On March 21, 1999, balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones safely
landed their Breitling Orbiter 3 in a remote region of the Egyptian desert. In
doing so, they became the first people to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in
a balloon. Twenty years later to the day, Breitling – who sponsored the unique
journey – will celebrate this incredible feat of human ingenuity with the
Cockpit B50 Orbiter Limited Edition, a SuperQuartz™ timepiece with features
worthy of a true scientific and aeronautical milestone.
With the release of the Cockpit B50 Orbiter Limited Edition, Breitling
celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the first non-stop balloon flight
around the world. It is appropriate that the feature-packed SuperQuartz™ watch
will be launched on March 21, 2019, exactly 20 years after the Breitling
Orbiter 3 set down in Egypt, completing a journey that had tantalized
adventurers for centuries. Balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones
accomplished something widely thought to be impossible. And on each pilot’s
wrist was a Breitling Emergency.
Breitling CEO Georges Kern is proud of his brand’s historic link to the mission
and of its ongoing partnership with Bertrand Piccard, who is a member of the
Breitling Explorers Squad and with the Solar Impulse Foundation: “Bertrand is
an explorer of the first rank, and he is also one of the world’s true
visionaries. He always dares to dream big, and, with every challenge he
undertakes, there is always a level of humanity. He inspires all of us and
constantly strives to make the planet a better place. We knew that we had to create
a very special watch to honor him and the twentieth anniversary of the
Breitling Orbiter 3.”
For Bertrand Piccard, the collaboration with Breitling combines friendship and
loyalty. “When I started to dream of flying around the world non-stop in a balloon,
Breitling supported me with passion. Now, 20 years later, we are still
partnering through the Solar Impulse Foundation to create solutions for a
better quality of life on this planet. Therefore, the new Cockpit B50 Orbiter
Limited Edition is not only celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the
Breitling Orbiter 3, it is projecting us into new dimensions to explore.”
Circumnavigating the globe in a balloon was considered as the final great
adventure of the twentieth century. In total, ten teams of prominent
personalities tried 21 times to reach this Holy Grail. Bertrand Piccard himself
failed twice in 1997 and 1998 before attempting the third flight with Brian
Jones. The balloonists successfully landed in the Egyptian desert on March 21,
1999, after traveling 45,755 km in 19 days, 21 hours, and 55 minutes, thus
achieving the longest flight in the history of aviation in terms of both
distance and duration.
The Ultimate Wristwatch for Visionaries and Adventurers
The Breitling Cockpit B50 Orbiter Limited Edition has been crafted from
striking black carbon-coated titanium and is limited to 213 pieces, a number
chosen to commemorate the date the Breitling Orbiter 3 landed in Egypt – 21.3.
– 20 days after it had taken off from Château-d’Œx in the Swiss Alps.
Presented on an orange rubber strap with a folding clasp and featuring an
orange dial, the Cockpit B50 Orbiter Limited Edition will stand out in any
crowd. The numerals, indexes, and hands are coated with luminescent
Super-LumiNova®, which makes them legible in any lighting conditions.
On its distinctive screwed titanium caseback are an image of a balloon
superimposed on a globe and the words “BREITLING ORBITER 3”. Around its
perimeter is the legend, “FIRST NON-STOP FLIGHT AROUND THE WORLD – 20TH ANNIVERSARY
– ETANCHE 100 M” as well as the limited-edition number (1 OF 213).
The watch is powered by the Breitling Manufacture Caliber B50: a
thermocompensated SuperQuartz™ analog and digital display movement designed
in-house that delivers ten times the accuracy of a standard quartz watch. The
Cockpit B50 Orbiter is a COSC-certified chronometer that includes functions
that will prove particularly useful even on the most extreme missions.
In addition to the chronograph with split-time and flyback capabilities, this
model features a second timezone display, a perpetual calendar, two alarms with
buzzer and/or vibrate mode, a lap timer function and a countdown complete with
its own alarm.
And that is only the beginning. The Cockpit B50 Orbiter is equipped with an
electronic tachymeter, a countdown/count-up system, and a chrono flight device,
which records flight times by memorizing departure and arrival times as well as
the date.
Another special feature is the Cockpit B50 Orbiter’s use of Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC), which enables the watch to ensure the smooth juggling of
timezones for frequent travelers. This function can also be used to switch
between the time displayed by the hands and that of the second timezone shown
on the screen simply by pressing a pusher, with the system automatically taking
account of a potential date change.
The Cockpit B50 Orbiter has numerous other functions and features – the ones
presented here are just the beginning –, but it is particularly user-friendly,
with an intuitive, logical, and consistent control system, featuring function
selection via crown rotation and activation/deactivation with its two pushers.
This impeccable user-friendliness is complemented by the interface messages
appearing on the screens to guide the user through the various operations.
When the definitive history of scientific achievement of the twentieth century
is written, it will include a chapter about two pilots circumnavigating the
globe in a balloon. The Breitling Orbiter 3 flew from the past – after all,
ballooning around the world was one of mankind’s early flying dreams – into the
future. And a stunning high-tech chronograph whose black titanium case offers a
stark contrast to its orange dial and strap is a perfect way to celebrate that
mission.