Founded: 1844
Founding place: Saint Imier, Switzerland
Founded by: Léon Breitling
Current headquarters: Grenchen, Switzerland
Owned by: privately held
Official name: Breitling S.A.
Table of contents
Léon Breitling opens a workshop
The history of Breitling starts in the 19th century when Léon Breitling (1860-1914) founded a workshop in 1884. It was located in Saint-Imier, Bernese Jura, Switzerland. According to Breitling’s website Léon devotes himself to an exclusive and demanding field: that of chronographs and timers.
When founder Léon dies in 1914 his son Gaston (1884-1927) takes over the business. In 1915, Breitling heralds the emergence of the wrist chronograph by inventing the first independent chronograph pushpiece. In 1923, the firm perfects this system by separating the stop/start functions from that of resetting. This patented innovation thereby made it possible to add several successive times without returning the hands to zero. Very useful for timing sports competitions and for calculating flight times.
Gaston Breitling dies in 1927 and five years later his son Willy Breitling buys the company. In 1934, Breitling creates the second independent reset pushpiece. In 1969, the brand presents, as they claim, the first self-winding chronograph movement.
Ernest Schneider becomes the new owner of Breitling
The history of Breitling continues with the Swiss Ernest Schneider (15 April 1921, Fribourg – 28 May 2015) who takes over Breitling in April 1979. In fact Schneider buys the brand name ‘Breitling’ and the name ‘Navitimer’ as the Breitling company is in a big crisis due to the competition of quartz movements. He is already the owner of the Sicura watchmaking firm in Granges, since 1960, but Schneider is not a watch maker. He has a military and engineering background and focuses on management. In May 1979 Willy Breitling dies.
In general, Breitling is known for their strong relation with aviation. Models have been developed in collaboration with pilots and pilots associations. Their connection with the British car brand Bentley is world famous: there are several Breitling for Bentley models and it looks like it is a sort of a co-brand.
Breitling’s 140th anniversary
Breitling is one of the few traditional Swiss watch making companies that is privately held but since June 2017 CVC Capital Partners owns 80 percent of the company. Two years after this transaction the brand launches its first in-house automatic chronograph movement, the Breitling caliber B01. This forms the base for many variants and complications, like the Breitling caliber B19. A chronograph with perpetual calendar and moon phase, launched in 2024 for their 140th anniversary,
Then, in November 2018, Schneider sells his remaining 20% stake to CVC, fully exiting his ownership in the company. In October 2021 the Partners Group acquires a significant minority stake in Breitling, partnering with CVC and the management team to drive the company’s growth. In December 2022 this Partners Group increases its stake to become the majority shareholder, holding over 50% of Breitling. CVC Capital Partners reduced its ownership to approximately 23.6%, with the remaining shares held by management and other investors. This transaction values Breitling at around $4.5 billion.
In April 2023 the transaction is completed, with Partners Group becoming the largest shareholder. Alfred Gantner, Co-Founder and Executive Member of the Board of Directors at Partners Group assumed the role of Chairman of Breitling’s board.
The history of Breitling in a timeline
1860 – Birth of Léon Breitling
1884 – Opens a workshop in the Swiss Jura
1914 – Founder Léon Breitling dies
1914 – Léon’s son Gaston Breitling takes over the business
1915 – Invents first independent chronograph pushpiece
1923 – Separates the stop/start functions from that of resetting
1927 – Gaston Breitling dies
1932 – Gaston’s son Willy Breitling takes over the business
1934 – Creates the second independent reset pushpiece
1969 – Presents the first self-winding chronograph movement
1979 (April) – Ernest Schneider buys the brand name and rights and continues the brand
1979 (May) – Willy Breitling dies
1990 – Theodore Schneider takes over the company
1992 – Jean-Paul Girardin starts working for Breitling and later becomes CEO of Breitling
2015 (28 May) – Ernest Schneider dies
2017 – Company is sold to CVC Capital Partners, Theodore Schneider will keep 20%
2018 – Theodore Schneider sells his remaining share to CVC
2019 – Launch of the first in-house automatic chronograph movement (caliber B01)
2021 – Partners Group acquires a significant minority stake
2022 – Partners Group becomes the majority shareholder
2024 – Celebration of the 140th anniversary with their first in-house perpetual calendar chronograph (caliber B19)
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Watches from Breitling
Watches from the brand can be found in the Breitling section of this website.