When the Whispers Refuse to Quiet...

I have driven through Grenchen more than a few times in transit back and forth to Biel/Bienne or Basel. And, I have gotten off the train in Grenchen exactly twice. Once to tour a mostly abandoned Eterna factory back in 2014 or so. The other time to visit the Fortis HQ.

Perhaps the biggest dog still lounging around Grenchen is Breitling. The HQ building is very, very visible from the train. And if you had any doubts as to how interwoven Breitling is to the local landscape, there was a fighter plane mounted in a roundabout until fairly recently -

Grenchen has seen some interesting brands come and go. While not a huge city, it is big enough to boast two railway stations. This was a constant frustration for yours truly, as it was often reminiscent of the old Maine expression-

"Ya cahn't get theah from heah..."

But back to the matter at hand. The whispers in Watch Town about Breitling have grown to open conversations. Breitling's actual performance can't really be ascertained for a number of reasons - it's privately held, and the sales volumes of standard retailers vs Breitling boutiques vs grey market will not necessarily align. Moreover, it is important to understand that the success of a particular Breitling retailer or boutique is more likely down to the quality and professionalism of the team operating them than just the product. A watch can't stand up and tell a customer about itself, no matter how much magic PR pixie dust we sprinkle on it. That is not a knock on Breitling's products - I personally am on the hunt for a Montbrillant Eclipse...

Breitling is perhaps in a weird place for reasons that existed even before Kern partially acquired it from the Schneider family in 2017. It was popular, but the price perception for new product vs pre-owned has always, at least in my 23 years in the game, been skewed. That goes all the way back in my origin story working at Tourneau back in 2002. The San Francisco store where I worked had gotten the exclusive San Francisco rights for Breitling and inevitably the pre-curser to tech bros (finance guys) would come in with their bonus wanting to buy something snazzy. I remember one time in particular, we had just gotten in - you guessed it, a Montbrilant Eclipse! A well-heeled finance guy came in, tried it on and wanted it. When he asked how much, I didn't blink. I quoted him the full retail price. And this is where negotiation met desire. At first he looked as if I had somehow betrayed a sacred trust. Tourneau San Francisco, back then, was referred to by some in the know as: "Deep South". Meaning that some of the assistant managers never met a discount they didn't like. But my point is that Breitling, even then, did not have the most solid identity in terms of "what it's worth". Needless to say, however, I made the sale without budging on the price. And that is where I come back to my earlier point - the hard work and professionalism of the retailer will validate the value of a purchase.

But with the age of Kern came a perceptible ratcheting of prices along with A LOT of product (both in terms of SKUs and the number of said SKUs being produced), and a communication program based more upon celebrity partners than what was going into the watches themselves. And now with the addition of Gallet watches into Breitling boutiques, the message gets a little more convoluted, with some folks referring to Gallet as "Breitling light". 

And finally, we get to the wooly mammoth in the room - the amount of debt that will need to be refinanced. For a deeper dive into the heroes and zeroes, I refer you to Rob Corder's piece in Watch Pro -

https://www.watchpro.com/breitlings-private-equity-owner-faces-e6-billion-debt-refinancing-deadline/

In fairness, 2028 is still on the horizon, but the thing about tomorrow is that it always comes. The trick is to be ready for it ; )

The Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Eddy Merckx

From Breitling -

Courtesy of Breitling

I found out about this limited edition via Axel Merckx's Instagram feed - merci Axel!

Courtesy of Breitling

Per Breitling:

Active at the very peak of cycling from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, Eddy Merckx is widely regarded as the greatest road cyclist of all time. With 11 Grand Tour titles, 19 Monument victories, and 525 total wins, he excelled across every discipline and terrain the sport had to offer. His legacy is defined by achievements that remain unmatched to this day. To honor the legendary cyclist, Breitling created the Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx edition. This Top Time features a yellow dial bearing Eddy Merckx's signature above the 6 o’clock index, while his name appears on the tachymeter scale. Created in the 1960s as Breitling’s “unconventional chronograph,” the Top Time was made for speed, style, and self-expression. It features signature details, including squircle subdials, mushroom pushers, trim proportions, and a balanced layout that stay true to its origins. Limited to 525 pieces, this special edition pays tribute to Merckx’s remarkable 525 victories.

