Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Breitling Chronomatic Ref. 2110, 1970s
- Maker / attribution
- Breitling (maker)
- Date
- 1970s
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 40 mm
- Stock no.
- Product 222064148505
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, S.Song Watches (product 222064148505)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Breitling Chronomatic Ref. 2110 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by S.Song Watches (dealer), Seattle (stock number Product 222064148505), this is a wristwatch by Breitling, made in Switzerland, dated 1970s. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 40 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — S.Song Watches
The Breitling Chronomatic would certainly be considered a historically important watch in watchmaking. While its striking looks grabs your attention first, it is the movement that powers it that marked a milestone in watchmaking. You see, its movement stems from one of the first, if not the first automatic chronograph movements ever produced. In the 60’s, while man was racing into space, watch brands were racing to create the first automatic chronograph movement. The main rivalry was between Zenith, who we now know produced the famous El Primero, Seiko and a consortium led by Heuer, Dubois-Depraz, Buren and of course Breitling. Dubbed in secrecy as Project 99, this group of movement and watchmakers were developing their chronomatic movement and while debates rage on as to who really was the first to create an automatic chronograph, all brands mentioned above certainly deserves a place in watchmaking history. With such an important movement created, Breitling housed many of their chronographs thereafter with the Chronomatic movement, including this Ref. 2110. With a bold and muscular 40mm case, rotatable bezel. reverse panda dial and loud orange accents, this is no demure watch. Instead, it is a timepiece that unapologetically came out of the 70’s, bearing all of the sporty characteristic design traits of the era.
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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