Breitling Makes a Powerful Statement In Support Of Women
It isn’t every day that a watch brand goes all-out in support of women, but Breitling is doing exactly that with new marketing tact, product, and more.
Many brands create watches for women. Many brands have female brand ambassadors. However, recently Breitling unveiled an entire concept in support of women and unveiled a new collection dedicated to women in a move that some might say is genius.
Under the direction of Georges Kern (industry veteran and previous CEO of Richemont Group’s IWC Schaffhausen), Breitling has been growing by leaps and bounds throughout the past few years since he took over the helm. Not only has Kern introduced freshness to the watch line-up, adding vintage-inspired but boldly contemporary pieces, he also has turned up the heat on the marketing of the brand. Rather than simply bring on brand ambassadors and tout them to the world, he developed the #SquadonaMission concept.
For each squad Breitling forms – cinema, pilot, surf, etc. – at least three different personalities come together under the umbrella to represent a specific lifestyle. Additionally, most of these personalities have their own charitable causes that they work with and that Breitling supports – putting the idea of “giving back” and doing good front and center. When Kern first started talking about squads, the watch world skeptics viewed it as a repackaging of brand ambassadors. However, it has turned out to be way more than that. These small communities have become a power player in their own larger spheres and the squad concept has people excited.
Putting Women and Current Causes in the Spotlight
This is especially true now that the brand has launched the all-new, all-female, Spotlight Squad. The concept is to promote women of substance who are doing great things for others via their foundations or individual affiliations. The Spotlight Squad consists of actress and producer Charlize Theron, American Ballet Theater’s Misty Copeland, and television and film actress Yao Chen. The diversity of these women and the charities they represent elevates not only the concept of putting the spotlight on women but also on other philanthropic causes.
The outspoken yet always eloquent Charlize Theron (a United Nations Messenger of Peace) works to promote women’s and LGBTQIA rights and founded the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project in 2007 to help educate young people in South Africa (where she was born) about HIV. This year she helped launch Together for Her, a campaign to raise awareness of domestic violence during COVID-19.
The inspiring dancer Misty Copeland is devoted to diversity and inclusion. An ambassador to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, she works to help youth in post-conflict countries, introducing them to dance and its self-expression. This year, she partnered with the Entertainment Industry Foundation to launch #SwansforReliefe to help ballet dancers cope with unemployment during COVID-19.
Similarly, Yao Chen works to raise awareness of things like the plight of refugees and the rights of women and children. She is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and was selected as one of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum in 2016.
“Who better than Charlize Theron, Misty Copeland, and Yao Chen to turn the spotlight on major global causes as they redefine what it means to be a strong woman? Three leading stars known for being fierce and pushing boundaries. What binds them together is the Spotlight Squad and Breitling’s dedication to change, diversity, and reshaping the world we live in,” says Kern.
Breitling Chronomat for Women
In honor of these tenacious women who are willing to share their stories and support others as they seek equality, Breitling unveils a new Chronomat collection of watches strictly for women. “Our inspiration for this new collection is the Breitling woman herself, as represented in our #SquadonaMission campaign: a woman of purpose, action, and style who’s at the top of her game,” says Kern.
The new Breitling Chronomat 32mm and 36mm watches are created expressly for women and represent the first Chronomat ever made for women. They embrace all of the qualities that have made the Chronomat a favorite of collectors, but in smaller, more refined case sizes. To begin with, the watches are all COSC-certified chronometers, meaning they have been tested by an outside observatory in a host of different conditions (heat, humidity, water, etc.) and passed with flying colors. They are all water resistant to 100 meters. Additionally, all of the watches are sold with Breitling’s impressive Rouleaux bracelet with a butterfly clasp.
All of the new Chronomat watches are offered with or without a diamond bezel and feature a choice of diamond-set hour markers or gold indexes with Super-LumiNova coating. Depending on the case size, the watches house different movements. The versions that measure 36mm in diameter, the Chronomat Automatic 36, house the brand’s automatic Caliber 10 mechanical movement. This self-winding caliber offers 42 hours of power reserve when fully wound. The watch displays the hour, minute, second (via a hand), and the date.
In terms of material, the watches are crafted in stainless steel, two-tone steel, and rose gold, or solid 18-karat 5N rose gold. Dial colors range from pale green to blue, white, or copper, among others. Prices of the 10 different Chronomat Automatic 36mm watches range from $4,860 in steel to $8,650 for steel and gold with diamonds and up to $25,650 for the 18-karat gold version with diamonds.
The Chronomat 32 women’s watches are powered by Breitling’s thermocompensated SuperQuartz™ Caliber 77 and, are also COSC-certified chronometers. The batteries endowing the watches with power are designed to last from three to four years. The Chronomat 32 watches are offered in steel, steel, and gold, or gold. Dial colors include bright white or a rich royal blue. In fact, there are seven different options. Opening prices are $3,800 in stainless steel and range to just under $10,00 for the two-tone steel and gold version with diamonds.
The new Chronomat watches in smaller sizes are designed to appeal to women that not only want to go from boardroom to elegant evening soirees but also want to enjoy active weekends and beach bar-b-ques.
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