Priced at $8,050.

Here are the pertinents -

MOVEMENT
Caliber:
Breitling 01 (Manufacture)
Movement:
Self-winding mechanical
Power reserve:
Approx. 70 hrs
Chronograph:
1/4 second, 30 minutes
Vibration:
28,800 v.p.h
Jewel:
34 jewels

CASE
Case material:
Stainless steel
Water resistance:
10 bars (100 m/330 ft)
Crystal:
Sapphire

DIMENSIONS
Diameter:
41 mm
Thickness:
13.3 mm
Lug width (in-between lug):
20 mm

Summer Repeat: She Loves America

I first ran this one in "the Blog fornerly known as Tempus Fugit" several years ago.  Sadly, it's as true today as it ever was. So for you, gentle reader, a cautionary tale about the perils of not developing local talent -

 

She Loves America… but America doesn't Love Her.

This was, albeit the short form, the sentiment that I heard from a blogger colleague of mine referring to the recently appointed replacement coming to "save" the North American subsidiary of "brand x".

I've written on this topic before, but with the inevitable annual "house cleaning" session that we are about to witness, it seemed like a pertinent topic again.  Please indulge me while I revisit the ongoing challenge faced by the watch industry in the US and Canada.  So basically, brand x is in Switzerland.  They have tried several different solutions, that like death can be broken down into specific stages:

1.  Go with a distributor for about 10 years.
Everything seemed to be going okay.  Sales were very, very strong.  But then they started to hear rumblings.  Their watches were showing up in many places that were not exactly "official retail partners" which is a polite way of saying "grey market".  How did that happen?  Simple, the distributor wrote very large orders to stores and store owners who in fact were doing massive amounts of trans-shipping.  In other words, although some of the watches were in the "front area", the majority of the watches were being sold out the back door before they even made it into the store's safe.  So a change had to be made.

2.  Hosanna!  We have the solution!  A young Swiss sales manager saddles-up and heads across the water to "take the situation in hand".  And like any great television sitcom, hilarity ensues!  Language and cultural miscommunication leads to acrimonious feelings between the "natives" and the "over lord".

Sounds pretty harsh?  Trust me, I've heard worse from both sides.  This situation is destined to fail for a number of reasons, but essentially what resonates is that:

To the parent company - The North American team sucks.  They are little children that clearly can't handle the job, and we have to "keep an eye" on them.

To the "home team" - Oh great, another "idiot son" sent to "train for the future" by running the North American subsidiary.  This genius can't even figure out where the toilet is!

Needless to say, things don't work out.  A year to three is about how long this usually runs.

3.  Okay,  let's hire someone to run our subsidiary.  And while everyone may love this person, they stand about the same chances as any new restaurant opening.  Because at this point, the feeling is that things better go right.  This person will usually be given about half the time to fix or establish the brand.    Very few people can do it, and those who can't?  Well don't worry, you'll see them working for a different brand inside of 6 months.

So what am I trying to say here?  PATIENCE needs to be the policy.  Your brand didn't go bad overnight, it was a slow, but steady process.  You will not be able to "fix" your brand overnight either.  Be realistic, and unless your Brand Manager gets caught with a dead body and a bath tub full of cocaine, give them a bit more time - good things, some times take time.

The Transfer Window is Swinging WIDE OPEN

At House of Brands...

Freshly returned from Geneva, let's just say the multiple reincarnations taking place at the freshly minted "House of Brands" was a topic much discussed by Watch Town's cognoscenti. Curious to relate - fan boys and girls had nothing but sunshine for these re-re-re-releases. Gallet had actually been operating, albeit poorly, up until very recently, so this cannot really be placed in the class of a UG lift.

