This was further cemented when they created the Breitling Navitimer in 1952. When the 1950s came, Breitling had already established themselves as the choice supplier of superior pilot watches. Willy continued on innovating the chronograph function, and helped Breitling secure partnerships with the United States Army and the British Royal Airforce. This new feature was made useful for pilots and sporting events.īy 1932, Gaston retired and his son Willy took over the company. Eight years later, they revised the design with separate start and stop functions, letting the time-keeper add successive or lap times without returning the hands to zero. In 1915, they created a push-piece at 2 o’clock to start, stop and reset the chronograph functions. During this period, Breitling introduced innovations that we see in chronographs until today. Noting the progress of aviation in WWII, and seeing the need for precision tools for pilots, he shifted the company’s focus to creating pilot’s watches. When Léon passed away a decade later, his son Gaston took over. In 1892, the company relocated to La Chaux de Fonds, which was the hub of watchmaking at the time.
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His mission was to develop the most precise watches on the market, and so the company focused on creating chronographs for use in science, sports and industrial purposes. Léon Breitling, a watchmaker and businessman, founded his namesake company in 1884 in Saint Imier, Switzerland.