Breitling Chronomat watches

The Breitling Chronomat is the brand's chronograph line with a rider-tab bezel. The name goes back to a Breitling chronograph with a circular slide rule that reached the public around 1942. The modern line descends from a 1983 chronograph developed with the Italian aerobatic team Frecce Tricolori, and was launched as the Chronomat in 1984, during Breitling's centenary celebrations.

The design centres on four raised rider tabs at the 15-minute marks of the rotating bezel. Breitling says they protected the watch face from cracking against a cockpit's metal frame, and the 15 and 45 tabs can be swapped to count time up or down. The 1980s watch also had a metal rouleaux bracelet and an onion crown. In 2009 Breitling developed the B01, a self-winding column-wheel chronograph calibre with a 70-hour power reserve and COSC certification, and the Chronomat released that year used it. In 2020 the Chronomat B01 42 brought back the rouleaux bracelet in a 42 mm case.

The range divides mainly by case size. The Chronomat 44 is the full-size chronograph, and the Chronomat Evolution sits just below it at 43.7 mm. The GMT versions, at 44 and 47 mm, add a second time zone, some with a 24-hour bezel in place of the 0–60 scale. The Chronomat B01 42 is the rouleaux-bracelet revival, with the Super Chronomat B01 44 and the Super Chronomat 1461 Days as larger companions. Smaller cases run from the Chronomat 32 through the Chronomat Automatic 36 to the Chronomat 38 SleekT, often with mother-of-pearl dials or gem-set bezels. Cases come in steel, gold, or steel and gold. Limited editions carry the names of aerobatic teams: Frecce Tricolori, Patrouille de France, the Red Arrows and the Breitling Jet Team.