Chronomat “VF-2” (photo credit: Larry R.)
A list of all known limited and special editions of the pre-2004 Chronomat
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Breitling has a long history of special editions. Since the Chronomat has been a best seller for a long time, there were lots of special Chronomats—not even counting the complicated models. The scope of this article will remain the regular pre-2004 Chronomat—not the Evolution, nor Crosswind, nor Duograph, though each of those had SEs too.
Below are the Strike Fighter Squadron 2 and PAN Frecce Tricolori 81950 and PAN Frecce Tricolori A13050, Blackbird, Blackbird Lancaster, Mosquito, Vitesse Série Spéciale, 10th anniversary, Tomcat, Tomcat (Jubilee), Breitling for Canada, Alfa Romeo, Hong Kong RAF, Chicago Bulls, USAF, Richthofen, Fei Gao, Jagdgeschwader 74, Blue Impulse, Red Arrows 81950 and Red Arrows A13050, The World is Yours, Blue Angels, Renault F1, Baltimore Ravens, NBA steel or gold, New York Knicks, Lakers, Boston Celtics, Breitling for America, Série Spéciale (81950), Série Limitée 13047, 13049, Longitude Thunderbirds, Fujitsu-Siemens, Marina Militare, Brazilian Air Force, Bombardier, first gold bezel, the Diamondworks—and possibly others.
Chronomat “VF-2” (photo credit: Larry R.)
This version was made for Fighter Squadron 2 of the U.S. Navy. The back side of the watch has an engraving of the Tomcat insignia.
Thanks to Larry!
Chronomat “Frecce Tricolori”
The PAN Frecce Tricolori (Three-colored Arrows) is an Italian aerobatic demonstration team; it is cited as having expressed the specifications leading to the design of the Chronomat. This watch is probably one of the first Chronomats to exhibit a special logo on its dial. As far as I know, its caseback is the same as the regular model of this era.
It has been suggested that some of those watches were also produced in all stainless steel (without gold rider tabs). More information is appreciated.
Chronomat “Frecce Tricolori”
This is the 2nd version of the Frecce Tricolori Chronomat. The back shows the face of a Aermacchi MB-339 PAN aircraft, and the other writings say:
1955 1995 -
40ème anniversaire
(which means 40th anniversary).
I still wonder what this anniversary is,
since it was created in 1960 or 1961: in 1955 there were the Tigri Bianche (White Tigers),
but there were teams non-stop from 1950 onwards.
There also exists a limited yellow gold version (K13050.1) of this watch, limited to 100 pieces. Main differences with the steel model are the hands (polished YG) and gold ridges around the subdials. To my knowledge, this particular model was only seen with a black face.
Chronomat “Blackbird”
The Chronomat Blackbird, named after the stealth fighter, is basically an all-brushed Chronomat. The differences between the several versions include the dial color (blue or black), dial markers (batons or Arabic numerals), dial markings, and bezel shape (normal or angular). The Pilot bracelet, used for the first Blackbirds, was later replaced by a “Pilot Special” bracelet with angular links, to go with the angular bezel and pushers.
The blue dialed Blackbird has unofficially been nicknamed “Bluebird”.
It is a limited edition of 250 pieces for the A13350 reference number
(its dial says Chronomètre Automatic – Édition limitée
).
The Blackbird is also the name of a flight formation performed by the Breitling Jet Team.
Chronomat “Lancaster”
The Chronomat Lancaster special edition was made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first flight of the WWII Avro Lancaster bomber (which happened in 1941).
Chronomat “Mosquito”
The Chronomat Mosquito special edition celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Mosquito.
Chronomat Vitesse Special Version
This Chronomat Vitesse special version seems to be actually very rare. Its Pilot bracelet is half-brushed, half-polished.
Thanks to Haseeb H!
Chronomat “10”
(This picture shows non-original subdial hands. The original ones were also blue but without the small counterweight.)
This Chronomat celebrates the 10th anniversary of its inception. It came with a special display box, and its dial offers design elements that will be later seen on all Chronomat models, like the applied White Gold or Yellow Gold logo, and ridges around the subdials. The dial itself is “silvered in the traditional style”, and the case back shows the outline of a Frecce Tricolori airplane.
There are four variants of the Chronomat 10 1984–1994 special edition: stainless steel, two-tone (with 18k yellow gold rider tabs), two-tone again (with 18k yellow gold bezel), and solid yellow gold.
Chronomat “Tomcat”
The dial shows the planform of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. On the back is engraved the F-14 Tomcat slogan, "Anytime Baby".
Thanks to Paul!
Chronomat “Tomcat”
More information is welcome.
Thanks to Duane Boren!
Chronomat “Breitling for Canada”
This special version was not for sale, and apparently was given to top sellers in Canada.
Chronomat “Alfa Romeo”
In 1998 the Fiat group (owner of Alfa Romeo) commissioned 30 pieces to give to top managers of the brand.
According to Luca:
The papers of the 30 pieces were all signed by “Gioielleria Tiglieri” in Turin [Italy], but this jewellery never had the watches in hands, they were directly transferred from Tradema (Breitling Italian importer) and Alfa Romeo.
Many thanks to Luca!
Chronomat “HK RAF” (18k picture credit: G. Schmutzky)
This limited edition was produced in 1997 pieces in year 1997, before Hong Kong became part of mainland China. The caseback shows the squadron emblem with the dates: 1924–1997. The four Chinese characters (from right to left, “cheng gao zhi yuan”) mean something along the lines of “Travel Far with Honor”.
Chronomat “US Air Force”
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United States Air Force (USAF), Breitling produced a limited edition watch of 500 watches with a logo dial and logo caseback.
There is apparently another version of the same watch, but where the caseback clearly shows that this is a limited edition of 50 pieces.
