Breitling needs no introduction. Just by hearing the name, I’m sure you’ve probably already gotten an impression of their watches, such is their reputation and how solid their design image is.
Breitling is a manufacturer with a particularly loyal fan base, having produced some of the most well-known watches such as the Navitimer and Emergency. Still, they have the ability to capture a wider range of needs given their unique design language and pricing.
However, being one of the most recognizable watchmakers doesn’t mean Breitling isn’t facing challenges, most recently before 2017. The brand has been struggling with internal and external headwinds. Internally, there is no route, and externally, they face more intense competition, market trends and consumer demands.
Fortunately, under the management of Georges Kern and the capital injection of CVC Capital in 2017, this came full circle. Perfect Fake Watches
In 2022, according to Morgan Stanley, Breitling has entered the top 10 Swiss watchmakers by total sales revenue. Here’s how my solution works. Good to know I’m not one to be drawn to their more modern versions!
historical past Before we consider the current Breitling, we have to look to its past to appreciate just how rich its history is. This always helps to set the context because watches are emotional commodities and much of what drives a watch or model’s will comes from what they symbolize. Breitling began in 1884 when Leon Breitling opened his first atelier in Switzerland. His and the models’ main focus is the chronograph, which is where they’ve found success. They have been used extensively and managed to create improvements that are still relevant today.
In 1893, Breitling created a movement with an 8-day power reserve, and a pulsometer that doctors used to know their heart rate.
Thereafter, in 1915, Breitling moved the chronograph start/stop pusher from the crown to the 2 o’clock position, and in 1934 the reset pusher to the 4 o’clock position. This helps stop any unintentional pushing, increasing accuracy and ease of use. Breitling designed the blueprint for almost all future two-pusher chronographs.
From here, Breitling in the 1930s and 1940s worked to build the brand identity we know today. Founded in 1932, Willy Breitling probably realized the importance of aviation and focused on producing cockpit equipment. After this, innovation continued and in 1940 they developed and introduced the logarithmic coordinate rule Best replica watch site, which allowed mathematical operations to be calculated.
During this time, we started seeing ranges we already knew, some of which are still in the current range, such as the 1943 Premier.
With the formation of the Model ID, the development of the model outside the Navy was noticed in the fifties. Most notably, 1952 saw the introduction of the Navitimer – a hybrid of a navigator and a chronograph – which was purchased for civilian pilots as a device that allowed them to perform all the calculations necessary for flight. Initially, it was purchased only for members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), but it was so profitable that it was introduced to the public.
Breitling added other features, such as a Co-Pilot chronograph, but 1957 took another big step with the introduction of the SuperOcean.
Perhaps events, competitors, and the need for different dive watches at the time contributed to the brand’s determination to turn its attention to the ocean. Like the vast majority of Swiss manufacturers, Breitling has struggled through the quartz disaster. Possession changed and under the leadership of Ernest Schneider, Breitling began to adopt quartz watches because it provided pilots with the necessary precision. This spawned the “Professional Equipment” tagline.
Meanwhile, Breitling continued to supply mechanical watches and launched the Chronomat on the occasion of Breitling’s centenary. A big mechanical watch, diametrically opposed to market trends, yet highly regarded.
Still, while Breitling has found success in new territories, there is no doubt that their popularity comes from aviation-focused chronographs. Swiss replica watches review
The Breitling Challenge Breitling has a long history and has had some great successes on this watch planet. It overcame the quartz crisis under the new leadership of Ernest Schneider, the Swiss soldier and former head of Sicira (a small watch company), and played a pivotal role in the renaissance of mechanical timepieces.
Still, Breitling faces some difficulties, rather than a clear-cut problem. Before 2017, various internal and external factors went hand in hand to negatively impact Breitling. This has resulted in a mild demise when it comes to each collector’s curiosities and total sales.
Those who revisit the Breitling website on these occasions or have been following the model will know that Breitling’s product line is very complicated. Not complicated in terms of action, but from a consumer perspective. There are so many fashions to choose from. Chrono24 lists 604 specials on the market from 2007-2016! There are at least 11 different sets of these.
Giving choice to consumers is usually optimistic, but that’s gone, with a plethora of watch face options (colors and configurations), issues and sizes to choose from. In one of the best occasions, it’s hard to keep the story and emotion behind a watch, especially for lesser-known fashion. Doing this for more than 600 references is almost unthinkable.