For those of us in Watch Town's Fourth and Fifth Estates, let's just say we are divided. Those who crave to maintain their invitations for comped travel with celebrity "squadies" will no doubt bark like the trained seals they have come to be, waiting to be fed the tasty sardine that is a luxury press junket. For the rest of us...

Well, while I do appreciate the operating policy of not intentionally trying to "yuck someone's yum", I have to look at this through a bigger lens. While Breitling is certainly a brand most folks are aware of, it continues to lean heavily on celebrity "chums of the brand" while the prices climb relentlessly upward. And many folks are starting to ask if the juice is worth the squeeze. I'm not saying it is, or is not. I have my eye firmly on getting a Breitling Montbrillant Eclipse so although I'm not a fan boy, I appreciate a fine watch when I see one.

So then we get onto the now churning debate as to whether or not Universal Geneve has been priced appropriately. Well, the word around the campfire in Geneva (at least as spoken by those not fearful of being uninvited next year) was a fairly firm no. But then in fairness, it is a deeper question as to whether or not we (the press and employees of other brands) are really in a demographic that will matter in terms of sales. Probably not.

As for Gallet? Not unlike poor Yorick, I knew it. It was a brand bought by someone who then hired someone else to run it. It produced (if memory serves) a chronograph or two that were priced at dollar amounts not usually requested without the aid of a pistol and a getaway car. One abortive BaselWorld appearance in old Hall 2 was the high point.

And so now we have another "squad" set to be unleashed to put this all in motion.

Per World Tempus, Mr. Kern shared the following -

https://en.worldtempus.com/article/new-watches/house-brands-executive-leadership-breitling-82548.html

In the context of the creation of our House of Brands which includes Breitling, newly launched Universal Genève and upcoming Gallet, we have decided to further strengthen our executive leadership team and organization to drive continuous strong development of all three brands.

As CEO of House of Brands, I welcome Jean-Marc Pontroué to support the development of House of Brands as newly appointed CEO of Breitling. With an extensive career in the luxury watch industry at Montblanc and as CEO of Roger Dubuis (since 2011) and Panerai (since 2018), he brings long-standing experience in retail, wholesale and marketing.

Grégory Bruttin continues to build on the momentum created by the recent successful brand relaunch of Universal Genève and is appointed its Managing Director.

Erwan Rossignol is preparing with his team the relaunch of Gallet by the end of August 2026 and is appointed its Managing Director.

Antoine Loron (34) assumes newly the role of President of Breitling USA and Canada and joins the executive leadership board of Breitling and its product committee. His appointment follows a fast-tracked sales career first in our headquarters and his outstanding entrepreneurial successes in the Caribbean and Latin America. He will build on the strong foundations achieved by current President USA and Canada, Thierry Prissert, who has driven exceptional growth over the past fifteen years by successfully elevating our wholesale channel, establishing an extensive boutique network and securing our global NFL partnership. Thierry Prissert will continue to support Breitling’s brand expansion and the introduction of Universal Genève and Gallet in the American market and transition to chairman of the House of Brands USA board.

Renato Meier, currently Marketing Director of Breitling USA and Canada, having achieved strong momentum in marketing activations in the region, succeeds Antoine Loron as Managing Director of Breitling LATAM.

Together with our excellent current executive leadership team, we are well positioned to develop the full potential of our House of Brands. All changes will take effect in May 2026.

Georges Kern, CEO House of Brands.

As with all comings and goings in Watch Town, we won't really know anything until the dust settles, but we wish Mr. Kern and his squad good luck and Godspeed.