Chronomat “Jagdgeschwader 71 Richthofen”
The Jagdgeschwader 71 “Richthofen” is one of the 4 traditional squadrons of the German Luftwaffe.
Chronomat “Fei Gao”
This Chronomat was produced in recognition of the anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's death. The Chinese writings on the dial say “Fei Gao”, which means “High flyer”. This calligraphy was performed by Xiaoping's daughter. The watch sports a custom caseback.
Chronomat “JG 74” Moelders
This Chronomat was made for the Jagdgeschwader 74 “Mölders” German fighter squadron, created in 1961. Please note that there also exists a JG 74 version of the A13322 Breitling Navitimer.
Chronomat “Blue Impulse”
Blue Impulse (ブルーインパルス), or 11 Squadron, is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The custom caseback shows the Blue Impulse logo and the edition number.
Chronomat “Red Arrows”
More information is welcome.
Chronomat “Red Arrows”
This Chronomat Red Arrows was produced in 1965 exemplaries to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the team. This is actually the second model of Chronomat “Red Arrows” limited edition. The watch also has a custom caseback.
Please note that the Red Arrows commissioned several models of watches, including the B-1.
Chronomat “The World is Yours”
These come inside a box which contains 4 watches: one red Longitude A20048, one yellow Longitude A20048, one black Vitesse (with italics Arabic numerals) A13050.1, and one white Vitesse (with italics Arabic numerals) A13050.1.
Chronomat “Blue Angels” (here with later small hands)
The “Blue Angels” Breitling Chronomat was created in recognition of the U.S. navy elite flight team in 1992 in a Limited Edition of 1000 pieces. See also the custom caseback.
Chronomat “Renault F1”
This watch was released during the first involvement in Formula 1 of the French car manufacturer Renault. It could have been produced in recognition of Alain Prost's performance, when he won the World Championship right before his retirement as a driver.
Chronomat “Baltimore Ravens”
* Not sure what year it was actually manufactured, but this watch could have entered production in 1996 at the earliest, as the franchise dates from that year. Prior to 1996, the Ravens were the Cleveland Browns, who moved to Baltimore in '96.
More information is welcome.
Chronomat “Chicago Bulls”
This watch has the NBA caseback with reference and serial numbers engraved (just like with the Chronomat models for some other NBA teams).
More information is welcome.
Chronomat “NBA”
More information is welcome.
Chronomat “NBA” in yellow gold
Its custom caseback says “NBA”. Both black and white dialed version have been seen.
Chronomat “Knicks”
More information is welcome.
Chronomat “Lakers”
More information is welcome.
Chronomat “Celtics”
The caseback sports the NBA logo, plus the reference and serial numbers. There is no indication of the number of pieces produced (which may have been 50, according to one source).
More information is welcome.
Chronomat “Breitling for America”
This special version was not for sale, but was offered to top sellers in the USA. The watches do not have a serial number, and instead only display “Noxxx” on the case-back.
Thanks to Matthew B!
A Breitling for America limited edition Chronomat is for sale (as of May 2016). Please contact me to get in touch with the seller.
Chronomat “Série Spéciale” with later hands
See also the Gold bezel special edition, which has a different dial (with no ridges around the totalizers). I am concerned that the watch above may have been fitted a dial from a newer model. But I'm keeping it as a separate entry until it is evidenced that this dial is incorrect for a 81950. More information is welcome.
Chronomat 13047
I have very little information about this limited edition, with its nice silver sunburst dial and yellow gold bezel. The case-back says “Manufacturé en Suisse, Automatic, Série limitée, 100m, testé 20G”, in addition to the reference number and serial number (with no limited edition number). More information is welcome.
Chronomat 13049
This is the solid white gold model. Its reference number is unusual as it only used for the white gold model, not other metals, as far as I know.
A 3-digit serial number is engraved between the hallmarks on the case back, in addition to the reference number.
The other engravings on the back are: MANUFACTURÉ EN SUISSE AUTOMATIQUE ÉTANCHE 50M OR 18K
(with or 18k
meaning 18k gold
).
Chronomat Longitude Thunderbirds (Photo credit: Martin C. Medenwaldt)
Please note that this watch is not based on the regular Chronomat, but on the Chronomat Longitude with its additional hand.
Many thanks to Martin!
Chronomat Fujitsu-Siemens
More information is welcome.
Chronomat Marina Militare
More information is welcome.
Brazilian Air Force Smoke Squadron (Photo credit: Luiz T.)
This Chronomat was made for the Esquadrão de Demonstração Aérea demonstrations team of the Brazilian Air Force (Força Aérea Brasileira), also known as “Smoke Squadron”.
Many thanks to Luiz!
Chronomat Bombardier (Photo credit: Kenny)
Bombardier ordered 200 Chronomats from Breitling to send as a gift to new owners. About one hundred of those watches were left over and stored in boxes, until they have been found again several years later. As those watches now had the old Flexjet logo on the case-back, they were sold to the pilots at an interesting price.
Many thanks to Kenny!
First Chronomat with gold bezel (Photo credit: Sean Clarke)
This series corresponds to the first Chronomat with a solid gold bezel. It states SÉRIE SPÉCIALE
on the back.
Several face options were available, like silver dial with gold subdials, or charcoal dial and black subdials, and always with gold baton markers.
This model came out before the "B" logo was added on the second's hand (but you may find some of them with a signed hand, as they are frequently changed during maintenance).
On the side of the bezel is engraved a small B logo and "18K" (while most later models with gold bezel only feature the logo).
Many thanks to Sean and Val!
Chronomat “Diamondworks”
The Diamondworks features factory diamonds on the case, dial, and bracelet.
If you have more information or know a special edition Chronomat that is not listed, as usual, feel free to contact me.