While I respected its heritage, Breitling wasn’t a watch brand that resonated with me for years; I didn’t really get the lust for big pilots’ watches with a mass of complications, and brand ambassadors like John Travolta – a bone fide pilot in all fairness to him – felt a bit old-hat, even before the watch collecting bug bit me.
But under CEO Georges Kern, Breitling has gone through a bit of a glow up, rebooting old models from a historic back catalogue and pulling the brand out from being known for just aviation watches, while also still tapping into that heritage and acknowledging the innovations the likes of the Navitimer brought to the watch world.
