Gianfranco Gentile, Breitling’s Heritage Director, takes us on a deep dive into the highlights of the Breitling Heritage Exhibition.
After joining Breitling in 2023, Gianfranco Gentile was tasked with developing the brand’s heritage department and shining a light on the rich history of the brand.
As Breitling approached its 140-year anniversary, Gentile set about creating a series of moments that would celebrate the heritage and storytelling of Breitling throughout the decades. We find out more about the process of bringing this exhibition to life, and why honouring and recognising the heritage of the brand is key in carving out its future.
How did this concept come to life and why did you decide to have it as a travelling concept around the world?
When we established the Breitling Heritage Department in 2023, we decided that we needed a set of activations to celebrate the 140-year anniversary of Breitling, and we worked on a series of projects, including this travelling exhibition, which began in Switzerland and will roll out to 25 countries, sharing the history of Breitling, with the world over the next six months.
We had to adapt the logistics to incorporate all of the countries, and so we actually designed four identical kits that were shipped to different continents. Each kit features a series of Breitling watches that represent key moments in the brand’s heritage.
What do you base the edit on for each kit going to a certain market?
All the kits have almost the same watch models inside. We try to make them correspond as much as possible. It was a huge job to acquire all of the pieces because we had more or less one of each piece, but finding four of each piece is quite something, especially as most of the pieces are quite significant in terms of their rarity and value. But we want the kits to be as ingenious as possible in order to be able to tell the same stories. The only difference is with some of the limited edition pieces. With the Emergency watch, for example, each continent gets a different edition, but all of the watch types are the same.
What was the process of finding some of these really rare watches?
The company already had a significant selection of vintage watches, but for the exhibition, we decided to conceive the collection from scratch. We set up a process which included three different steps of evaluation by internal and external experts. The idea was that every watch we scout, either at auction or from a dealer or collector, was evaluated by three different people, and then, if approved by all three, it goes to the exhibition collection. The idea was to have a process that was bulletproof.
The heritage departments at watch brands have become very important over the past few years – tell us about the importance of this role for a legitimate historical brand and what is the nature of what you do in your role.
I started working in heritage marketing and management around 15 years ago. My first job was at Hermès in Paris, where I joined the exhibition department. At this point, the fashion industry had already started to understand the importance of having a heritage department, especially in historical and well-rooted brands like Hermès. Then, in 2010, I moved to the automotive industry and joined the Fiat Group in Italy. This industry was getting there in terms of recognising heritage. We know that the watch industry is quite a conservative industry, so I think this hit watchmaking a little but later, but the role of a heritage department is vital for a brand which is so historical.
It’s not only about the stories we can tell the customers. It’s about distilling the values that move the brand. What we do by going through the brand’s history is understand what it stands for and what it stood for during its sole existence.
For example, with Breitling, if I had to link it to values, they would be innovation because, from the very beginning, it was always about being daring and moving forward. And the second one would be quality. For Willy Breitling, quality was the utmost important thing. Before making any kind of complication, he would ensure that the watch would last and would not have issues later in time. The third pillar is the fact that form always follows function. So every aesthetic choice, even the most daring ones, is always derivative from the function that the specific watch has. For example, the Superocean reference 807; the first dive chronograph in history, was launched in 1957. It is also most likely the first panda dial in history. It is an aesthetic choice, of course, but it is also a derivative of function. This was a diving watch, so readability was crucial to make sure the diver could easily read the sub-counter of the minutes.
How do you balance preserving the heritage of the brand while still remaining modern and attractive to your clients?
We are involved from the very beginning, which is also part of our function within the company, as well as telling stories and bringing cultural projects to life. We are involved in defining the brand’s strategy and shaping the values and products. We are involved in all the discussions with the product department, marketing, visual merchandising etc. from day one because everything you do in the present and the future has to be coherent with what the brand did in the past.
We have an educational function because we are here to tell stories, but also to inspire new designs, visual merchandising, creativity, and marketing and communication campaigns. The campaign that we did this year was strongly inspired by the use of yellow which was launched by Willy Breitling in 1957. Yellow has been the colour of the brand for 70 years, so we wanted to bring this back for the anniversary. We are always there to support every department in the brand.
What can we expect to see at the exhibition in Dubai?
The travelling exhibition distils the most important milestones and storytelling throughout the brand’s history. The exhibition in Zurich at our museum has 90 pieces, while the travelling exhibition has 70. We tell the stories that made Breitling what it is today. For example how, in 1934, Breitling patented the Chronograph as we know it today. This concept with the crown and two pushers became a standard for the industry.
We talk about technical stories. We talk about the products that the brand launched through the decades, which are still part of the offering because we want our customers to understand that everything we have in the shop at the moment is inspired by some of the icons that Breitling launched in the past.
And then on top of that, we have more recent stories, like the one of the Emergency for example. And then we try to be daring and playful. One of the windows that I love the most is called Contrasting Craftsmanship, where we pair a B01 Chronograph, and pair it with a beautiful light jewellery piece from the 1940s, which people find totally unexpected. Many customers don’t realise that we used to produce jewellery watches, so this is important for us to share. This shows that we are not doing women’s watches or fashion collaborations just because they are trendy and cool; we do it because we have always paid attention to women and these kinds of watches. This is part of my task – explaining to the customer that the brand used to be much more than what it has been in the last 20 years.
If you chose one story of an icon you love, which would it be?
The Cosmonaute. The story of the first Swiss wristwatch that went to space. The piece is exhibited here in Zurich for the first time for the public. What’s interesting about this watch is not only what it could achieve but the fact that this amazing project wasn’t born out of an institutional commission but was born out of the love of two people – an astronaut who was very passionate about watches – Scott Carpenter. And a watchmaker who was incredibly passionate about space – Willy Breitling – in a way, they just blended and worked on this project as a totally personal initiative, and the watch was delivered only four or five days before Carpenter went to space. So it was very last minute, but it turned out very well.
What do you think makes an icon today?
We have been very tough about the use of the word icon at Breitling. Even though all our watches are legendary, we decided that the word icon can be applied to the Navitimer only. I think what makes an icon is its ability to be relevant over and over again. The Navitimer has been in production for 70 years. It went through an incredible array of variations, but still, it was always current. Today, people still recognise it immediately, and this is what makes it an icon that it deserves to be.
