NAVITIMER 8 COLLECTION
BREITLING’S NEW CEO GEORGES KERN TALKS ABOUT ITS NEW
“You don’t need me if all you are going to do is more of the same.”
This is what Georges Kern said very candidly when he spoke about the changes he was bringing to the Swiss watch company Breitling. Mr. Kern, knows his stuff, he ran IWC for many years and brought much success to the Richmond Group because of it. There was much surprise when the announcement was made that he would be the new CEO for Breitling. There was much concern about what he would do. Would he water down the heritage of the brand? Would he trade on past successes? Would he treat the brand the way many newly-onboard CEOs do when a privately-held company gets bought out by a venture capital company? Breitling was acquired by CVC Capital Partners in the middle of 2017, and Mr. Kern currently owns a percentage of it as well. So what will happen?
Not more of the same, very clearly. The new CEO looked into the heritage, support and indeed library of Breitling, he talked to new buyers and old collectors and pilots and flyers and retailers and journalists. The end result was that the crowd of industry insiders that were gathered to chat with him began to see a very clear and intelligent path for the brand.
One thing Mr. Kern pointed out was that there is a serious community that loves the history and historical pieces of the brand, but that they felt disconnected to what they could buy new nowadays. There is of course a modern trend (I would argue it may be more than a trend, which I did in the latest issue of Calibre Magazine), the releasing of vintage inspirations and homages. So that is a pretty safe thing to do. And safe is good, it puts more watches on more wrists.
The big news from Georges Kern and Breitling earlier this year was the Navitimer 8 Collection. The “8” designation may well be considered by many to be a nod to the luckiness needs of the world’s largest economic areas but it is in reality something historic. The name actually comes from the company’s Huit Aviation department, or department 8. They were set up in 1938 to make clocks and other instruments for airplane cockpits. The collection itself is a combination of historic design and modern watchmaking. Elements such as sword-shaped hands, railway minute tracks and Arabic numerals have made their way to the new models from details found on old pieces both wrist and cockpit worn.
The new family of watches also marked a slight change in the Breitling logo. The iconic letter “B” is now cleaner and crisper, just as
the watches themselves seem to be. Bezels are fluted and clearly link to history but are also more elegant. The simpler pieces such as the Navitimer 8 Automatics were simple three-hand affairs (with a small date window), but the stars of the show (other than the actual vintage pieces and the CEO himself) were the new Navitimer 8 B01 Chronographs. The 43mm watch uses the in-house Calibre B01 which has both a column wheel and a vertical clutch, and is the movement Breitling supplies to Tudor for the Black Bay Chrono. This watch in 18k red gold with a bronze dial and a brown alligator strap was the most fetching of the presentation, and the hued precious metal really lent itself to the vintage theme. Somewhat confusingly there is another chrono named the Navitimer 8 Chronograph, which uses similar styling cues but a different sundial arrangement (left instead of low) and a stalwart but outsourced Valjoux 7750 movement. This is a clear indication of Mr. Kern’s wishes, that there are details that unite but also will show clear differentiation. The sundials of the Valjoux chronos, for example, are the same color as the whole dial while the B01 has them contrasting.
What does this all mean for the Breitling buyer? Note that these models are going to be available with the older (current) models at least for a while, so you still have your choice. But the new watches are appealing as watches, and not just as Breitlings. The end result is that Breitling is poised to move further out into a world that already appreciates it, with pieces that will appeal to a wider range.