For You Cycling Fans Out There From Breitling

Breitling continues to have a press distribution system that continues to baffle me. Try though I might, I have yet to get added to it over the past 15 years. Now in fairness, I have been guilty (as has a lot of members of the Fourth and Fifth Estates) of not fawning over the "Squad" concept, and questioning the sanity of what appeared to be a lease program that did not guarantee that you would end up with the watch you really wanted. But let's focus on more positive things...

But with all that in the rearview mirror, I did some digging on my own when I remembered that it was Giro time again, and that Breitling had released two interesting variations of their Top Time series to honor to Italian cycling legends - Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi.

And whether they intended to or not, the two represent sharp contrasts. 

Coppi was dashing, glamorous, rode for Bianchi in its "Celeste" livery (note to the Breitling PR team - CELESTE, not turquoise!), left his wife for la dama in bianco di Fausto Coppi, ran afoul of the Pope himself, and died of malaria after an ill-fated visit to Burkina Faso to race locals and then go hunting. I supose the irony being that one of the mighty hunters were felled by a small flying insect.

Where Coppi was a matinee idol straight from central casting, Gino Bartali was quite the other thing. As it is a pretty involved recounting, I will let the Wikipedia entry tell the tale -

Rescues and Resistance role during World War II

[edit]

Bartali used bicycle training as a cover for secret efforts to rescue Jews.

Bartali earned respect for his work in helping Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during the time of the Italian Social Republic. He appears as a character in the 1978 novel, The Assisi Underground: The Priest who Rescued Jews, and in the 1985 American television film adaptation, both based on the real-life account by Father Rufino Niccacci.

It emerged in December 2010 that Bartali had hidden a Jewish family in his cellar and, according to one of the survivors, saved their lives in doing so.^[17]

Bartali used his fame to carry messages and documents to the Italian Resistance.^[18][19] Bartali cycled from Florence through Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche, many times traveling as far afield as Assisi, all the while wearing the racing jersey emblazoned with his name. Neither the Fascist police nor the German troops risked discontent by arresting him.

Giorgio Nissim, a Jewish accountant from Pisa,^[18] was a member of DELASEM,^[20] founded by the Union of the Israelitic Communities to help Jewish Italians escape persecution. The network in Tuscany was discovered in autumn 1943 and all Jewish members except Nissim sent to concentration camps. With the help of the Archbishops of Genoa Pietro Boetto and Florence Elia Dalla Costa, the Franciscan Friars of Assisi and others, Nissim reorganized DELASEM in Tuscany and helped 800 survive.

Nissim died in 2000. His sons found from his diaries that Bartali had used his fame to help. Nissim and the Oblati Friars of Lucca forged documents and needed photographs of those they were helping. Bartali used to leave Florence in the morning, pretending to train, ride to Assisi where many Jews were hiding in the Franciscan convents, collect their photographs and ride back to Nissim.^[5][21][22] At Assisi Bartali was in direct contact with Rufino Niccacci.^[23] Bartali also used his position to learn about raids on safehouses.

Bartali was eventually taken to Villa Triste in Florence. The SD and the Italian RSS official Mario Carità questioned Bartali, threatening his life.^[22] In spite of any threats, Bartali did not reveal what he had done. Even after the war he never boasted his merits; he used to say: "Some medals are made to hang on the soul, not the jacket."^[24]

Bartali continued working with the Assisi Network. In 1943, he led Jewish refugees towards the Swiss Alps himself. He cycled, pulling a wagon with a secret compartment, telling patrols it was just part of his training. Bartali told his son Andrea only that "One does these things and then that's that".^[22]

In June 2012, a book about Bartali's wartime activities, Road To Valor by Aili and Andres McConnon, was published.^[25]

In 2013, Yad Vashem awarded Gino Bartali the honour Righteous Among the Nations.^[26] He is a central figure in the 2014 documentary My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes.^[5] In 2007, the script for a movie based on Bartali during World War II, called Lion Man of Tuscany was on the Black List, a survey of the "most liked" un-produced scripts in Hollywood.^[27]

