Swiss watchmaker Breitling marks its 140th anniversary as an innovative and globally influential luxury brand by opening its first-ever pop-up museum in central Zurich. The museum, titled Breitling Then & Now, is located in the heart of the city at Rennweg 14–16, down the street from its boutique at Bahnhofstrasse 70.
The interactive Then & Now pop-up museum focuses on Breitling’s considerable history as the brand celebrates 140 years of firsts. Long-time brand ambassador, Swiss explorer, and climate advocate Bertrand Piccard and Gregory Breitling, son of Willy Breitling, the last member of the Breitling family to head the company, were present for the official opening in Zurich on August 28.
“The pop-up museum is a glimpse behind the curtain of Breitling’s heritage-inspired collections,” says CEO Georges Kern. “Our modern-retro style would not be possible without a foundation of 140 years of pioneering firsts.”
The immersive experience includes 88 vintage watches, a flight simulator, a mini in-house Chronometrie, and a bevy of facts, memorabilia, and photos from Breitling’s illustrious and inventive past. Exhibits focus on the pioneering people who made Breitling the force in Swiss watchmaking it is today, as well as Breitling’s three “universes” of air, land, and sea.
Breitling’s first-ever heritage-inspired pop-up museum is open to the public free of charge for a limited time only. Visitors can request a ticket by either walking in or selecting a time slot online to book a visit in advance. Additionally, the ground-floor Breitling Café features Breitling signature cocktails and small plates. The café will be open to all visitors with a ticket for any date for the duration of the pop-up museum’s run at Rennweg 14–16 in Zurich’s District 1. A special anniversary book, Breitling: 140 Years in 140 Stories, is also being released by Rizzoli and will be on sale in the gift shop as of August 29, along with Breitling-branded gear.
Through a selection of unique and often untold stories, Breitling takes the visitor back to the early days of the brand’s beginnings in Saint-Imier in 1884, before Leon Breitling relocated the company to his hometown, La Chaux-de-Fonds, the heart of Switzerland’s watchmaking industry. Visitors are encouraged to discover major milestones of Breitling’s history with a journey through Breitling’s Time Tunnel before taking a deep dive into the brand’s three “universes” of air, land, and sea. The mini in-house Chronometrie allows visitors to explore the intricacies of Breitling’s movement manufacture with the support of state-of-the-art interactive technology, while the on-site flight simulator brings the brand into the present day with family-friendly activities.
As the first watch brand to patent a dual-pusher chronograph, send a Swiss wristwatch into space, and add an international dual distress beacon onto a wristwatch, there is ample archival material available for a multi-layered approach that is as educational as it is exciting. A collection of 88 rare vintage watches that showcase Breitling’s pioneering innovation and inspired exploration over 140 years are the central focus of the pop-up museum.
Breitling watches have been worn by celebrities including jazz great Miles Davis, actor Raquel Welch, and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. Current brand ambassadors include basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, World Surf League champions Kelly Slater and Sally Fitzgibbons, and Oscar-winning actor and producer Charlize Theron.
Celebrated milestones include the first Swiss wristwatch in space worn by Mercury 7 NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter in 1962 and timepieces that accompanied the first nonstop round-the-world balloon flight completed by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones in 1999. Breitling invented the first dive chronograph, the SuperOcean Ref. 807, and was first to put an international distress beacon in a wristwatch, called simply the “Emergency.”
Whether you’re a seasoned Breitling admirer or simply looking for a unique way to spend an afternoon, you won’t forget this once-in-a-lifetime look at Breitling’s history.
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