And there are different points, especially the model route. On the one hand, you’ll have party staples like Navitimer, SuperOcean, and Emergency, but on the other, you’ll have For Bentley and Transocean fashions.
Then in these series, the design is different. This isn’t a knock on any model, more of a focus on design consistency and language that has been mixed up and out of focus (I don’t know what’s going on under the hood, but that’s my superficial impression).
Take Transocean vary as an example. Under this 2007-2016 nomenclature, you’ll find vintage-inspired chronographs, world time chronographs, day-date chronographs, and moon phase chronographs. It might not sound like much, but it boils down to inconsistent design.
Breitling’s complex messaging confuses potential buyers, and if you find yourself selling an emotional product, it’s not the best option.
Outside of Breitling, broader horological trends have been changing.
What matters is size. As we mentioned in our Watch Developments article, demand shifted from larger diameter timepieces to more wearable ones. If Breitling pays close attention to pilot watches, the models tend to be (very) bulky in general size. Panerai faces a similar dilemma, although they specialize in large dive watches.
Looking at the trends, it appears that the most produced watch sizes are between 41-43mm. If we compare this to what Breitling has to offer, we see that between 2007 and 2016, the best part of the watches they sold were 44mm.
Breitling’s later highest measurement grades were 43mm and 46mm. Curiously, 9% of all Breitling watches are currently 48mm, which is almost double the average share of final models with watches over 47mm in diameter.
Breitling is clearly catering to an audience that loves these big-ticket items the most. But it’s not just size preferences that have changed, but also aesthetics. Want most best Breitling watches before 2017, they are very busy. Many may simply be chronographs with three sub-dials, but the look is refined due to the size of the sub-dials, the scale of the indexes, and the use of minute markers and Arabic numerals.
On top of that, Breitling watches have been (and still are to a certain extent) very polished and thus can be considered more ostentatious – think its Bentley line. There may always be demand for this type of watch, and there is some matching under their “professional equipment” tagline and aviation theme; however, tastes change all the time. You notice a stylistic shift in classic watches.
Curiosity for classic watches is up, but so is demand for brand new watches inspired by vintage. One of the best examples of this is the launch of the Tudor Black Bay and its subsequent success.
Individually, the use of fauxtina on watches became more common, with the first words of the word appearing around 2012. These watches ushered in a new wave of simplicity. Impressed by what came before, a lot of the extreme styling was thrown out when the watch was actually used as a tool.
Before you said it, I got it: the Navitimer has always looked complicated, but this is reflected in other Breitling collections.
It’s easy to see why Breitling has faced headwinds now. The model has such a long history and presence that it wants to be hooped, and luckily, that’s what happened in 2017.
Following last year’s relaunch of the Bubble collection and further expansion of the collection this year, Corum is also introducing another reinterpretation of the familiar model, the Golden Bridge. First launched in 1980, the Golden Bridge has become an iconic timepiece due to its small, rectangular movement. It comes in many variants, but in 2016 Corum first introduced it to a round case. This is the Corum watch golden bridge round.
The Corum Golden Bridge is arguably the precursor to the current full sapphire case – you will. Industry legend Vincent Calabrese envisioned a case that would not be the coffin of the movement. Instead, he dreamed of having a case that served as a showcase for the mechanical engine that powered the watch. The first prototype of his linear built-in movement appeared in 1977. It is only fixed to the case at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock, so it is almost suspended in the air. Vincent was introduced to Mr. René Bannward, the founder of Corum, through a mutual friend, the director of the International Watchmaking Museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Mr. Bannward was so convinced of the possibilities of this new revolutionary movement that the first Kunlun Golden Bridge watch was introduced to the public in 1980. If you ask me, it took some courage to launch such an unusual watch in the midst of the Quartz Crisis, but it has simply become an iconic watch, not only in the Corum collection, but throughout watchmaking history.
Over the years, we’ve seen several iterations of this concept, with very classic gold or platinum tonneau cases, and very modern titanium versions with horizontally suspended movements. This new Corum watch Gold Bridal Circle is inspired by the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The suspension bridge spanned the Golden Gate Bridge connecting the Pacific Ocean to the San Francisco Bay Area and was commissioned in 1937. This engineering marvel of its time was probably the most iconic and photographed bridge in the world. This is mainly due to the bridge’s massive size, idyllic location and unique red paint used to cover the bridge and protect it from the elements. If you look at the construction of its road deck, you can clearly see the inspiration for the construction of girders like the Corum Golden Bridge Round. If you think about it, the name is almost doomed: Golden Gate and Golden Bridge. 1 plus 1 almost equals 2 stories, right?