In 2017, research by Michele Sarfatti questioned Bartali's efforts to save Jewish lives, referring to the very limited sources and contradicting that Bartali would have described this in his diaries.^[28] In 2021, Marco and Stefano Pivato corroborated this stance by Sarfatti, calling the whole story 'invented' ('una storia inventata').^[29][30] In 2021, an interview with Sergio Della Pergola, an Israeli-Italian academic who was involved in Yad Vashem’s investigation of Bartali’s role during the war, was published in the Corriere della Sera. Outlining some of the evidence regarding Bartali’s efforts during the war, he disagreed with the argument put forth by Sarfatti and Marco and Stefano Pivato. He was quoted as saying: “To question whether Gino Bartali risked his life to save Jews is like denying that the Earth is round.”^[31]

At any rate, two legends of cycling, two tributes from Breitling -

                            For Fausto Coppi

Courtesy of Breitling



For Gino Bartali

Confirmation - Gallet Is With Breitling

In their latest round of purchases, Breitling have now confirmed the rumors - they are the new owners of Gallet. You can read the Fratello interview with Georges Kern here -

https://www.fratellowatches.com/breaking-news-breitling-acquires-another-historic-watch-brand-its-gallet/

 

This was a move that was foretold by Miss Tweed -

https://misstweed.com/articles/breitling-to-unveil-gallet-revival-next-month

In truth, it is pretty hard to say how this will all play out for the brain trust in Grenchen. Breitling, in and of itself is doing well if the reports are to be believed. But trying to resuscitate two essentially defunct brands is a very different thing than reinvigorating an existing one.

As the quartz crisis, the downturn of '08, and countless other shifts have taught us, brands go dark for a reason. Some come back, others? Not so much.

We shall wait, and we shall see.

Short-Time Work in Watch Town

As things start to get "realer" in Watch Town, the collective belts are needing to be tightened. On the upside? Unlike years past where brands made hundreds of watchmakers redundant but still kept their pet PR projects like yacht sponsorships and million CHF media excursions untouched, this time around the majority of suppliers and brands are taking advantage of short-time work. Essentially, the state in the guise of the Office for Economy and Employment will cover up to 80% of the cost (i.e. lost earnings), with the employer responsible for the remaining 20%. 

The usual suspects are being blamed - poorly performing markets in China and Hong Kong. But as someone with their ear to the ground here in the lower 48, allow me to inform the guys and gals in Watch Town that, in fact, it is a slowdown being felt pretty much everywhere. Here in the US there is anxious anticipation as to what the election in November will bring. Despite high inflation, overall the economy is strong with very low levels of unemployment. That is a reality. But just as people who lived through the Great Depression remain frugal even in good times, many would-be watch buyers remain cautious having made it through the worst of the pandemic, Hodinkee had to learn that lesson the hard way. 

I am guessing that purchase of Universal Genève is probably not looking so great right now. The argument could be made that it wasn't Breitling so much as their deep-pocketed investors, but keep in mind it is those same deep-pocketed investors Breitling will need to man the pumps should they start to take on water.

The downturn, more honestly, is down to a growing fear of the unknown... that is what is shaping the not-so-sexy sales figures here in the US, and I suspect elsewhere. What remains to be seen is how long Watch Town will be stuck in this funk. Because the other side of this reality is that although the goose may not be getting fat, Christmas is still coming. This means between now and Halloween, brand managers and sales reps will be wearing out shoe leather to try and get those holiday season orders in. And here's the rub - if all of the components, etc., are delayed because of short-time work...

Well, let's just say it might be a blue, blue Christmas. But you never know, there might be a Festivus Miracle in store for Watch Town. 

Dear Breitling - Shop Your Closet!

