...
has been added to your Watchlist.

There are X watches on your Watchlist.

Watchlist

[Translate to english:] Breitling Vintage TOP TIME Chronograph Ref. 2211

Breitling

The Breitling Story

The traditional company was founded in 1884 by G.- Léon Breitling in the Swiss Jura. Breitling himself played an important role in the development of the wrist chronograph. Thus, in 1915, he invented the first independent chronograph pusher.

In the same year also one of the first wristlet chronographs in the world arose. Eight years later, the system was perfected and the start, stop and neutral functions were separated. Thus, several consecutive timescales could be added without having to set the pointer at zero position. The patented invention proved very useful in sporting competitions and flight time measurements. In 1934, Breitling succeeded in creating the second independent trigger for the zero position and the chronographer received his modern face. In 1941, Breitling created an astounding timepiece, a chrongraph with practical slide rule and manual lift, the "Chronomat". The naming is a word creation from "chronograph" and "mathematics".

With the development of the Chronomats, Breitling succeeded in establishing an indispensable safety device for flight navigation and thus became a supplier to the British and American Air Force.

The legendary Navitimer - the famous flagship from Breitling

1952 was the birth-hour of one of the most famous chronographs of the world - the "Breitling Navitimer". It is an absolute cult object under pilots and is regarded as a primary rock of all automatic chronographs. This pilot watch icon with manual winding mechanism has a rotating bezel on both sides. In the past, the multifunctional disc rule had been used by pilots to determine ranges of reach (for example, the calculation of fuel consumption, average speeds, climb and descent rates, etc.) without computer-controlled electronics. Also convenient was the possibility of converting miles to kilometers and vice versa. The Navitimer received an official recommendation as a pilot's watch, from the interests of the pilots and aircraft owners (AOPA). The euphoria for this successor of the chronomats continues to this day. The current version of the Navitimer is equipped with the in-house automatic chronograph movement B01 and is named Navitimer B01.

The automatic caliber 11 "Chronomat"

In 1965 the renowned Swiss companies G. Leon Breitling S.A., Heuer-Leonidas S.A. and Dubois Dépraz S.A. joined together to launch the world's first chronograph with automatic winding. The company Buren S.A. received the order to develop the automatic clockwork. On March 3rd, 1969, the companies involved in Geneva, New York, Hong Kong and Beirut succeeded in presenting their product under the name of "Caliber 11 Chronomat". The “Caliber 11” in which the spring house of the watch is mounted by means of an eccentric flywheel is still a key feature of the watch. Unfortunately the archrival Zenith was thus one step ahead. They had the chance to present the "El Primero" ("the first") a few weeks before the “Caliber11”, the world’s most advanced chronograph with automatic movement chronograph with an elaborate original Burenkaliber version 12.

Breitling and the aviation

On 24th May 1962 Scott Carpenter succeeded in orbiting the earth three times with the space capsule Mercury Aurora 7. His spectacular flight lasted four hours, 56 minutes and 16 seconds. Carpenter was equipped with the Breitling "Navitimer Cosmonaute" with a 24-hour dial so that he could also differentiate day and night in the universe. The Cosmonaute was developed on the basis of the classic "Navitimer".

All timepieces or instruments of the brand convince by precision, power and reliability. Since 1999, Breitling has been certifying all his works as a chronometer by the COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres). The COSC is the highest quality seal in terms of precision.

The quartz crisis in the 1980s also hit Breitling and the company had to file for bankruptcy. Ernest Schneider, a business man and enthusiastic pilot, bought the company's name and brand rights and concentrated again on the mechanical chronograph - with success.

In 2009, the 125th anniversary of the brand anniversary, Breitling succeeded in writing chronograph history again. The creation of the first manufacture-like chronograph caliber, "B01", with automatic elevator and shift wheel.

The connection to aviation also influences the choice of its brand ambassadors. Breitling also hired the female pilot Aude Lemordant in addition to the hobby pilot and actor, John Travolta as a brand ambassadors.

Breitling is famous not only for its classics: Chronograph and Navitimer. The jet team of the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer is Europe's largest civilian aerobatic flight arena and periodically records flight records.

Breitling for Bentley

The most successful liasion between an automobile manufacturer and a watch manufacturer was the cooperation between Breitling and Bentley. True to the motto "Think big in small things", both manufacturers underline that they share the same values as performance, prestige and precision.

The collaboration began in 2002, when the watch producer from Grenchen designed the technical instrumentation and designed the dashboard clock of the new "Breitling Continental GT". One year later, Breitling joined the Bentley team as the new main sponsor at the Le Mans 24-hour race. The Bentley team won and Breitling presented the exceptional and refined "Breitling for Bentley Motors" (A25362) chronograph with the Bentley grille-inspired bezel. With this robust watch, Breitling set the benchmark for all the following models.

In addition to the sporty models such as the Bentley Motors and the Bentley Barnato, the collection also features timepieces of the extra class such as the Bentley Mulliner Tourbillon, the rectangular chronograph Flying B or the limited Mark VI Complications 29.

The face of Breitling for Bentley is today nobody less than David Beckham - a world-famous icon with British style.

Highlights