Digital warranty cards and new Heritage models

Breitling has announced that the latest collection will gradually be equipped with a digital passport, thus gradually disposing of the classic warranty card. This digital watch passport is based on the secure Blockchain technology, which first became known in connection with the digital Bitcoin currency and also provides the necessary security for the means of payment. The digital passport not only replaces all functions of the classic warranty certificate, in addition to information about the warranty period and the service history of the respective watch, the new passport also allows the authenticity and ownership of a watch to be digitally verified. Among other things, owners can register any potential buyers of their watches online and note transfers of ownership directly in the certificate. The introduction of the digital passport is likely to make life difficult for counterfeiters with its technology enabling watches to be verified directly at Breitling. Manipulation by third parties is unlikely to be possible. Lost warranty cards will also be a thing of the past from now on. Launched at the end of March, the Breitling Top Time Limited Edition is the first model from the manufacturer to be equipped with the digital passport.

Breitling is also taking a bold and, to date, unique step in the watchmaking industry with its watch boxes: Breitling CEO Georges Kern announced in early April that he was selling watches and not packaging, and that the modern understanding of luxury was more informal and should take environmental aspects into account. At the same time, Kern explained the direction in which these ideas should go: Instead of the large leather or plastic boxes that we know from almost all watch manufacturers, there will probably only be smaller "pouches" in the future, which should be comparable to the service cases from Rolex or the travel cases from Omega. The new path Breitling is taking is certainly to be welcomed. The manufacturer is thus emphasising its core competence - the manufacture of luxury watches - and is focusing the attention of watch enthusiasts on the essentials. This seems particularly welcome at a time when boxes and papers are already being retained by some dealers for several months or years to prevent profitable resale. As far as environmental protection is concerned, Breitling has already introduced the Superocean Automatic 44 Outerknown, a watch where the bracelet is made from regenerated, recycled materials.

The subject of environmental protection is not a complete novelty in the watchmaking world: Oris, the independent manufacturer known for its environmental commitment, last year donated a watch box made of algae to the Clean Ocean Limited Edition.

Due to the Corona crisis, the watch industry is upside down. After numerous manufacturers have suspended production for several weeks, the major trade fairs have been cancelled and Rolex, Tudor and Patek Philippe will not be presenting any new watches this year, Breitling is going its own way. The manufacturer had already announced in April 2019 that it would no longer exhibit at Baselworld in 2020, but would instead concentrate on the brand's own Watch Summit with worldwide roadshows. Breitling has adhered to this concept - in a slightly modified form due to current circumstances - and on April 16, 2020 presented this year's new products in the "Breitling Summit Webcast" via livestream. With the new edition of the Chronomat, Breitling is paying homage to the 1980s, with the SuperOcean Heritage '57 Capsule Collection, and the SuperOcean Heritage '57 Limited Edition a reminiscence of the style of the 1950s.

The history of the Breitling Chronomat dates back to the 1940s. While at its launch in 1941, the Chronomat was visually similar to the Navitimer presented 13 years later, in 1984, it was given quite a cosmetic upgrade, which still characterises its familiar appearance today. Now Breitling is bringing the 1980s back to life with the new Chronomat: the watch's most striking feature is the reintroduced Rouleaux bracelet. The other changes are more discreet. The Chronomat retains its typical Breitling equestrian bezel. There will be 10 different versions of the 42 millimetre chronomat, including three bicolour models and one full gold model. The in-house chronograph caliber B01 will be used in all watches.

With the SuperOcean Heritage '57 Capsule Collection, Breitling pays tribute to the original SuperOcean of 1957 and the surfer lifestyle of the 1960s. While the previous SuperOcean Heritage models were already close to the historical original in terms of design, the watches in the SuperOcean Heritage '57 Capsule Collection now correspond almost entirely to the original model. This applies above all to the striking indices, but also to the hands and the concave bezel of the watch. The Capsule Collection comes in three simple color variants - in black, blue and black with red-gold accents. The 42-millimeter SuperOcean will feature the COSC-certified Breitling Caliber 10, based on the ETA 2892.

Alongside the three regular SuperOcean models in the Capsule collection, Breitling announced a fourth model in the Breitling Summit Webcast. The watch is limited to 250 pieces and features indices and hands with rainbow accents. This SuperOcean Heritage '57 Limited Edition will be available exclusively in Breitling boutiques. The case back is engraved with "One of 250" instead of the usual numbering. Another beautiful detail of the 42 millimeter Limited Edition is the color of the bezel pearl at 12 o'clock, which is in the same yellow as the 12 o'clock indices.

Finally, Breitling is also expanding the three-hand version of the Navitimer Automatic 41 presented in 2019. From now on, a smaller version of this model will be available for women: the Navitimer 35. The 35 millimeter Navitimer will be available in numerous versions in steel, bicolor and rose gold.