There are a GAZILLION "Sleeping Beauty" brands out there. And seeing as Breitling just "whipped it out" to buy an (let's be honest) essentially dormant brand, let's take a moment and consider what US $69 million could have been directed towards given the presence of an  already existing red-headed step-child living somewhat ignominiously under Breitling's roof. I speak, gentle reader. of Kelek. 

Formerly located just around the corner from Eberhard in La Chaux-de-Fonds, it merged / was purchased by Breitling in 1997. Prior to this time there had been a few iterations, but the short-form is that Kelek focused on mechanical movements and had worked with Dubois-Dépraz. It is also worth noting that in the 90s, Kelek was one of the largest manufacturers of automatic, mechanical chronographs. It is also curious to note that Kelek developed a working relationship with one Seiko (Hattori at the time), thus perhaps foreshadowing the great Tag Heuer 1887 movement fiasco of 2009 ; )

In short? For the price of, well, ZERO, the brain trust in Grenchen could have directed time, effort and a much smaller amount of cash towards rebuilding and relaunching something that would only be on life-support for a short period of time, and out of the "recovery room" even faster. But is also, admittedly, not the stuff of nocturnal emissions (that's wet dream to you) from watch nerds swearing up and down that they would buy a Universal Geneve if it were ever revived. These folks are, by and large, the horological equivalent of the now infamous (and largely fictitious) 400 pound guy "hacking a political party" from his bed. Hypothetically they exist, but it begs the question as to why the supply of vintage Universal Geneve watches are not exactly thin on the ground. 

Okay, that's not fair. I am sure that there are some folks out there, but the majority of watch buyers with ready cash listening to Beyonce name drop AP and SPENDING said cash are not borderline or current AARP members with purchasing decision-making impulses driven by nostalgic erections.

Just saying.

So back to the earlier question - when you have a viable brand already in your house, why go out shopping for something that costs you a WHOLE LOT more money than you really need (or likely should want) to spend? A lot of it is sex appeal - be it real or (I suspect in this case) presumed. But a lot of it comes back to what that other great commentator on the watch business opined in Moneyball, fear of looking bad and an inability to objectively and rationally asses value (both perceived and real) -

“There was but one question he left unasked, and it vibrated between his lines: if gross miscalculations of a person's value could occur on a baseball field, before a live audience of thirty thousand, and a television audience of millions more, what did that say about the measurement of performance in other lines of work? If professional baseball players could be over- or under valued, who couldn't?”
― Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

What is known is that Kelek would have likely made for a fantastic Oakland A. It was, and continues to be a potentially wildly successful brand if the owner / operator would spend one one-hundredth of the time, energy, and money that Mr. Kerns and Breitling are ready to hurl at UG. But then again, when you consider floating an idea like Kelek, you are flying in the face of the marketing logic of a brand that has been worshiping at the altar of stardom (and its reflective glow) for many years. So we'll let Moneyball summarize why activating Kelek would have made a HELL of a lot more sense than spending the kind of money that usually isn't exchanged without the aid of a getaway car.

“The inability to envision a certain kind of person doing a certain kind of thing because you've never seen someone who looks like him do it before is not just a vice. It's a luxury. What begins as a failure of the imagination ends as a market inefficiency: when you rule out an entire class of people from doing a job simply by their appearance, you are less likely to find the best person for the job.”
― Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

And yes, it is a metaphor. The "certain kind of person" is a certain kind of brand - in this instance Kelek ; )

What's In A Name?

Or why you should never make +$69 million dollar decisions based on romantic inclinations.

"Trouble 

(oh, we got trouble)
Right here in Grenchen City 

(right here in Grenchen City)
With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with '(U)G' and that stands for Sleeping Beauty... "

The Music Man

By now you've heard the news from virtually every other outlet on the face of the earth lauding Breitling's (and by Breitling, let's be honest, we mean Partners Group) purchase. The theory being that a "Tiger Team" of super-sexy watch town true believers will be charged with running both brands on a parallel basis. 

