Q&ABreitling’s Creative Director On The Brand Becoming More Transparent, Traceable And Transformative

Breitling are among the first luxury watch brands to take a step into the future with their responsibly-sourced gold and diamonds, after having introduced Econyl straps, made of a yarn repurposed from nylon waste from the oceans. The Super Chronomat Automatic 38 Origins is Breitling’s first traceable watch in the brand’s quest for designing beautiful products while also minimising social and environmental impact. Along with using gold that’s traceable right back to its source—the mines—the brand have also announced that they are building towards using lab-grown diamonds. Such diamonds are not tainted by exploitation of resources and individuals in the sourcing and trading of natural diamonds, and the murky politics that cast a shadow over the otherwise bright precious stones. These are just the latest steps taken by Breitling towards sustainability on various levels.

As part of their aim to make luxury more sustainable, the brand’s portfolio is geared to move entirely towards responsibly-sourced gold and lab-grown diamonds, by 2025. “For us, sustainability is not a project; it’s a journey that we’re on to transform our business,” states Breitling CEO Georges Kern. His belief is echoed by Breitling’s creative director Sylvain Berneron, who talks about how the brand have been making steady—and noteworthy—changes to define their future, even as they honour the maison’s illustrious legacy. Here are some excerpts from our interview with Berneron, who also sheds light on other new launches and developments for the brand in 2022.

What were the thoughts that went behind deciding on the details of the new 2022 Chronomat additions?

The Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 and the Super Chronomat 38 are both extensions of the existing Chronomat family. We relaunched the Chronomat two years ago. Since the collection holds a significant place in Breitling’s history, it was really important for us. The idea was to have an all-purpose modern sports watch with high technical attributes. It’s sort of a modern watch, which can do it all, so to speak. And then you have the Super Chronomat, which is an extremely contrasted version. On the chronograph piece, we had eight different ceramic components on the bezel, the pushers and the crown. And now we have an even more contrasted edition. These are the two main characteristics of this collection.

“The Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 and the Super Chronomat 38 are both extensions of the existing Chronomat family,” says Sylvain Berneron. Seen here is the black-dial version

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The red GMT hand is seen across the series

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The grey-dial version leans towards a monochromatic interpretation of the Chronomat GMT

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Would it be correct to say that the Chronomat was defined by the chronograph earlier, which is not the case today?

The essence of the Chronomat was the chronograph, historically. That is how it started. Now, with the models such as the 32 and 36mm and now the 40mm GMT, we, the design team, had to do some work to extract the basic DNA of the collection, which would be the ‘onion’ crown (a classic Chronomat feature named for its fluted dome shape), the rider tabs on the bezel and the rouleaux bracelet. And based on this, we are able to extend the collection.

“The essence of the Chronomat was the chronograph, historically. That is how it started”

“Now, with the models such as the 32 and 36mm and now the 40mm GMT, we, the design team, had to do some work to extract the basic DNA of the collection”

“[These would be the] ‘onion’ crown (a classic Chronomat feature named for its fluted dome shape), the rider tabs on the bezel and the rouleaux bracelet. Based on this, we are able to extend the collection”

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How would you differentiate the Chronomat from the Premier? The lines are kind of blurring now—with the Premier becoming sportier and the Chronomat becoming more lifestyle. So they’re both sort of in the lifestyle-sport space in a lot of ways.

Yes, that’s a good angle to look at it from. These days, people want watches that can be worn every day. People want their watches to survive and cope with all conditions of their day-to-day lives. However, the DNA of both the Premier and Chronomat collections is very different. The Premier finds its origins in the 1940s, and it’s meant to be a dress watch. Here the case lines are a lot more classic. The complications are as well. We have manual-winding, we have annual calendars, we have rattrapante—‘watchmaking’ complications. But these watches also have a water resistance of 100m, for the reasons I explained above. We want the watches to be wearable every day. So, on the one hand we have the Premier, which is highly traditional, within the scope of traditional watchmaking and impeccable taste, but stretched into the territory of modern, functional, wearable pieces. We offer the Premier with different leather strap options, which you won’t find on the Chronomat, since it’s an all-purpose sports watch. And with the Chronomat, which was essentially a tool watch, we made it more versatile—to go with people’s requirements of wearing watches with more formal wear. This is to widen its appeal and make it all-purpose, so to speak.

“The DNA of both the Premier and Chronomat collections is very different. The Premier finds its origins in the 1940s, and it’s meant to be a dress watch”

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“Here the case lines are a lot more classic. But these watches also have a water resistance of 100m. We want the watches to be wearable every day”

“The Premier is highly traditional, within the scope of traditional watchmaking and impeccable taste, but stretched into the territory of modern, functional, wearable pieces”

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Seen here is the new Premier Chronograph, which is a perfect example of what Berneron is talking about, as a classic dressy watch, stretched out into sporty territory with a chronograph

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When the idea of doing better with responsibly- and sustainably-sourced gold and diamonds, and traceability and so on came about, was it always the plan to initiate that with the Chronomat collection?

The Chronomat is a very well-suited collection for this, especially these days in the modern-retro Breitling portfolio. We wanted products that could embody these special materials. And we believed that the Chronomat, because of its personality of being a modern-sports watch, was a good series to start with.

What were the thoughts that went behind deciding how to incorporate these materials in the products?