The Corum Golden Bridge Round features not only a gold case, but also a movement partly made of 18ct gold. The main plates and bridges of the hand-wound rectangular C0113 movement are made of gold, as are the beams that adorn the movement. The design of the movement leaves little room for extra decoration, but the main plate and bridges feature some classic hand-engraving. The girders are brushed but not trimmed and have no polished interior corners, but somehow it doesn’t fit the gold door inspiration. The bridges don’t have any decorative polish, why should the girder of the watch do that? Around the movement and the girder, there is a beveled ring with simple applied hour markers, the brand name at 12 o’clock, and the Corum-key logo on either side.
The 43mm wide case is very comfortable to wear, although it is a little oversized and not a true classic. It’s pretty slim though, at less than 9mm thick, making it perfect for business attire. It features a sapphire crystal on the front and back and a sapphire case for maximum viewing of the C0113 movement and girder. The lugs on the 6 o’clock side of the case are slightly elongated to make room for the crown to be manipulated. The Corum Golden Bridge Round buy replicas watch is worn on a soft brown alligator leather strap with a delicate butterfly folding clasp with the Corum logo.
SOME SPECIFICATIONS OF THE CORUM GOLDEN BRIDGE ROUND:
Case:43mm x 8.8mm, 5N 18K rose gold, sapphire front, back and caseband, water resistance 30 meters, crown at 6 o’clock.
Movement: Calibre C0113, hand-wound, 28,800 vph 40 hours power reserve, hour and minutes
Strap/Bracelet: brown crocodile leather, butterfly folding buckle with Corum logo in 5N 18k rose gold
Hublot launched a series of candy-colored ceramic one-piece bracelet watches at Watches & Wonders 2022, followed by a “highly complicated” ceramic watch, the Big Bang Integral Cathedral Minute Repeater Ceramic.
While end-to-end ceramic complication watches already exist, ceramic chronographs are rare, and only Hublot and Audemars Piguet have made such watches. The Big Bang Integral is a novel way of combining a tourbillon and a minute repeater, in fact, with a longer-than-usual cathedral gong.
Compared to most compelling watches that are only moisture resistant, it manages to be water resistant due to the challenge of sealing the slider while allowing maximum sound transmission.
The latest Big Bang Integral perfectly encapsulates Hublot as a brand, showing its strengths (and some of its weaknesses). Powered by a complex in-house movement, paired with a case and bracelet, it showcases the brand’s proficiency with unusual materials – all thanks to the brand’s extensive and flexible manufacturing.
In typical Hublot fashion, even a black watch is loud — visually rather than acoustically. It looks like a Hublot, and the brand essentially has only one aesthetic. It has a technical and modern aesthetic that complements the open dial, a feature uncommon in minute repeaters but useful because it reveals the entire striking system.
The Tourbillon Repeater is an expensive watch, but affordable for a watch like this. At the same time, it has a higher finish on the ceramic case and bracelet than older Hublots, making it a more compelling proposition.
Ceramics and Integrated The Tourbillon Repeater is the flagship model of the Big Bang Integral collection, the brand’s first ever watch with a one-piece bracelet, but it was only available two years ago. Although recent, the watch still feels familiar thanks to the well-designed bracelet that flows into the case.
While open dials are common for Hublot, they are relatively rare for classic Haute Horlogerie complications such as the minute repeater. Here, it reveals the striking mechanism normally hidden under the dial, allowing you to see the racks and snails responsible for facilitating the repeater’s striking.
The repeater uses a cathedral gong that wraps twice around the circumference of the movement, rather than once like a traditional repeater. The extended length provides a louder chime.
It is worth noting that thoughtful details are also incorporated into the movement structure. The tourbillon is not blocked by any gears in motion like a tourbillon movement. Instead, the center wheel sits right on the edge of the tourbillon cage. This shows a focus on the aesthetics of the tourbillon, although it is let down by a relatively simple cage.
Although it does not have a traditional dial, the tourbillon minute repeater still has indexes fixed to the dial flange to ensure legibility
It can be observed that the decoration of the movement is a mix of machine and manual treatments.
For example, most bridges have wide, flat bevels with faint machining marks indicating that the bevels were done on a CNC machine. Meanwhile, more important parts like the governor’s hammer and bridge are adorned with circular polished bevels that can only be done by hand.
On the front, the visible steel components are finished with a neat ruled surface and hand-chamfered.