Breitling Emergency Wristwatch

Breitling has a long association with the aviation industry. The company was founded in 1884. In 1915, Breitling invented the first chronograph wristwatch, which was given to many pilots. Today, Breitling is synonymous with pilot’s watches and the distinctive watches can be seen gracing the wrists of many professional and amateur aviators. Next time you are at an airport, keep a look out for the distinctive Breitling Emergency watch that many pilots will be wearing.

About The Breitling Professional Emergency Watch

The Breitling Emergency wristwatch is not your normal watch. This watch veers into James Bond territory. With its in built micro transmitter, you can just imagine giving this to James Bond. The watch goes along with his Lotus Esprit car that transformed into a submarine and fired missiles out of the rear at unwary passing helicopters. This is a professional watch and it is important to note that it is not designed for leisure use.

The built in micro transmitter broadcasts on the 121.5 MHz aircraft emergency frequency. If a pilot is to crash land an airplane, he is able to activate the micro transmitter which will alert search and rescue. The micro transmitter is activated by removing a cap on the watch which releases an antenna. The distress frequency has a range of approximately 100 miles and transmits on the frequency that is monitored by Cospas-Sarsat, an international search-and-rescue operation. The rescue signal will remain operational for 48 hours. This is a watch that saves lives. In 1995 the Breitling Emergency wristwatch saved the lives of 13 people aboard the Mata-Rangi raft.

It is very important to note that the radio transmitter should not be set off in error. There are extremely steep fines for such an occurrence which would be defined by the Federal Aviation Administration as a false alarm. The information that comes with the watch includes details of how the alarm should be tested.

Versions of the Emergency Watch

If you are a pilot or involved in the aviation industry then this could be the perfect watch. There are a number of styles currently available.

The Breitling Emergency wristwatch is available in three versions:

• Titanium
• White Gold
• Yellow Gold

The titanium version is available with a choice of face color. The colors to choose from are black, yellow, blue and coral.

The Breitling Emergency Mission

The Breitling Emergency Mission is the ‘civilian’ version of the range. The Mission has many of the features of the Breitling Emergency, however is designed to appear more like a normal watch. Although this is described as the civilian version, it still has the emergency micro transmitting device equal in power to a distress beacon carried on an aircraft – so this is certainly no toy!

The Mission comes with a stainless steel face and with a choice of strap. The straps are available in:

• Leather – black, blue, gold, green, brown
• Buffalo – blue, green
• Crocodile – camel, black, blue, gold, green, brown
• Diver – blue, green

Buying a Breitling Emergency wristwatch.

Be very careful about buying any luxury watch over the Internet. Breitling has a warning on the website stating that, in their opinion, 95 percent of watches sold as ‘Breitling’ are in fact fakes. You can also find a list of authorized dealers on their website.

Another reason to be careful about buying a Breitling emergency watch is the fact that lives may depend on the transmission device, and as such it is imperative that this is in full working order and not a clever fake.

Breitling watches are available from reputable watch retailers and these stores will be able to advise both on the correct watch depending on a person's requirements and also provide after care advice. It is essential that this advice is followed to ensure the reliable operation of the micro transmitter. Although it is, of course, hoped that this never needs to be put into practice, the pilot and those that depend on him need the reassurance that everything is in full working order.