Breitling was founded by Léon Breitling in 1884. After completing his watchmaking training, he opened his own atelier in Saint-Imier in the Jura mountains. In 1892 he moved operations to La Chaux-de-Fonds. Breitling’s history page describes three generations of family leadership, with Gaston Breitling succeeding Léon in 1914 and Willy Breitling taking over in 1932.
On its history page, Breitling says the Vitesse chronograph pocket watch was introduced in 1907 and was designed to measure speeds from 15 to 250 miles or kilometers per hour. The same page says Swiss police used it to issue the first speeding tickets. Breitling also states that it produced its 100,000th timepiece in 1910. In 1915, Gaston Breitling launched a timepiece with an independent chronograph pusher at 2 o’clock, and the site records a 1923 patent, Brevet 105532, for a system that allowed the chronograph to be paused with the 2 o’clock pusher and reset independently.
Breitling’s site documents collections such as Navitimer, Chronomat, Superocean Heritage, Avenger, Classic AVI, Premier, Lady Premier, Top Time, Superocean, and Professional. The Navitimer section says the model was developed in 1952 for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The Chronomat section says 1984 marked Breitling’s 100th anniversary, and that the Chronomat became the first Breitling to receive the in-house Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01 in 2009.
Breitling’s imprint page lists Breitling SA at Léon Breitling-Strasse 2, 2540 Grenchen, Switzerland, and states that the company is registered in the Canton of Solothurn. The same page names Georges A. Kern as CEO. On its site, Breitling also maintains boutique pages for markets including the United States and Switzerland.
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