Project 99: The first automatic chronograph

The Swinging Sixties was part of the golden era of watchmaking. But Breitling was under threat. The demand for its manual chronographs was dwindling at a time when everybody wanted automatic watches. Could joining a clandestine group of competitors solve the complex and necessary quest of creating the world’s first automatic chronograph??

In the sixties, everybody knew it. To survive as a chronograph-oriented brand, you needed to make an automatic chronograph. Times were dire in the traditional Swiss watchmaking industry, as the new-found love of automatic watches was eating ever-larger chunks out of manual chronographs sales. Now, people wanted “everything” in a watch.

However, to develop conceptual ideas that were but an ephemeral mirage on the horological horizon, serious money and a collaborative effort were needed. There was fierce competition from Zenith (who’d paired up with Movado), and, on the other side of the world, Seiko. The race was on.

Team of rivals

Breitling brand historian Fred S. Mandelbaum recounted how the covert operation with competitors came together: "As a starting point, Willy Breitling, the third generation of the Breitling founding family, built on half a century of collaboration with movement manufacturer Dubois-Depraz."

From there, Jack Heuer, Director of Heuer Leonidas at the time, reached out to his friend Willy Breitling and was brought into the fold. Another passenger on this secret voyage was watchmaker Buren, who specialized in extremely thin micro-rotor movements that could be used as a base for the Dubois-Depraz chronograph module. The brands and manufacturer would also be joined by Hamilton, which acquired Buren in 1966.

In 1967, they dubbed their clandestine collaboration "Project 99." Theirs was a simple yet super-complex raison d’être: to create the world’s first automatic chronograph.

Breitling’s Global Head of Heritage Gianfranco G. M. Gentile said, “Willy was leading the group that revived the chronograph in the mid-1960s, making it cool and innovative again.”

Nicholas Biebuyck , Tag Heuer’s current Heritage Director told Since 1884, “Project 99 was seen as a good match as the brands were complementing each other.”

A year later, in the summer of 1968, the first prototypes of the so-called Chrono-matic watches were delivered to Breitling and Heuer for what are known as "torture tests," a tradition that lives to this day. But were the former competitors early enough? Would the Project 99 collaboration be the first to make it over the finish line?

Leaks and loose lips

But there appeared to be a leak somewhere within the Project 99 consortium about the prototypes. With the cat out of the bag, Zenith felt compelled to organize a press conference on January 20, 1969, presenting its El Primero movement. However, in the beginning of 1969 El Primero was only a concept and a prototype.

In the meantime, the Project 99 members were ramping up production, making sure they could walk the walk before talking the talk. Finally, on March 3, 1969, with simultaneous press conferences held at 11 AM in New York and 5 PM in Geneva, Breitling, Heuer Leonidas, Hamilton, Buren and Dubois-Depraz presented their Chrono-matic watches to the world. The horological challenge of a generation had been solved, and the world had been given a new standard of chronographs.

Only a month later, in early April 1969, watches with the automatic chronograph movement, Caliber 11, could be ordered by retailers. Store receipts show Chrono-matic watches were already sold and delivered from early summer –?months before Zenith watches with the El Primero movement were commercially available.

Top secret Project 99 takes the lead

Thanks to the three watch brands behind the collaborative, top-secret effort, the Chrono-matic watches were available in a vast array of models. They came in all shapes. According to an article in Hodinkee, no less than 23 different models were available in stores in the summer of ’69. (No, that is not what Bryan Adams sings about!)

Breitling took the design game one step further. Not only did Breitling’s Chrono-matic come in round cases with angular lugs, or in pillow-shaped cases with contrasting “surfboard” graphics, they also came in tonneau cases, in an 18 k gold case, and the eye-catching, huge 48-mm hexagonal case which soon got nicknamed the “Pizza.”

This creative burst was no surprise as, starting in 1966, Breitling had already begun making cases for the automatic movement to come. Several new case designs were launched in 1967 and 1968 with manual movements. These cases were also prepared for the new Chrono-matic models when the Caliber 11 movement arrived in 1969. In Breitling’s catalogue, 12 case designs from this time exist with both manual and automatic movements.

The Caliber 11-equipped watches are easy to recognize from all three brands. The two chronograph pushers protrude from the right case edge, and the crown from the left. While this was due to the technical limitations of the automatic Caliber 11, marketing materials toted the ergonomics of the new and innovative design.

The hexagon-shaped “Pizza” case came to house several of Breitling’s most famous models from the early 1970s, including the Chrono-matic GMT (1970) and the SuperOcean (1971), the latter a dive watch waterproof to 20 bars. Breitling’s designers kept at it.

Soon came the Bullhead, which had tilted the movement 90 degrees, with the two pushers on top, at 11 and 1 o’clock, and the crown at 6 o’clock. There was also the almost-round TransOcean with an integrated bracelet. In 1972, Chrono-matic watches came out introducing graphically playful dials with trapezoid contrasts.

The last Chrono-matic model from Breitling would come in 1977. This was also a round model, bringing the design full circle from the first references launched in 1969, though it was given a twist with refined and sophisticated lyre-shaped lugs.

Even nowadays, Breitling continues to push the boundaries of the automatic chronograph, launching a new complication in the form of the perpetual calendar movement, the Caliber B19, this past August at Geneva Watch Days. It can be found in the three recently released limited-edition anniversary pieces to mark 140 years of firsts.

And the winner is…

Looking back at the race to the first automatic chronograph, one can diplomatically assert there were three entries—but only one winner who solved watchmaking’s challenge of a generation.

Participation trophies, however, go to Zenith for the first public announcement about El Primero in January 1969, though it was only available to the consumer in the latter part of 1969. Seiko, with its Caliber 6139, was first to market in the spring of 1969,?but until 1970 it was only available in Japan.

According to Breitling brand historian Fred Mandelbaum, “Without a doubt, the Project 99 alliance with Breitling won the race to the consumer. They were the first to make automatic chronographs possible for anyone in the world who wanted ‘everything’ in a wristwatch.”

-

As we toast 140 years at Breitling, we invite you to discover the celebrated and little-known firsts that have propelled our legacy. Sign up for our anniversary newsletter —delivered straight to your inbox.