Made By Breitling

Quality, Passion and Performance

We are one of only a handful of independent watchmakers producing our own movements. That commitment goes back to 1999, when we set out to ensure that every single one of our calibers had the status of COSC-certified chronometer. The designation, awarded by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), is a marker of the highest standards of watchmaking and a guarantee of accuracy to within -4 to +6 seconds a day for mechanical movements and less than half a second a day for quartz. To meet COSC’s exacting criteria, we built our own state-of-the-art watchmaking facility.

Opened in 2001, the Breitling Chronometrie is the heart of our watchmaking expertise and innovation. The choice of location was obvious: La Chaux-de-Fonds, the center of Swiss watchmaking, and the city where our founder Léon Breitling opened his first full-fledged factory more than 100 years earlier. Combining a research laboratory and a cutting-edge workshop, the Breitling Chronometrie is dedicated to the design, development and meticulous assembly of our watches. Intricate, ultra-precise adjustments to the hundredth, or even thousandth, of a second are performed by a team of expert horologists and technicians with decades of experience.

In House Innovation

In 2009, we introduced our first in-house movement: the Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01. Starting from a clean slate, its design was the cumulation of a century-plus of Breitling expertise, and no detail was overlooked. From its functionality and interplay of parts to its aesthetics and ease of servicing, it has become the industry benchmark for chronograph movements. Soon after its release, the exceptional caliber received additional complications, including a GMT function, world-time indication and even a split second—the most difficult chronograph complication in watchmaking.

Our manufacture calibers are subject to painstaking quality control. It takes ten months of production and 1,000 tests to achieve COSC certification. Just as gruelling is our in-house 16-year accelerated aging equivalency for manufacture movements that includes shock testing (approx. 60,000 shocks at 500G), crown testing (more than 100,000 crown winds), winding of the oscillating weight (3,456,000 weight turns) and chronograph pusher testing (approx. 5,840 start-stop-reset engagements). Only once it has passed every test, can a Breitling watch leave the Chronometrie.

Breitling Calibers

Our movements run the gamut from simple time-only three hands to chronograph movements, to calibers with high complications such as the split second, full calendar and tourbillon. We also have non-mechanical calibers, powered by our proprietary SuperQuartz™ technology. To give a sense of the complexity involved in producing a movement, the Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01 alone contains up to 346 components that are carefully assembled and calibrated by hand at the Breitling Chronometrie.

With such labor-intensive production required at the volume of watches we produce, outsourcing some of our entry-level and highly specialized movements allows us to continually meet the demand for our watches at the standards we require. And whether a movement originates at Breitling or is supplied by a partner, every one must achieve COSC certification.

Get to know the entire Breitling caliber family.

Manufacture

Although often used interchangeably with “in-house,” manufacture is the more accurate term to describe the top-of-the-line movements engineered by Breitling or co-engineered for Breitling by a highly regarded collaborator. Breitling watches feature both. These include our Breitling Caliber 01-based chronograph complications, the B21 tourbillon chronograph from La Joux-Perret, the B25 full calendar from Concepto and the B20 time-only from Tudor (Kenissi).

These movements undergo rigorous testing to ensure high quality, including a 16-year accelerated aging equivalency. Breitling’s relationship with Tudor is reciprocal, with Tudor supplying components for the B20’s assembly at Breitling, while Breitling supplies the assembled COSC-certified Breitling Caliber 01 for Tudor’s chronograph watches. These collaborations allow Breitling to craft premium timepieces in larger quantities without sacrificing quality.

Non Manufacture

Non-manufacture movements are engineered and sometimes produced by third-party suppliers like ETA, Sellita or Dubois-Depraz. They don’t belong exclusively to Breitling, but they must comply with our rigorous standards, including COSC certification. TBC

Research & Development

COMBINING CLASSIC WATCHMAKING WITH THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY, BREITLING IS BOTH A COMPANY WITH HISTORY AND ONE THAT’S AHEAD OF ITS TIME. THIS IS THE BRAND THAT INVENTED THE MODERN CHRONOGRAPH, AND TODAY IT MAINTAINS ITS PIONEERING SPIRIT BY CONSTANTLY INNOVATING FROM WITHIN.

Did you know?

