Breitling Chronomat since 1984

Chronograph by Breitling

In 1984 Breitling presented for the first time the new version of its model of success "Chronomat". Then as today the self-winding chronograph calibre Valjoux 7750, well known for its reliability, served as movement. The design of the watch was done in close cooperation with the Italian aviation squadron "Frecce Tricolori".

Today, in an era in which virtually all the watches of higher quality grades are driven by mechanical movements, it is often forgotten that in the early 1980's the quartz crisis still reigned. At that time, many Swiss producers scrapped their production facilities for mechanical watches, as it was commonly assumed that this watch genre was finally passé. Even Rolex had begun to manufacture watches with quartz movements. During this phase, the Breitling Chronomat was one of the first back on the market with a mechanical chronograph movement, and its great success contributed to the resurgence of the mechanical watch.

Reference: A13047, A13048, A13050 stainless steel B13047, B13048, B13050, D13050 steel/gold K13050 gold Movement: Self-winding movement Breitling 13 (basis ETA-Valjoux 7750), 28,800 A/h 25 jewels Power reserve 42 h Case: Stainless steel, steel/gold, yellow, red, white gold D 40.5 mm, H 14.7 mm Screw-in crown, screw-in back Unidirectional turning bezel Domed sapphire crystal with anti-glare treatment on both sides Waterproof to 100 m Dial: Black /white / blue / red / gold coloured etc. Indexes or Arabic numerals Tachymeter scale on the raised outer dial fringe Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date ¼-seconds, 30-minutes and 12-hours counters Bracelet: Metal bracelet Pilot with safety folding clasp, rouleaux bracelet or leather strap (shark, calf or crocodile leather)

Literature

• Breitling. Die Geschichte einer großen Uhrenmarke. 1884 bis heute; Author: Benno Richter; ISBN 3766711350
• Das ZEITGEFÜHL-Uhrenbuch; Author: Gerd-Lothar Reschke; ISBN 3-938607-61-0

Weblinks

• Breitling Chronomat - a short history: The Slide Rule Chronomats (engl.)