The king of Breitling history (@watchfred) reveals personal watch collection

The king of Breitling history (@watchfred) reveals personal watch collection

Buffy Acacia

Even if you haven’t had your ear to the ground, you’ve probably noticed something going on with Breitling. In the past couple of years, the Swiss brand has moved its focus from intense, flashy sports watches to pieces inspired by Breitling’s sophisticated history, and that’s the result of a couple of key individuals. The first is the CEO Georges Kern, who started steering the company in a more heritage-focused direction almost as soon as he took the reins in 2017. The second is Fred Mandelbaum, better known as @watchfred on Instagram, who went from an obsessive vintage Breitling collector to a Breitling historian in an official capacity.

Having a historian contribute to your product output is definitely a recipe for success in these times of nostalgic worship. Not every new Breitling model is a re-issue of an older watch, but using its historic catalogue as a launch pad for modernised designs has made Breitling feel like a much loftier brand in quite a short amount of time. In Andrew’s new interview with Fred Mandelbaum, the two discuss how Breitling arrived at this point in its evolution, as well as the extent of his influence.

breitling duograph ref 764 watchfred
Mandelbaum’s choice of wristwear for the day – a 1943/44 Breitling Duograph. Image @watchfred

Of course it wouldn’t be an Andrew interview without him putting the interviewee on the spot. In a burning house situation, which three watches would Mandelbaum save? I won’t spoil them all, but the first had to be the one on his very wrist. It’s a 1943 Breitling Duograph, which was one of its first water-resistant rattrapante chronographs. It sports an uncommon 45-minute counter in a twin-register layout with the running seconds sub-dial, and the outer chronograph pulsations scale is intended to measure heart rates. It’s also not just any chronograph, but a rattrapante or split-seconds chronograph. If you love complicated vintage watches, not just Breitlings, you’ll want to see the footage of this.