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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Grenchen, Switzerland

Breitling

Partially verified

Swiss luxury watchmaker specializing in technical watches and chronographs

History

Léon Breitling founded the watchmaking firm in 1884 in Saint-Imier, Switzerland.

Following the founder's death in 1914, leadership passed to his son Gaston and later to his grandson Willy in 1935. Production shifted to the Sicura factory in Grenchen, which was later renamed to Breitling AG in 1994. The Schneider family maintained control until 2017, when a majority stake was sold to CVC Capital Partners.

Ownership transitioned again in 2022 when Partners Group acquired a majority share in the company.

The extended history summarises the open references listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited passage. Confirm key dates in period documents before relying on them.

Current watchmaking & later fate

  • Since 2022, the Swiss investment firm Partners Group has served as the majority shareholder of Breitling.

As stated in the references listed under Sources, retrieved 2026-11-03. Ownership and collections change; check the maker's own announcements for the latest position.

Key models

Chronomat
First released in 1942, the Chronomat is a best-selling model that originally featured a circular slide rule.
Navitimer
Launched in 1954, the Navitimer was designed as a pilot's watch incorporating a navigation slide rule.
Emergency
Introduced in 1995, the Emergency is a multi-functional watch equipped with an integrated distress transmitter for aviation use.

Major innovations

  • In 1915, Breitling introduced the first independent chronograph pusher.
  • A second independent pusher for resetting the chronograph was developed by the firm in 1934.
  • The company debuted a self-winding chronograph movement in 1969.
  • Breitling developed its own in-house self-winding column wheel chronograph movement, the B01, in 2009.

Known markings

  • The company utilizes the 'winged B' as a logo on its dials.

Serial numbers

No serial-number system for this maker is recorded in the cited references.

Collecting significance

The catalogued pieces listed on this page show the kinds of objects auction houses, dealers and museums attribute to this maker; each attribution is the source's own.

In the object catalogue

44 catalogued objects are recorded under Breitling. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.

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Diagram

driving wheelcoupling clutchcolumn wheelpusher
Schematic: chronograph control. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. Breitling SA, Wikipedia (English), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  2. Breitling Navitimer, Wikipedia (English), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  3. Breitling SA, Wikipedia (German), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  4. Breitling Navitimer, Wikipedia (German), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  5. Breitling, Wikipedia (French), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  6. Breitling Navitimer, Wikipedia (French), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.