion. It became the semi-official watch of pilots and remains the brand's signature.

Breitling was among the consortium — with Heuer, Hamilton, and Dubois Dépraz — racing Zenith and Seiko to the first automatic chronograph in 1969.

The company faltered badly in the quartz crisis and stopped trading in 1979. Ernest Schneider bought the name and rebuilt it around aviation and oversized cases. A change of ownership in 2017 brought Georges Kern and a deliberate softening toward slimmer, more archival designs.

Breitling holds 9 models, from £3,450 to £9,495. Half cost less than £4,165, and a quarter less than £4,060. 8 of 9 are automatic. 8 are stocked by more than one retailer, giving 20 offers in total. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1884

Léon Breitling opens his chronograph workshop.

1915

The first chronograph pusher independent of the crown.

1934

The two-pusher chronograph layout is completed.

1952

The Navitimer introduces the aviation slide rule.

1979

The original company closes; Ernest Schneider revives the name.