The World’s Oldest Watchmaker Is Returning as Breitling’s Affordable Sister Brand

Breitling closed out 2023 with the shocking announcement that it had acquired Universal Genève, which at the time was widely considered the most significant defunct Swiss watch brand among collectors and enthusiasts.

The rebirth of Universal Genève is still in the works, with the brand officially set to debut in 2026. But it won’t be alone. Breitling has now confirmed it has rescued another legendary watchmaker from obscurity with plans to bring it back next year.

And the best part? Breitling’s new sister brand will represent an affordable entry point into the Swiss brand’s rapidly expanding portfolio.

Universal Genève

The World’s Oldest Watch Brand Returns

Universal Genève’s new stablemate under Breitling is Gallet, which by one measure ranks as the world’s oldest watch brand.

Blancpain, having been established in 1735, currently touts itself as the world’s oldest watch brand. Perhaps more impressive is Vacheron Constantin, which debuted 20 years after Blancpain but has never had an interruption in its business, making it the oldest continually operating watch brand in the world.

But Gallet has both of them beat, at least when it comes to ancient origins. The brand got its start at the ludicrously early date of 1466 when founder Humbertus Gallet began his eponymous clockmaking business.

The Gallet family continued to ply their trade as clockmakers and watchmakers in Switzerland and France for the next four centuries before officially registering as a company under the name Gallet & Cie in Geneva in 1826, the year cited as the brand’s official start date and the one Breitling is using in its initial Gallet-related literature.

Breitling

The King of Chronographs

Gallet became well known in the twentieth century as a maker of chronographs, and it has several distinctions as a master of the most useful complication.

Debuting in 1936 was the MultiChron 30M ‘Clamshell’, which is considered the world’s first water-resistant chronograph. The colloquial Clamshell moniker refers to the watch’s robust watertight case, similar to the much more famous Rolex Oyster case.

In 1939, Gallet created its most famous watch, the Flying Officer. Originally known as the Flight Officer, the chronograph was commissioned by then-senator and future president Harry S. Truman to be issued to officers of the nascent U.S. Air Force, then a division of the Army.

Breitling

The Flying Officer had a Clamshell case and was the first watch to feature a rotating 12-hour bezel, which could be used to read a second time zone when paired with the printed world cities on the dial. It was used by hundreds of American pilots during World War II, and Truman — who was friends with Gallet’s head at the time, Léon Gallet — frequently wore one during his presidential term.

In the mid-1940s, Gallet introduced the MultiChron Navigator, which was the world’s first 24-hour chronograph. The watch featured an additional hand that tracked time on a 24-hour scale, while the hour and minute hands displayed time in 12-hour increments as usual. In addition to tracking military time, the watch also featured a chronograph complication, naturally.

A More Affordable Breitling

Breitling is a luxury watch brand, and its watches are priced accordingly. That’s why I was a little bummed when the brand announced that its revived take on Universal Genève would slot in above Breitling in the brand’s new hierarchy, making UG watches even more expensive than those made by its parent company.

Thankfully, Breitling has different plans for Gallet. Company CEO Georges Kern has revealed that Gallet will function as the entry point for Breitling’s family of watch brands, with models priced between CHF 3,000 and CHF 5,000 — around $3,400 — $5,600. By contrast, Breitling’s average sale price is CHF CHF 7,200 (~$8,100).

Breitling

“Many people who walk into our boutiques are walking out because it’s just too expensive,” Kern said while announcing the acquisition, according to Hodinkee. “Now we will have something to offer them. We can use the brand in a very meaningful way.”

In an interview with Fratello, Kern also confirmed a few more tidbits about Gallet’s comeback.

The brand’s watches will be sold in Breitling’s boutiques and eventually online, they will use third-party movements (though Kern didn’t rule out using Breitling’s in-house movements in the future), and the watches will not be COSC-certified. They will, however, be “crafted with precision and quality.”

Kern didn’t get into what Gallet models we could see make a comeback, but given that Breitling has not been shy about resurrecting iconic Universal Genève models like the Polerouter, I think we’ll at least see a reborn Flying Officer when the new Gallet takes flight next year.

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