5 Questions With Breitling USA President, Thierry Prissert

By Seth Semilof | February 29, 2012

1. Tell us some of the most exciting developments at Breitling today?

There are a lot of exciting developments at Breitling today. One of our most significant developments has been the creation and enhancement of our own in-house movement. In 2009, prior to the restrictions of Swatch sourcing watch movement to various vendors, we produced our first 100% in-house developed movement, after years of private research and development. To this date, Breitling has expanded the number of timepieces that house the movement to 5 pieces and introduced the Chronomat GMT in 2011 with the new Caliber 04. This year at Baselworld, we will be unveiling several new watches that feature our in-house movement.

Another exciting development in Breitling, specifically in the United States has been the opening of two Breitling boutiques in 2011 with plans to open a few more in 2012. In January, 2011 we opened our flagship Breitling Boutique in midtown Manhattan at 57^th and 5^th Avenue. In November of 2011, we opened our second U.S. boutique at Aventura Mall in Miami, Florida. These boutiques really serve as a great extension of the Breitling brand to not only American citizens, but also the large amounts of tourists that travel internationally to these world renowned shopping destinations. In 2012, we are working on opening a few more boutiques throughout the U.S.

2. What watch do you wear daily?

I wear the American Tribute Watch by Breitling. This is a limited edition piece based on the current Breitling Chronomat 44. We produced only 50 of these watches to honor veterans in the United States. Each watch features Caliber 01, the exclusive 100 percent in-house chronograph movement created by Breitling as well as a commemorative etching on the back of the watch face with the statement “Breitling for America. United We Stand.” What is really special about this watch is that Breitling is donating 100% of the proceeds from this watch to Fisher House Foundation, which constructs comfort homes to provide free, temporary housing to the families of service members needing medical care across the country.

3. If money was not a concern, which Breitling would you recommend to a customer?

If money were of no concern, I would recommend our Breitling For Bentley Supersports Light Body QP. Our Breitling for Bentley collection illustrates the similarities between our two brands – prestige and performance as well as both brand’s commitment to finding the perfect combination of technique and aesthetics in all products.

The new Supersports Light Body QP is a chronograph that features a light titanium chassis and ultra-sophisticated perpetual calendar mechanism. Without any need for manual correction, the calendar tirelessly displays the date, day, week, month, season, leap-year cycle and moon phases. Its perpetual calendar chronograph “motor,” composed of almost 500 parts, is chronometer-certified by the COSC – the supreme token of precision and reliability. The “variable tachometer” system serves to measure average speed whatever the time elapsed, the distance covered or the speed reached.

4. For movement, what watch do you produce that you are most proud of?

As I mentioned previously, we are very proud of our in-house movement at Breitling. Well several of our watches have this 100% in-house developed movement, the watches I am most proud would have to be either our Navitimer 01, “The” ultimate Breitling.