By 1943, Willy Breitling had built a name for himself as a maker of aircraft instru- mentation and tool watches, meeting the functional needs of the wartime. But the third-generation Breitling founder also dreamt of a time after the war, when utility would give way to unbridled optimism. With that kind of future in mind, he designed a series of elegant chronographs and assigned them the best materials, the best finishings, and the best calibers. He called his new line The Premier.

Reintroduced by Breitling in 2021, the Premier Heritage chronograph collection revived Willy’s dream of seeing the functional chronograph made undeniably elegant and infinitely wearable — in his words, ‘the unmistakable stamp of impeccable taste’. Today, the Swiss watchmaker adds six new references to the Premier assortment, all of them powered by the self-winding Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01.

‘We are committed to preserving Willy Breitling’s bold vision of combining the precision of a professional tool watch with the sophistication of a modern dress watch. The Premier embodied the hopeful energy that emerged in the postwar era, and we are proud to continue that tradition with a modern- retro version for our times’.
— Breitling CEO Georges Kern

The movement is the heart beating inside your watch; it is made up of hundreds of interdependent parts that work together to provide the vital energy and measure time.
—

The latest iteration of the Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01, found in the new Premier chronograph, was redesigned in 2022 and features a trimmer profile as well as more compact oscillating weight to be admired through the transparent sapphire-crystal caseback.

To create the new Premier’s design, Breitling preserved distinctive vintage Premier design details, including the smooth fixed bezel, twin-register dial, streamlined rectangular pushers, and applied Arabic numerals. At 42 mm, the case diametre is slightly larger than the 40 mm found on the existing B09 (manual-wind) models. The tone-on-tone subdials with chronograph minutes at 3 o’clock and running seconds at 9 o’clock lend a polished style, while the new dial shades in salmon, blue, green, black, and cream add a contemporary twist to the stainless-steel models. A further variation in 18K red gold features a clas- sic cream dial. The watches come on a choice of classic alligator leather strap or sleek 7-row metal bracelet.