Breitling

The brand name of Breitling goes hand in hand with the theme of chronograph. When the company founded in 1884 by Leon Breitling, was taken over by his grand child, Willy Breitling in the 1930's, the company was already specialised in the making of chronographs. He made the name of Breitling well known as a manufacturer of instrument panels for aircraft, and with this laying the still existing ground stone between the company the aviation business. Breitling made with the Chronomat from the year of 1942, and Navitimer from1952 models that made the life of a pilot much easier. But the brand itself did not on conquer the air: As in 1962 the American astronaut Scott Carpenter aboard the Mercury Capsule was fired into the universe in 1962, the Breitling model was with him.

Because of the high expectations from pilots and astronauts on the instruments, the chronographs from Breitling were more than ideal for everyday use. Especially the Breitling Navitimer range of models - the complete creation of navigation and timing - are well known for their robustness. They are extremely insensitive to vibration and mechanical acceleration. It can be printed with logarithmic scales just like a slide rule, and be used with a rotating glass ring - it helps pilots to calculate ascend and descend rates, the average speed or the amount of fuel used. But not all Breitling watches are as complex: they can also be used for simple arithmetic such as rule of three calculations and multiplications are possible with the instruments originally conceived for flying.

In 1979 the business man Ernest Schnieder bought the rights of the brand name Breitling. The in 1982 Grenchen created Breitling Montres S.A. is one of the few remaining independent brand names, which have not been integrated into a company.