MODERN WATCHES FOR MODERN TIMES

The tone of Breitling’s marketing changed in 1944, pivoting from the strictly utilitarian catalogs and advertisements of the early war years to a tone of deliberate optimism. By then, the Nazis were in retreat, the U.S. had joined the fight, and there was a sense that the war would soon be in the rear-view mirror. Breitling channeled that hope by releasing beautifully crafted wrist chronographs in solid gold, including the first ladies’ chronographs. That same year Breitling launched its first full-calendar chronograph, presenting its new “Datora” line as one of the “Novelties of the Year.”

The company was also one of the first to leverage star power. Ads of the day featured Cesar Romero, Hollywood’s “Latin Lover,” and glamorous starlets, with tag lines ringing in the “Years of Elegance.” Another ad depicted a cheerful couple gazing into, what was presumably, a bright future. There was no mention of war, only the inference that life was about to improve dramatically. Willy didn’t wait for the end of the war to plan for the boom ahead. He was ready, with a full suite of products.

A 1945 advertising campaign teased what would be Willy’s post-war masterstroke: a catalogue featuring a whopping 300 new models. The ad encouraged people to pre-order so they wouldn’t miss out, while referring to the upcoming catalog as the “grand finale” in Breitling’s evolution. When the eagerly awaited catalog landed in mailboxes in 1946, it did indeed contain everything: pocket watches, wrist chronographs, aircraft cockpit clocks, pilot’s watches, men’s and ladies’ wristwatches and dedicated stopwatches for every activity you could dream of. People responded, and production rose dramatically. By then, Willy had refined Breitling’s wristwatches into carefully segmented, numbered and branded model lines. The Populaires, containing the up-down Venus 170 caliber, could be identified by three-digit model references, beginning with a leading one (1xx). Meanwhile, the “luxury segment” model lines of the Premier, Duograph and Datora all had column-wheel calibers, and were referenced with a leading seven (7xx). Though, by then, Willy was offering so many sizes and style variations of these models, he eventually ran out of sevens and had to start assigning eights.

Appropriately, that number ticked over with the announcement of the ref. 800, the crown jewel in the 1946 catalog. The watch brought together a split-second rattrapante, triple-register chronograph, moon- phase and date. Willy placed the ref. 800 in the Datora section. This was another sign of his overly optimistic ambition, as it would take until 1951 for the complex caliber to finally appear in production ledgers and on assembly lines.

One of the interesting conclusions we can draw from Breitling’s enormous 1946 catalog, is that finding the ideal size for a

PREVIOUS PAGE: A selection of Premiers, Duographs and Datoras from the 1940s

THIS PAGE: From the 1946 catalog, a fullcolor Datora and a reference to the ref. 800 split-second chronograph with calendar

THIS PAGE: A lineup showing the range of watch sizes offered by Breitling in the 1940s. The 33 mms were the norm, while the 38 mms were considered massive

OPPOSITE: Premier ref. 788, 1946, Venus cal. 152, 36.4 mm case: 18k gold, hands: Pencil man’s wristwatch was as complicated then as it is now. There has never been a right size for every taste and wrist, and that 1946 catalog provides a glimpse of just how many options Breitling offered: small non-waterproof chronographs in 33 mm and 34 mm were the general standard of the period, but Breitling had found that its aviation tool watches were at their most

Relative Sizes

WATERPROOF MODELS readable and functional in 37 mm and 38 mm sizes. Then, just to be sure it was catering to mass-market demand, Breitling added a medium-sized range of 35 mm and 36 mm watches. And, of course, customers had to choose between the heftier waterproof models and the sleeker non-waterproof ultra-flat pieces. No wonder that catalog was huge.

NON-WATERPROOF MODELS