Breitling boasts a production of classic and elegant chronographs that have represented an important chapter in its history. We are talking about the Premier collection, launched in the 1940s to embrace the more traditional values of watchmaking, which has now found new life in a series of timepieces with a pleasing retro style, to recount the past, even the lesser-known past, of a brand that is strongly linked to the development of the chronograph.
There are three types of chronographs with classic, but also coloured dials, with a movement execution according to modern standards. For all, water resistance to 100 metres (not bad for classic chronographs) and Cosc certification.
If the Premier B09 represents the pure chronograph with a manual calibre (the architecture is the same as that of the B01 calibre, but without the automatic winding mechanism), the Duograph is a split-seconds chronograph with a proprietary movement (the manual B15), a re-edition of a 1940s example (the original version of the Duograph was based on an ébauche Venus).
In the 1940s, Breitling also introduced the Datora, a chronograph with a complete calendar and moon phases, whose legacy is now revived in the Premier line. The steel version with a dial coloured in a dark salmon hue, which the brand defines as copper, is very beautiful; the red gold variant with a silver-plated dial is more classic.
It is the only automatic of the three and the only one equipped with a non-proprietary calibre, the result of a collaboration between Breitling and Concepto, a movement manufacturer specialising in high-end variants of the Valjoux 7750.
All in all, these are three mechanically well-built chronographs with excellent finishing. In particular, Breitling has done an excellent job of making accessible a type of watchmaking that is usually not: the manufacture split-seconds chronograph (in the steel version it sells for less than €10,000).
Prices: Premier B09, 7,800 in steel; 18,200 in red gold. Duograph, €9,850 in steel; €19,200 in red gold. Datora, €12,500 in steel; €22,200 in red gold.
