New horizons for Breitling
“Navigating my way to new horizons. Contrary to popular belief, the sky is NOT the limit; it is merely the beginning of something bigger.” This quote was posted by Georges Kern on July 18 to announce his arrival as CEO of Breitling. Bigger?
The post came four days after the announcement from Richemont Group that Mr. Kern had resigned, with immediate effect. After fifteen years with the Group, first as CEO of IWC, from 2002 to 2017, then as Head of Watchmaking, Marketing and Digital from April to July of 2017, Mr. Kern seized the opportunity to become CEO and shareholder of Breitling. And while we will probably have to wait until later this year to hear any major product announcements, subsequent posts from Mr. Kern have given some indications as to what we might expect in 2018.
One of the hashtags in Mr. Kern’s first post reads “Breitling instruments for professionals”, and this indeed has been Breitling’s positioning from the beginning. The brand has devoted itself to chronographs and timers, precision instruments intended for sports, science and industry, since it was founded in 1884 by Léon Breitling in the Swiss Jura. From competitive sports that later included automobile and aviation feats, these technical watches moved forward from pocket chronographs to wrist chronographs, developing a reputation for precision and robustness — enough to become the onboard chronograph for aircraft cockpits during the 1930s. They even equipped fighter planes of various World War II armed forces, attesting to the quality and accuracy of the timepieces.
The ocean too
And while Breitling flies with airline pilots and times competitions on the ground, it has also been accompanying divers in the sea since 1957, when the Superocean professional diving watch was launched. The brand has its own movement development and production facility with the Manufacture Breitling Chronométrie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and all Breitling movements – mechanical and quartz – are COSC-certified. All of this constitutes a great history to build upon. As for product line developments, in addition to the Breitling Navitimer, other favourites have soon appeared in Mr. Kern’s posts. On July 23 we read: “Charting a course of discovery with the new SuperOcean Heritage. Beautiful design and simple as I prefer it. Here in steel and blue dial.” Or again: “SuperOcean Heritage. One of my favourites in the Breitling collection. Wear it every day when doing sports.”
Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year with an updated design, the SuperOcean Heritage II boasts a new steel bezel with an ultra-hard scratchproof and shock-resistant high-tech ceramic ring. Fluted and unidirectional with a luminescent dot at 12 o’clock, the bezel features a 120-tooth system that enables accurate adjustment and smooth rotation. In two sizes of 42 and 46mm, and as a 46mm chronograph, each model comes in black, blue or bronze. All are automatic, feature a screw-locked crown, and are water-resistant to 200 metres. A post in mid-September continues: “Beautiful SuperOcean Heritage Automatic. Love that watch and that blue dial. Good size and classy.” Even more recently a post reads, “Today with black dial. And in the right size. Love it! SuperOcean Heritage – watch with style!” The right size? Mr. Kern has made it known that “for sure, products will become smaller, with men’s sizes mainly 39/40, 42/43, and 46 but depending on the movement.” One of the rare user criticisms made against Breitling watches concerns the sometimes very large size. Will the 46mm be kept for special editions only?
A taste for vintage pieces
References to other products include the Super Avenger II that is highlighted for its “power” and the “Avenger Blacksteel A” that is “typically Breitling. I like these simpler dials and the mat finish”. Materials and colours are another aspect hinted at by Mr. Kern. He refers to the “beautiful Transocean Day and Date” as “an understated contemporary style in steel with black dial“ and elsewhere to the volcano black dial and khaki green military strap of the Super Avenger II. One post asserts that a Superocean Heritage with “a little bit of rose gold is very nice”. References to “vintage” pop up several times; a reposting of a vintage Duograph in gold with a black dial gets this comment: “These are the type of great products we should have in our collection…”. He enthuses over a “fantastic” PREMIER 777 from 1945, “another cool vintage Breitling” which he qualifies as “good taste!” Should we expect a new vintage collection, then?
As for the brand’s “golden icon”, the Navitimer, Mr. Kern was wearing a beautiful rose gold chronograph version with blue dial at the Passione Engadina Ferrari on August 26. Was it a strictly business meeting? If so, we are sure to hear about that before the end of the year! To sum up, what can we expect to see from Breitling? Powerful dials, which will probably be simpler too, smaller sizes with the exception of special editions or tool watches, more in the way of colour and precious metals, and perhaps a vintage collection. The two new Navitimers issued this year have already whetted our appetite, with the Navitimer Rattrapante, driven by the B03 chronograph calibre, and the Navitimer Breitling DC-3 Limited Edition 46mm in steel, on sale from October.
