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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.