Breitling is 140 this year, kicking off its celebrations with a pop-up museum in Zurich, a travelling Time Capsule exhibition of vintage watches, a trio of anniversary watches and a new zest, fronted by the company’s affable CEO, Georges Kern, who has reenergised the much-loved salon. Telling 140 years’ worth of stories is a big part of this reenergising strategy, and Kern has called in Fred Mandelbaum, collector, curator, historian and all round amiable watch guy, to achieve it.
Mandelbaum’s recently released book on Premier, Breitling’s elegant line launched in 1943, is also part of that strategy. Originally designed to fuse elegance and functionality, Premier has in the past years been redesigned, with new movements, hues and functions combined with its vintage essence.
‘Willy Breitling was a strategic person, always looking at new markets. In 1943 he realised the war would eventually come to an end and the world would be looking for something new, fresh, sophisticated. Premier needed to be a watch of impeccable taste, to quote the great man, and that’s what Breitling produced. Its aim was to make your heart sing when you looked at it,’ says Mandelbaum.
It was, in many ways, a departure from Breitling’s tool watches that were used in the air, on land and in the sea as functional, chronographic pieces. Here, then, was a watch that would announce Breitling at the gentleman’s club, as well as in the trenches.
It worked. Premier took its place among the formal watches of the world and for decades it played a role in Breitling’s success. But it lost its way, suggests Mandelbaum. Or, rather, Breitling’s focus shifted to adventure watches and Premier found itself in the doldrums. That all changed in 2021 when Kern, determined to broaden Breitling’s appeal, saw Premier as the range best positioned to underline that strategy. ‘Breitling was a shark in a swimming pool,’ Kern said. ‘We needed to bring it out into the sea.’ Premier would celebrate its history but reinvent itself for the modern age, a microcosm of Breitling’s broader strategy.
It worked. Again. The world was indeed ready for a watch that represented the best of the past, but with current technology and functionality. Premier has been a contemporary success; so much so that it features in Breitling’s trio of limited-edition 140th-anniversary pieces (the others are the Navitimer and Chronomat), released recently. All three feature the latest Caliber B19, Breitling’s first perpetual calendar chronograph movement. Chronograph is, of course, a Breitling specialty. B19 features a perpetual calendar with moonphase display, automatically correcting for leap years and months of 28, 30 and 31 days, so it can run for nearly a century without a major adjustment. And, vital in today’s market, it has an industry-leading power reserve of around 96 hours.
So much for Breitling, but what is one of the greatest watch collectors on the planet looking out for in 2025?
‘It’s clear there are significant advances in movements, and we will see a lot of innovation there, so that’s exciting. I’m also impressed by the broadening of design generally. There is a new creativity, which I like, an opening up that will attract a new generation to watches. That can only be good, I think. It’s very encouraging.’
For more on Breitling’s 140th anniversary as well as its pop-up museum and the limited-edition range, visit breitling.com. Breitling’s South African boutique is at shop U76B, Sandton City.
Peter Frost