In the Super Chronomat 38 line, we replaced the ceramic ring to incorporate lab-grown diamonds on the bezel, since it’s the best location on the watch to keep them protected, by the ceramic rider tabs, among other things. And the gold is like an extreme stance of the sports watch. By extending the purpose of a tool watch with precious materials we make it more versatile.

The Super Chronomat 38 is the first series to feature the lab-grown diamonds that Breitling will shift to using for all their diamond watches by 2022

This two-tone Super Chronomat features responsibly-sourced gold, which is completely traceable

By 2025, you plan to switch completely to responsibly-sourced gold and lab-grown diamonds. How do you start incorporating it into various products? And will there be more products conceived specifically keeping these materials in mind?

Down the line, we will become transparent and traceable with materials, because it will become a Breitling standard. Our road map for responsible sourcing has already begun with the release of the proof-of-concept Super Chronomat Automatic 38 Origins—Breitling’s first traceable watch. It took a lot of effort to make it happen. For me, as a designer, with the new supply of gold, in terms of aesthetics, things don’t change much. But the lab-grown diamonds make things easier for us, since these diamonds have higher clarity.

All gold watches from Breitling wll be made from gold that is completely traceable, such as this Super Chronomat

Where the gold comes from will be completely known, and can be tracked by anyone, especially the onwers of the watches

The traceability goes back to the raw materials

Even the foundries of the source are known about

Right back to the location of the mines that are the original source of the metal. Seen here is the mine Breitling are sourcing from: Touchstone mines in Colombia

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Since there’s so much control over the creation of stones, can there be different shapes that can be made of the stone, apart from traditional cuts, such as round-, princess-, baguette-cuts?

We could make different shapes. However, visually, there are two things to consider. The traditional cuts of diamonds are generally preferred because they’re the optimal shapes for light reflection. For instance, if I cut a diamond in a simple cube, it will be very dark and bland. It wouldn’t have the glow that comes from various facets of the traditional cuts. And diamonds are chosen because diamond ranks highest in scratch resistance, being the hardest substance. Technically, it’s possible to make a bezel fully made of diamond. But it would look like sapphire crystal, like the sapphire crystal cases that you see from some brands. You wouldn’t be able to tell that it’s diamond.

In a world where products are becoming more and more gender-neutral, it’s become almost politically incorrect to say that something is only for women and something else is only for men. Where do Breitling stand on becoming completely gender-neutral?

For Breitling, we have to look back at the history and the perspective of that. The current management took charge of the brand about five years ago. And let’s not forget that until then, Breitling were conservative and strongly linked to aviation. And therefore, there was limited scope to do gender-neutral products. It was probably opposite on the spectrum of unisex watches. It was all about big watches, and strong guys, flying big planes. I think within these five years, we’ve come a long way already, and we will slowly get there. The design team, the marketing team—we are all concerned that if we stretch the brand too much, too quickly, it could break. You can’t go from making huge pilot watches to 38mm-unisex the next day and say that it’s the new Breitling. Because then you will lose your audience completely. We’ve still gone quite fast. If you look at the Top Time or the Superocean with the stretch we’ve done, and the brand transformation, there is a lot of effort involved. To answer your question, we want to respect the brand and where it comes from, and we’re going to do it at our own pace, but we’ll get there.

“If you look at the Top Time or the Superocean with the stretch we’ve done, and the brand transformation, there is a lot of effort involved,” states Berneron

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He refers to the redesigned Superocean serie given a fresher look, with a bolder dial design and a very distinctive square tip on the seconds hand

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This dive watch has been created in various bright sporty hues, but also comes in a standard black and a navy blue

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Even with a constantly evolving product portfolio, Breitling watches are always instantly identifiable. What are the key elements that help make that possible?

We have different collections with different design features, but among them we have common attributes. We are extremely particular about case finishing. There is brushed and polished finishing on metal, which plays a key role in the finished look of the product. We have a bluish antireflective treatment on the glass, which is also a Breitling signature. We also have some similar elements across products such as applied indices, faceted hands, and applied logos. That’s how we make Breitling look recognisable even in modern interpretations. We don’t make any compromises on the features. This is why our clients value our products. They know we don’t cut corners. The same goes with the COSC certification. We’re one of the very few brands who have COSC certifications for every movement in every watch, and we don’t even talk about it anymore. Many people don’t even know about this. There must be clients who buy Breitling watches and don’t even know that they all have chronometer movements.

“Too much choice is no choice,” were (CEO) Georges Kern’s words when I interviewed him a few years ago, as he talked about streamlining the range and reducing versions. How do you decide on what versions are the best ones to go with, and when it’s time to introduce new versions of existing models? Is it just research and numbers, or is there more of a creative process?

When it comes to colours, we usually tend to have at the centre of the collection a silver dial and a black dial. Silver dials represent more than two-thirds of global watch sales. But we are also among the most adventurous brands when it comes to dial colours. For instance, with the launch of the latest Navitimers, we had dials in ice blue, green, salmon. It’s also in the Breitling spirit to explore and be more experimental. In the professional collection, we go with more striking contrasts. For example, in the Endurance Pro line, we go for blue, yellow or orange—because this is more of what is expected from sporty lines, and because of the functional value of high-contrast displays. With the Premier for example, we use more subtle colours—dark green, dark blue, ice blue—colours that are more formal. For instance, you won’t see bright yellow on a Premier watch. Never say never, but that’s the general idea.