The Swiss watchmaker Breitling is looking deep into the past—right to its own roots, in fact—in its latest release of old-school-style timepieces. The Breitling Premier Heritage Collection is comprised of timepieces nodding to three generations of Breitlings — the brand’s so-called “Founders Squad.” The Squad consists of company creator Léon Breitling, who established the company back in 1884; his son, Gaston, known for debuting a wristwatch chronograph boasting an independent 2-o’-clock pusher in 1915; and Léon’s grandson Willy, who in 1938 launched the Breitling Huit Aviation Department–which turned out cutting-edge pilot watches and aircraft dashboard clocks—and who also unveiled the first Premier wristwatches in the following decade.
The Breitling Premier Heritage Collection takes both spiritual and mechanical inspiration from those multigenerational innovators and the original Premier class of wrist-worn timepieces. The new release includes the manually wound 40mm Premier Heritage Chronograph, which comes in either a stainless-steel case with a pistachio-green face or a silver dial in 18k red gold. Then there is the impressive 42mm Breitling Premier Heritage Duograph, another hand-wound creation notable for its Rattrapante design that allows the user to simultaneously track two different elapsed times. The Duograph is offered with a blue face and a stainless-steel case or a black dial in 18k red gold. Finally, the automatic 42mm Premier Heritage Datora—issued in stainless steel with a copper face or 18k red gold with a silver face—serves as a complete-calendar chronograph adding moon phase to the temporal mix.
If you liked this, check out Tudor’s 2021 Collection.