The Breitling Premier Returns
The Breitling Premier Returns
The Breitling Premier Returns
By 1943, Willy Breitling had built a name for himself as a maker of aircraft instrumentation and tool watches that met the functional needs of war time. But the third-generation Breitling founder also dreamt of a time after the war, when utility would give way to unbridled optimism.
With that future in mind, he designed a series of elegant chronographs and assigned them the best materials, the best finishes and the best calibres. He called his new line the Premier.
Reintroduced by Breitling in 2021, the Premier Heritage chronograph collection revived Willy's dream of seeing the functional chronograph made undeniably elegant and infinitely wearable - his his words, "the unmistakable stamp of impeccable taste." In 2023, the Swiss watchmaker adds six new references to the Premier assortment, all of them powered by the self-winding Breitling Manufacture Calibre 01.
The Height Of Precision, Innovation & Style
Breitling's speciality has always been the chronograph, and each of the brand's three founding fathers had a role in shaping it. From the moment he started his business in 1884, Leon Breitling put his expertise into perfecting the pocket-watch timekeeper. His son Gaston introduced the first wrist-worn that included an independent pusher at 2 o'clock, and his grandson Willy added the second pusher at 4 o'clock - establishing the form of the modern chronograph that is used across all of watchmaking today. Willy would then go on to take the family vision one step further, giving the chronograph style as well as function.
The new Premier B01 Chronograph 42 assortment also lives up to Willy Breitling's uncompromising technical standards. The six models are powered by the self-winding Breitling Calibre 01, a manufacture movement designed for maximum precision, reliability, and functionality. First released in 2009, it is one of the most highly regarded chronograph movements in the industry, and as with all Breitling mechanical calibres, has achieved the rigorous COSC certification for accuracy within -4 and +6 seconds per day.
Just as gruelling is Breitling's own in-house 16-year-aging equivalent 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).
The latest iteration of the Breitling Manufacture Calibre 01 found in the new Premier chronograph was redesigned in 2022 and features a trimmer profile and more compact oscillating weight that can be admired through the transparent sapphire-crystal caseback. The movement also comes with a 5-year warranty and provides an approximate 70-hour power reserve. In keeping with Willy's desire to marry usability with elegance, the Premier now coms with a 100m water resistance.
To create the design of the new Premier, Breitling preserved distinctive vintage-Premier design details, including the smooth fixed bezel, twin-register dial, streamlined rectangular pushers, and applied Arabic numerals. At 42mm, the case diameter is slightly larger than the 40mm found on the existing B09 (manual wind) models. The tone-on-tone subdials with chronograph minutes at 3 o'clock and running seconds at 9 o'clock lend a polished style, while new dial shades in salmon, blue, green, black and cream add a contemporary twist to the stainless-steel models. A further variation in 18K red gold features a classic cream dial. The watches come on a choice of classic alligator leather strap or sleek 7-row metal bracelet.
For more information on the Breitling Top Time Classic Cars collection, click HERE or visit us in-store at our The Beacon, Eastbourne showroom.