We’ve developed our own lubricants for our manufacture calibers, enabling more customized precision and protection of our calibers over the long term. Think of it like an ultra-specialized engine oil for a high-performance vehicle.

Patents

From the modular nature of Breitling’s manufacture movements (that allow for easier assembly, cleaning, and servicing) to revolutionary materials like Breitlight® (a robust material 5.8 times lighter than stainless steel), Breitling’s researchers are responsible for industry-leading advancements. The brand currently holds 25 patents for caliber manufacturing and housings.

Industrialization

Very few other independent watchmakers can produce their own movements at the scale that Breitling does. To meet demand for our watches while providing the highest-quality product, Breitling went back to the drawing board to come up with a seamless assembly method that optimizes workflow between automated tasks and the skilled handcraftsmanship that is the basis of fine watchmaking.

Did you know?

Breitling’s manufacture calibers are constructed on an assembly line that we call the “sushi shop” because, once complete, each piece moves down the line, like at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. At the end of this line, all Breitling manufacture calibers are tested in a robotized chronometric station to COSC level—even before they’re sent to COSC.

Homologation

Homologation is a process of quality control and testing based on a set of defined standards. Breitling complies with the NIHS (Normes de l'Industrie Horlogère Suisse) ISO standards and we control for quality according to our own rigorous standards to ensure the precision and longevity of our watches.

FOR ALL WATCHES:
Industry NIHS ISO standard:

Precision: -4/+6 seconds/day COSC standard (NIHS 95-11)
Power reserve: Min 60 hours (NIHS 93-20)
Magnetic protection: 4,800 A/m (NIHS 90-10)
Shock: 4 shocks at 500G (NIHS 91-10, NIHS 93-20)
Water resistance: ISO 2281 compliance (NIHS 92-10)
Chronofiable: Chronofiable® A8, six-month accelerated aging (NIHS 93-20)

Did you know?

Breitling uses an optical camera to precisely quality check the hairspring on the escapement (an object thinner than a human hair).

Did you know?

Breitling’s state-of-the-art laboratory uses such high-tech tools as:
• A robot that tests the chronographs’ start, stop and reset functions
• A scanning electron microscope (SEM) that verifies constructions and analyzes materials
• A high-speed camera that captures high-frequency components, like the chronoworks escapement

FOR MANUFACTURE CALIBERS:

16-year accelerated aging (32 times the Chronofiable® A8 requirement):

Crown: 100,000 crown winds
Oscillating weight: 3,456,000 weight turns
Chronograph pusher: 5,840 start-stop-reset functions
Case: Salt spray corrosion testing
Bezel: 2,000 turns
Dial and strap: 168 hours of UV testing
Shock: 60,000 shocks at 500G

Swiss Made Quality

All Breitling watches carry the Swiss-made label. This marker of quality and skill is issued to brands that produce their products almost exclusively in Switzerland. Breitling watches are designed, developed, assembled and tested in Switzerland.

MANUFACTURED TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS, BREITLING WATCHES ARE DESIGNED TO PERFORM IN ANY ENVIRONMENT AND ON ANY MISSION. BREITLING PRODUCED THE FIRST SWISS WRISTWATCH THAT WENT TO SPACE AND WAS A CHOICE OF 007 AGENT JAMES BOND.

Creative Center

BREITLING’S WATCHMAKERS, CREATORS AND BRAND ARCHITECTS ALL SHARE A PASSION FOR EXCEPTIONAL DESIGN.

Watchmaking

Breitling employs the industry’s best watchmakers at its Chronometrie, and in service centers around the world. While this art now receives a little help from technology, most of the handcrafted aspects have remained largely unchanged since watchmaking began. Many of our talented professionals come with decades of experience—and some even from families who have been making watches for generations.

Design

Breitling’s design and architect squad have a mission to honor the brand’s century-plus of heritage and legendary name. Our passionate watch designers translate history and emotion into distinctive modern watches. Always pushing the barriers of conventional watch design, they come up with dynamic new directions for our collections. Meanwhile, our brand architects ensure that every Breitling retail space around the world conveys Breitling’s vision of casual, inclusive luxury and feels like a home away from home. From the inviting atmosphere of a Breitling Boutique to the visual appeal of the watch on your wrist, they create an extraordinary Breitling experience.

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