Breitling Articles

Purchasing a Breitling watch can be a serious, but pleasant undertaking. There are hundreds of Breitling series watches out there with incredible histories, cutting edge technology, and breathtaking design. The first Breitling watch you purchase can be the last, or it can turn into a lifelong dedication and a start of an amazing collection.

Navitimer is one of the Breitling iconic and most popular watches. Released in the early 1950's this is a perfect navigation watch that is created for a serious pilot. Multitude of tools and options allows its wearer to set time zones, count elapsed time and distance. Vintage Navitimer timepieces usually yield high value and are a great investment for a serious collector.

Breitling Aeromarine series evolved out of the Professional series watches. Aeromarine line consists of the divers, navigation, and other functional tool watches that are not predominantly influenced by aviation.

The Breitling Avenger is another Breitling watch line to be born out of a Colt series of watches. Inspired by the military and created for the civilian use, Breitling Avenger is a stunning example of what happens when a well thought out design meets everyday elegance.

There is no doubt that when it comes to the world of luxury and tool watches, Swiss made timepieces have no equal. For centuries Switzerland was the epicenter of watchmaking innovation that has revolutionized the world of time telling.

During the early 1960’s the race was on to create world’s first automatic chronograph. Breitling, Heuer, Hamilton, and Dubois Depraz were working tirelessly together until 1967 when they finally request a patent of a caliber 11 automatic chronograph movement. In September of 1968, Breitling released their first pre-series Navitimer Chrono-Matic making it the first automatic chronograph watch.

During the early 1960’s the race was on to create world’s first automatic chronograph. Breitling, Heuer, Hamilton, and Dubois Depraz were working tirelessly together until 1967 when they finally request a patent of a caliber 11 automatic chronograph movement. In September of 1968, Breitling released their first pre-series Navitimer Chrono-Matic making it the first automatic chronograph watch.

Breitling Colt series is considered the “entry level” for Breitling collectors and enthusiasts. This series evolved from the Breitling Aeromarine series and was redesigned in 2011. Today, the Colt series only includes watches with Quartz movements and you won’t any of the recent models with rider tab bezels.

Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT) is a Radio Distress Beacon, a portable device that is designed to broadcast the location of a vessel or a person in distress. ELTs interface with a Cospas-Sarsat, an international search and rescue satellite system that was established in the early 1980's to locate vessels or persons in distress within the first 24-hours after the incident. Usually ELT devices are bulky but still portable. Generally they fit into a bag or a backpack, but in case of an emergency where you could potentially be separated from your gear or vessel by miles, provide little comfort. Breitling saw a real need for a more personalized, portable Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT) that would not be so easily separated from the individual in distress. Fast forward a few years and in 1995 Breitling releases its first Emergency.

Breitling for Bentley is a line of Breitling watches where expert mechanical craftsmanship, attention to detail, and sophisticated style converge to form an unforgettable masterpiece. This line of watches embodies Bentley’s and Breitling’s philosophy of excellence, performance, and elegance.

Breitling Montbrillant series evolved out of the Navitimer series in 1996. With similar look and style to one of the most popular Breitling watches the timepieces in the Montbrillant series seem to have a bit more style and size variety. Montbrillant No-Date and Montbrillant both have a 38 mm case making them especially appealing to those with smaller wrist size. Montbrillant 01 has a 40 mm case while the rest of the series has cases between 41 and 47 mm.

The history behind Breitling Navitimer is shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. There are plenty of myths and legends passed around the internet that have become common knowledge. However, we prefer to concentrate on the facts and not contribute to the propagation of the myths.

Breitling Professional series watches originally belonged to the Aeromarine series. Durable, expertly crafted, and packed with useful features, these timepieces are true, indispensable instruments for anyone who leads an adrenaline filled lifestyle. This watch series is comprised of a number of exemplary horological instruments such as: Aerospace line, Airwolf, B-1 line, B-2, Chronospace line, Co-pilot, Emergency line, Skyracer line, and Hercules.

Superocean Heritage is a Breitling series that was developed in 2007 as part of the Aeromarine series. Currently, Superocean Heritage is its own line that embraces both the quality and durability of the Aeromarine series watches and the professional diving instrument style of the Superocean.

In 1995 a new watch enters the diving watch market. Inspired by the heavy duty, military diving watches akin to those used by the Navy Seals, Breitling releases Colt SuperOcean. Breitling Colt Superoacean featured a 3 mm thick case back with 3.7 mm thick crystal, helium release valve, and was rated to be water resistant to 3300 feet.

Breitling Trnasocean series features classic and elegantly understated timepieces. Watches in this series are distinguished by their fixed bezels, a feature that is uncommon for most Breitlings. Transocean was first introduced in 1958. The inspiration for the series came from the growing popularity of luxurious, transatlantic flights on long-haul aircraft such as Boeing 707, DC-8 and Caravelle which were synonymous with security, speed, and comfort at that time.

There are times when we come across a vintage or older Breitling that does not fit into any one of the given Breitling series. Some of these timepieces are standalone models, others could have been unsuccessful attempts at launching a line, and some are specialty pieces that were designed for the military or a specific organization. Regardless of how these watches came to be, the Breitling Unclassified is by far one of the most intriguing categories of timepieces that Breitling had produced.

Breitling Windrider as a collection was created when Breitling made a decision to combine Chonoliner and Nightflight lines under one name. This Breitling watch series is built especially for pilots and boast extreme accuracy, legibility, and usability. Although this is an older, currently discontinued Breitling watch line, the timepieces remain to be highly collectable.