[F]Zurich’s Breitling Pop -up Museum -Chapter 2: Air

On November 30, Fratello published my first article about the Bright Rich pop -up museum in Zurich celebrating the 140th anniversary of the brand. In that article, we covered three jewelry exhibited at the museum, one of the three universe of Breitling. Today, we cover the three important fragments and air in the next universe of Breitling. Be sure to stick for the last watch. It rises above all (the shit is not intended!).

Historical link with Airlines

Historically, Breitling has focused on air since the 1930s, especially on -board instruments under the HUIT Airlines Line, especially for the Allied pilot. Fun facts: HUIT, which means “8” in French, represents these onboard Instruments’s power reserve and is designed to continue running for more than a week. In the early 1950s, a few years after the end of World War II, AOPA (aircraft owner and pilot association) outsource Navitimer. Its production began in 1952. Classic. Today, Navitimer is proud of the Breitling flagship model, and many consider it one of the most symbolic watches so far.

Schneider-Era Aviation

At the end of the Quartz Crisis, the president of the cycloatch company, Ernest Shnerder, purchased Bright Ring. It is not surprising that Schneider was famous for being a famous aviation adult, so Bright Ring was an interesting brand for him. Ernest Schneider has fascinated the aviation segment. This was important for the survival of the brand at the time. Many brands asked for quartz movements to provide low -prices, but Schneider’s strategy was to create a “musical instrument for experts” (the slogan of the brand at the time) and still hopes tool watch. I was talking to the audience I was doing. Dural decades later, under the Georges Khan’s leadership, Breitling also returned to three universes with the same emphasis today. Given this history, of course, there are many things to talk about air.

BREITLING FRECCE TRICOLORI, 1983

The new CHRONOMAT released in 1983 first created Breitling Frecce Tricolori. It was not enough to be purely utilitarian. Breitling had to establish a partnership with a globally loved and respected institution. Frecce Tricolori, the Italian Air Force Aero Battic Demonstration Team, was an ideal partner. Ernest Schneider, who is deeply involved in aviation, has already been connected to Frecce Tricolori and personally suggests creating a legendary aerobatic unit clock.

Create a new icon

Of course, the focus group was Italian, so the proposed chronograph had to be stylish both during and out of work. Thus, the design of the FRECCE TRICOLORI watch had a perfect blend of function and style. The four typical rider tabs protected sapphire crystal, but Lou Bacleslets looked different from the market. This avant -garde design was carefully accepted by Frecce Tricolori in combination with utilitarian execution.

The popularity of the FRECCE TRICOLORI unit has settled on the market in the form of a new Chronomat, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of Breitling in 1984. 。 The use of mechanical movements for this watch was a bold movement in the 1980s. Many brands at that time chose Quartz’s movement. As a result, the newly born Chronot was the foundation and foundation of the Brightling catalog.

Return to the roots at the 2020 Chronot

BREITLING CHRONOMAT has been watching a variety of beauty updates for many years. The most prominent is the release of BREITLING’s first in -house B01 caliber in 2009. Under Khan’s leadership, Breitling returned chronomat to design, and at first it was universally loved. With the Roux Loachlet, Rider Tab, and plugmatic dials back, today’s Chronot has become one of the most successful Brightling models.

Breitling Emergency Prototype, 1988

One of the most interesting works in the Breitling Museum must be this incredible emergency prototype since 1988. Until now, it is the only watch that can save your life without explaining too much about emergency lines. A distress signal with an emergency beacon. The example here is a prototype dating back seven years before serial production of Bruitling Emergency.

Emergency ideas were famous for the NATO conference in the mid -1980s. Ernest Schneider talked about the idea of ​​a rocker beacon contained in his wristwatch. This was important because the pilot could be separated from the aircraft, given a specific situation. This is naturally necessary for pilots to place the rocker beacon. Following this conference, the idea of ​​an emergency was realized by partnering with a French company Dassault Electronique, which designed the beacon.

Musical instruments for experts

Bold ideas like BREITLING’s emergency have helped to worsen the storm of the Quartz Crisis. As mentioned earlier, “instruments for experts” are slogans and cannot be considered more appropriate than Breywing’s emergency, which is useful as an ambassador for this phrase. Looking at this emergency prototype is one of the most clear watches in the industry, it is worth visiting the Brightling Museum. According to Brightling historian Fred Mandelbaum, there are only two of these prototypes.

Scott Carpenter Bright Ring Navitimer Cosmonato -First Swiss Watch in 1962

Usually, I do not say that “importance” is mainly subjective in the clock area, but this Breitling Space Flight is definitely the highlight of the Breitling Museum in Zurich. I go to the fact that this watch transcends everything and stands as an artifact that is mainly helpful to spread the boundary of human abilities. In 1962, Scott Carpenter jumped into space by riding an Aurora 7 spacecraft, observing a specific liquid reaction under micro gravity conditions, and taking pictures of weather sensation on the earth. Before the computer, people rely on pencils, paper, wristwatches, and flew to the outer track through the sky and returned to the earth.

Clock created according to the Scott Carpenter specifications

The Scott Carpenter has approached Bright Ring to create a 24 -hour movement (and dial), a 42mm case diameter, and a pilot chronograph with a bracelet that fits around the sleeves of the space suit. Willie Breitling, a space enthusiast and businessman, was happy. Thus, a Bright ring navigator created with the AOPA logo was created.

Sadly, these factors are not easy to read on Scott Carpent watches. This is because the dial was damaged when landed in the Atlantic Ocean and exposed to salt water for about 3 hours. What we have now is an unauthorized astronaut, with the color of orange/terracotta, which is quite beautiful in the dial and crystal. The hands are almost invisible, and the small part of the dial still shows the scale found in the Navitimer Cosmonaute dial.

Special lines in the catalog of Breitling

Conveniently, the museum presents an example of a Scott Carpenter next to the astronaut John Glenn’s space road, indicating what it looks like if the Scott clock is damaged. Since the first release of Cosmonaute, it has always been a special model in Breitling’s collection as a variation of Navitimer. Because it is a manual wind watch with an unusual dial configuration, it pulls the heart strings of watch enthusiasts and space geeks. Today, Cosmonaute is not included in the standard catalog and is released only in a limited amount just for a special commemorative. This was the only museum’s watch that caused goosebumps to my first discovery.

Really unique experience

As in the last chapter, this article just looks into the lively history of Brightling around the air. More than 80 historic watches are on display throughout the core collection of Breitling air, land, and sea. Despite all the incredible works, the intention of Breitling is not only to show historical clocks, but also to provide unique unique experiences. After all, it may be the only place to enjoy vintage watches, fly Zurich with a flight simulator, and go down a delicious hamburger in one visit. Considering the opportunity, I recommend that everyone visits the Breitling Museum (free admission!). When things stand, it will be open until the end of April 2025.