THE UNMISTAKABLE STAMP OF IMPECCABLE TASTE

Beginning in 1940, Breitling included a page in its catalog outlining the varieties of chronograph scales available (that year there were nine), along with the notice: “It is understood that all these variations can be supplied in all modern executions of dials … when passing orders, kindly state reference numbers concerning chronographic divisions.”

Catalog pages reveal the incredible range of options Breitling offered, which amounted to an almost custom operation. There were simple dials without additional measuring scales, inner spiral combinations of tachymeter and telemeter, external combinations of the two and, of course, the choice of one or the other. You could have a pulsation scale only, or a combination of tachymeter and pulsation. There was an industrial dial available with a decimal scale dividing the minute into 1/100th seconds and a dial labeled for “Production” designed for Taylorist industrial optimization.

Topping off the vast assortment was an almost endless selection of index designs, including Arabic or Roman numerals; round, single or double batons, printed and colored indexes, applied markers in various metals and shapes. Combinations were also possible. Dials came in a wide array of colors: white, chamois, champagne, gold, copper, salmon, brown, black—some with Breitling’s signature chimera finish, in which colors and patterns appeared and disappeared according to the angle and light.

It’s mindboggling to think how, faced with such a choice, anyone could make up their mind. I have collected Breitling chronographs for decades, and still find new dials I’ve never seen before. I fear I’ll never see or be able to catalog them all—and we haven’t even gotten into hand variations! I hope the next chapters give you an idea of how rewarding the patient and persistent hunt for the next unknown can be.

The sheer variety of design options outlined in the catalogs are a testament to Willy Breitling’s successful strategy to make the chronograph indispensable to daily life. “To Breitling/Geneva, the quality of a watch presents no problem,” he said in one advertisement. “The credentials of the Breitling chronograph vouch for this.” In the same ad, Willy defines his credo, “when a man puts on his watch, the world may see in this, his most treasured personal possession, the unmistakable stamp of impeccable taste.”

OPPOSITE: Willy Breitling and his wife Beatrice ca. 1951

THIS PAGE: The 1946 catalog details the range of chronograph scales available