Breitling Opens State-of-the-Art Facility
By William George Shuster, Senior Editor -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 8/1/2002
Breitling, the prestigious brand known for its precision watches for pilots, has opened a state-of-the-art operation in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The new plant specializes in the development and manufacture of mechanical movements. The intent, says a Breitling report, is to equip its chronographs and watches with "ever more efficient motors and to meet the merciless demands of 100% chronometer production."
Breitling is the only major brand which equips all its watches, both mechanical and quartz, with officially certified chronometer movements. Only 3% of watches produced annually in Switzerland get an official Swiss chronometer rating certificate. During the 10 months required to make a Breitling chronometer, the piece undergoes more than 1,000 tests.
The new facility, called Breitling Chronométrie, features streamlined facades, luminous bay windows and glass-roofed areas, and a wide central corridor bordered on either side by workshops.
The facility is equipped with an air-filtering system with differential pressures to combat dust and keep air pure. It also has a system that constantly regulates and controls the humidity and temperature of each room. Air is completely renewed every 10 minutes. In addition, new alloys that diminish the effects of magnetic fields or variations in temperature are used in making key components.
Breitling has created precision timepieces since 1884. Its U.S. operation is Breitling USA, based in Wilton, Conn.
