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Breitling - Five-year Warranty
In 2009, Breitling took its place within the exclusive circle of watch companies with their own mechanical chronograph movement. Not only was the development of this Caliber 01 intended to ensure the brand's long-term independence, but as a specialist of chronographs and instruments for professionals, Breitling also set itself the goal of making the world's best chronograph movement. Best in terms of performance, reliability and functionality.
With this in mind, the firm put in place an avant-garde industrial facility and in-house competencies enabling it to produce its movements according to its own high standards, while ensuring maximum reliability on a large scale - around 40,000 movements in 2011. Caliber 01, which is chronometer-certified like all the brand's movements, currently powers several of Breitling's star models, including the Chronomat, the Navitimer, the Montbrillant and the Transocean. The firm's engineers have also used it as the basis for creating several innovative movements featuring functions that are both useful and user-friendly, such as Caliber 04 with its highly ingenious second timezone system, and the brand-new worldtimer Caliber 05.
To confirm the exceptional reliability of these in-house movements, Breitling has decided to introduce an exclusive five-year warranty on all models equipped with its Manufacture calibers - meaning around half its range of mechanical chronographs. This move represents an exceptional measure at this level of production, and a powerful seal of confidence for all users of Breitling wrist instruments.
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Breitling - Bentley Supersports
A vibrantly colourful limited series
Breitling lines up on the starting grid a 3 x 1,000-piece limited series of the Bentley Supersports chronograph, with a "dashboard-style" dial enlivened by blue, orange or white-ringed counters and inner bezels. Clearly built for outstanding feats and performances, this exceptional watch is a fresh tribute to the Bentley Continental Supersports, the fastest and most powerful car ever made by the British manufacturer, and holder of the world ice speed record. A superchronograph for a supercar.
Exceptional motorisation
Inside its sporty, sturdy and elegant chassis, the Bentley Supersports limited series houses a selfwinding chronograph movement chronometer-certified by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute). It is equipped with an original and extremely practical central-hand 60-minute counter. The rotating bezel serving to activate the variable tachometer - an exclusive Breitling feature enabling measurement of average speed whatever the time elapsed, the distance covered or the speed reached - is adorned with the knurled motif typical of Bentley dashboard controls.
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Breitling - Jetman Makes History at Grand Canyon
It was his date with destiny, and ultimately the uniquely complex certification process could not prevent Yves "Jetman" Rossy from making his historic flight through Grand Canyon West this past weekend.Flying his jet-propelled wing attached to his back, and steering only by movement of his body, Rossy launched from a helicopter at 8,000 feet into the breathtaking blue of the Grand Canyon sky. Skimming the rockscape at speeds of up to 190 mph, Jetman sustained flight for more than eight minutes, 200 feet above the rim of Grand Canyon West. To end the flawless precision flight, Rossy deployed his parachute and gracefully descended to the canyon floor.An earlier flight scheduled for Friday, May 6 was cancelled when final FAA certification was held up due to the difficulty in classifying Mr. Rossy's one-of-a-kind jet-powered wing. By the time the process was complete, sufficient practice flights were unable to occur prior to the scheduled 9 a.m. flight."My first flight in the U.S. is sure to be one of the most memorable experiences in my life, not only for the sheer beauty of the Grand Canyon but the honor to fly in sacred Native American lands," Rossy stated. "Thank you Mother Nature and the Hualapai Tribe for making my lifelong dreams come true."Jetman has already won global acclaim for his successful jet-powered flights cross Lake Geneva and the English Channel. But this was the first time he had ever achieved his dream of flying in the purest sense in the U.S. - and his choice of the Grand Canyon, where eagles soar, reflected the deep significance of the site both to Rossy and to the resident Hualapai people.
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Breitling - Montbrillant 01 limited
Endowed with a look inspired by the 1940s and 50s and featuring a circular slide rule for pilots, the Montbrillant chronograph was named after the building on Montbrillant Street, in the heights of La Chaux-de-Fonds, which housed the Breitling workshops from 1892 to 1979. It was in these premises that the brand developed the inventions and improvements that were to change the face of the wrist chronograph, including the first independent pushpiece (1915), the second independent pushpiece (1934) and the first selfwinding chronograph (1969). This was also where Breitling produced its first onboard chronographs that contributed to its status as "official supplier to world aviation" during the boom of air transport on propeller-powered and subsequently jet aircraft.
Today, the Montbrillant is associating its name with another milestone in the history of the brand with the winged B by hosting Breitling's Caliber 01, the most reliable and efficient of all selfwinding chronograph movements, produced using a revolutionary assembly process. The Montbrillant 01 Limited is issued in twin editions of 2,000 in steel and 200 in red gold, with the individual number engraved at 9 o'clock on the case middle. The Mercury Silver dial features elegant hands, the traditional central hundredth of a second counter, and an 18K gold version of the stylized B that served as the brand symbol until the mid-20th century. A transparent sapphire crystal caseback provides generous views of Breitling's Caliber 01, chronometer- certified by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute), with its column wheel and its original structure. A collector's piece for all those with a love of history in movement.