Watches

Edouard Heuer founded a watchmaking company in 1860.

Some early highlights of the company’s early history include the following: In 1869, Edouard Heuer patented the first crown-winding mechanism for pocket watches. In 1889, during the Universal Exhibition in Paris, the Heuer company won a silver medal for its collection of pocket chronographs. In 1911, the company received a patent for the “Time of Trip”, the first dashboard chronograph.

Ed. Heuer introduced its first wrist chronograph in 1914. The crown was at the twelve o’clock position, as these first wrist chronographs were adapted from pocket chronographs. In 1916, Heuer introduced the “Micrograph”, the first stopwatch accurate to 1/100th of a second. In 1933, Heuer introduced the “Autavia”, a dashboard timer used for Automobiles and Aviation (and thus the name “Autavia”). The companion “Hervue” was a clock that had an 8-day movement (meaning that it could run for eight days without being wound).

Quartz models such as the Breitling Aeromarine Colt start at $1,650.00, while typical prices of mechanical, steel cased models are $7,300 (US) for the Breitling for Bentley Motors model. The expense is clearly in the 38 jewel self-winding movement as these steel cased models are more expensive than some of Breitling’s Titanium or Gold models.

Breitling is a brand of Swiss watches from the Canton of Jura. The watchmaker offers Certified Chronometers designed primarily for aviation use, though most frequently worn as high-end luxury watches. Breitling’s watches offer aviation functions, though their chronograph functions have become more of status symbols than practically applied tools. They typically have a large face (e.g. the Breitling for Bentley Motors edition has a 48 mm Case Diameter) for better visibility and to allow display of more information on the analog dials. Many models feature an automatic winding mechanism that is purely mechanical (i.e. using no electronic components). A lot of Breitling watches are equipped with additional functions such as the flyback function, split-second, moon phase, date display and other complications.