While it has been a minute, I was immediately returned to those "thrilling days of yesteryear" when the team in Grenchen brought us the "Breitling Select" and "Squad Points" system which enabled you to attempt to buy (or maybe just lease) a used Breitling "Renta-Center" style!

So what does a squibbed rent to own program have to do with this new "magic beans" / white elephant purchase? 

I'm glad you asked!

Apart from the fact that it has day-dreaming watch enthusiasts becoming emotionally engorged, it also opens up a whole slew of other questions about just what +$69 million dollars has bought. Let's be very, very honest - the big innovations that shaped UG are more than a few BaselWorlds past us now. And to the best of this intrepid journalist's knowledge, the purchase price did not include any facilities, significant product stock, or anything else beyond historical documentation, plans (now somewhat dated), and a name and the right to use it. This is obviously a supposition, but one that is based in the reality of shuttered (or semi-shuttered) brands trying to relaunch. 

So we will need to see what shakes out, but given enough time and money (yikes!), perhaps these magic beans will sprout a beanstalk...

Despite Myself... A Breitling I Love

I don't really like Breitling. There, I've said it. When I first started Tempus Fugit I did a "Bud Fox".  I emailed them nearly daily, trying against all hope to get even the most basic press release, and I got...

CRICKETS.

BaselWorld would roll around and I would email and call, desperately trying to get even a "cattle call" meeting, and I got...

CRICKETS.

Now on a side note, in an earlier life, I sold a BOATLOAD of Breitling watches when I worked behind the counter at Tourneau. And unlike my colleague, a smarmy worm who I still refer to as "Deep South" (as in the moment you asked about a watch, the price dropped by 30%), I sold A LOT of Breitlings, ALL AT FULL PRICE.

So to the folks manning the PR/Communications office at Breitling, it would have been nice to even get the most basic of email replies, but I suspect you were too "busy".

But sometimes, a watch grabs your attention despite your full awareness that the brand that made it really could care less about you as a customer, or a member of the Fourth and Fifth Estate. So with that said, despite their indifference, Breitling made something that has hit me with a visceral sucker punch -

Courtesy of Breitling

This is the Navitimer B01 Chronograph Swissair version.  

Courtesy of Breitling

In my time in the watch game, I have flown Swiss Air a bunch. And I have to say that even in "cattle class", it is always a pleasant and enjoyable experience. I would go even further - I really like Switzerland. If it wasn't a prohibitively expensive place to retire to, or if some company hired either Wendy or I to work there, I would be on the first available flight (Swiss, of course). While many of my colleagues on both sides of the BaselWorld counter dread the watch fairs, I really love them.  It's a great opportunity to see old friends, make new ones, and if you 're lucky?  Do a little business ; )

So despite their indifference, and my ambivalence, well done to Breitling, you've made something that really speaks to me.

Should you feel similarly inclined, here are the pertinents -

MOVEMENT 

Caliber	Breitling 01 (Manufacture)
Movement	self-winding mechanical
Power reserve	approx. 70 hrs
Chronograph	1/4th second, 30 minutes, 12 hours
Vibration	28,800 v.p.h
Jewel	47 jewels
Calendar	Dial aperture

CASE 

Case material	Stainless Steel
Caseback	Screwed in (sapphire crystal)
Water resistance	3 bars
Bezel	Bidirectional, slide rule
Crown	Non screw-locked, two gaskets
Crystal	Sapphire, glareproofed both sides

DIMENSIONS 

Product Weight (Approx.)	159.0 g.
Watch-head Weight (Approx.)	80.4 g.
Diameter	43.0 mm
Thickness	14.2 mm
Height (upper lug tip to lower lug tip)	49.1 mm
Lug width (in-between lug)	22.0 mm

STRAP 

Strap material	Calfskin Leather
Strap color	Black
Strap type	Straight
Lug	22/20 mm
Buckle Material	Stainless Steel
Buckle type	Tang-type
Buckle size	20 mm