00/24 WatchWorld

Lex Stolk: "A modern Breitling Chronomat 44mm equiped with the manufacture B01 automatic chronograph caliber poses proudly in Schiphol Airport's old controll tower."

The Breitling Challenge 2012 has come to an end. More than 4,300 players worldwide took part in the Challenge, 1’678 earned a certificate and more than 2,755,000 online games were played. The Breitling Challenge is training program designed to help professionals already working with the brand to advise customers and improve their own performance. Only if you know the Breitling story you can tell it to the customer.

Forleden dag fik jeg besøg af en ven, der bar sit fantastisk flotte Omega Speedmaster fra 1964 med den manuelle værkkaliber 321. Det er jo nok ikke gået mange urtossers næse forbi, at Speedmaster lanedede på månen fem år senere. Dog med et andet værk, nemlig kaliber 861. Jeg syntes det var på sin plads at finde mine egne piloture frem, der også havde haft deres ”gang” i rummet. Det ene er et smukt Breitling Cosmonaute ref. 809 med venus 178 manuelt kronografværk fra 1969. Denne model bar NASA astronauten Scott Carpenter, da han cirklede rundt om jorden i 1962.

Now, you just might think I am questioning my sexuality with a headline like this when the hero of this blog entry is David Beckham. The headline however could also be hinting to the pretty dial of the cool Breitling UniTime that aforementioned pretty boy Beckham is wearing in the new campaign for the Swiss watchmaker. You decide, I don't really care, to be honest. Black or white, tall or low, Beckham og Travolta... no rednecking here. That said, I do actually think Breitling is on to something good here. I like Travolta. He was great in Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Pulp Fiction. But Beckham is legendary on the green fields and eventhough the Americans may see soccer as a female sport, he none-the-less made himself a dang good name in the US. Good on ya, Beckham. You even married a woman who can design a proper looking Range Rover. Can I high-five you on that too?

Well then. Breitling has pulled off a bit of a coup. Never mind a coup, it has put the ball on the penalty spot, taken a little run and curled it beautifully into the back of the net. The chronograph specialist has signed up footballer, Olympic ambassador, and contender for world’s most stylish dude David Beckham as its new ambassador, which is like winning 5-nil against the entire watch industry. Go on, Breitling: take your shirt off and run around a bit. You’ve scored.

Following an incident with the team’s No. 2 aircraft one day before, the Breitling Jet Team has repositioned back to their home base in Dijon, France. As the team transitioned from Den Helder, Netherlands to Kleine Brogel base, Belgium, the pilot Bernard Charbonnel reported an engine problem with the No. 2 aircraft. Following standard team procedures, he calmly informed the team and left the formation accompanied by a second aircraft. Selecting the safest place for the aircraft to come down, an empty field away from people and livestock, he and his technician, Raphael Savoye ejected from the aircraft and landed safely. After precautionary checks at the closest hospital, both pilot and technician were declared fit and well and cleared to rejoin their team.

James Dowling reported on TimeZone, the internet watchsite, some numbers of movements tested by the Contrôle officiel suisse des chronomètres (COSC) in 2011: Rolex 751,285 (+23% compared to 2010), Omega 509,301 (+49%), Breitling 154,456 (+26%) These three brands are in the first three places since ages, but the increase of the COSC-movements by Omega is striking.

Breitling provides powerful confirmation of the exceptional reliability of its “Manufacture” movements by offering an exceptional five-year warranty on all models equipped with these calibers.

In 2009, Breitling took its place within the exclusive circle of watch companies with their own mechanical chronograph movement. Not only was the development of this Caliber 01 intended to ensure the brand's long-term independence, but as a specialist of chronographs and instruments for professionals, Breitling also set itself the goal of making the world's best chronograph movement. Best in terms of performance, reliability and functionality. With this in mind, the firm put in place an avant-garde industrial facility and in-house competencies enabling it to produce its movements according to its own high standards, while ensuring maximum reliability on a large scale – around 40,000 movements in 2011.

Let’s talk timezones – world timers and GMTs. There’s a lot of them around at the moment. If you live in the UK and find yourself travelling a lot to the continent – or anywhere else for that matter – having a watch that tells you the time back home, or in whatever your next destination might be, is a very useful thing to have.

Always been a big fan of the odd and weird, not least if it ticks – or in some way at least shows the time. Which was what my ref. 9106 Breitling Quartz Navitimer did not do, when I purchased it unseen from an auction house some time ago. Breitling refused to repair, and my disappointment was apparent. However the mighty Internet soon showed the advantages of WorldWideWebbing and through a LED-dedicated discussion forum I soon learned about a German gentleman living in Ibiza was world champion in repairing digital and LED watches.