About 5 years in the past, when one other classic Gallet chronograph watch landed in my assortment, I instructed my spouse what I had been daydreaming of for fairly some time: “I’ll purchase the Gallet model sometime!” Effectively, evidently I used to be not the one one.
Instantly after I discovered about Breitling’s plans to accumulate Gallet just a few years in the past, I felt unhappy. I really had meant to purchase the Gallet model, nonetheless ludicrous that will sound. Alternatively, the concept of Gallet, my most beloved watch model of all, rising from the ashes below Breitling’s administration was past thrilling. That’s primarily as a result of everyone knows how a lot the present folks at Breitling perceive a model’s heritage and the way they need to deal with it. For me, this text is likely one of the most fun ones I’ve written since I joined the Fratello editors’ workforce greater than six years in the past. So, let’s take a look at what precisely Breitling purchased, the reasoning behind it, and what subsequent 12 months’s Gallet model relaunch may appear to be.
Gallet means potential
Since Kern’s squad arrived at Breitling, two books on the Navitimer and Premier have been revealed. Regardless of a number of false guarantees made by earlier Gallet model homeowners, there isn’t a e-book on Gallet historical past but. And that’s a disgrace as a result of there’s a lot to put in writing about. If we take a look at the breadth and variety of the portfolio of Gallet chronographs because the Thirties, it’s fairly astonishing, together with a number of improvements and a collection of specialised chronographs. We’ll look into the highest fashions in Gallet historical past in a separate deep-dive article tomorrow.
Regular and pretty excessive costs for classic Gallet watches, generally reaching and even surpassing US$10,000, recommend that there’s a hardcore collector base. But it surely’s not as massive because it could possibly be. Ask Eric Wind, one of many foremost classic sellers and watch consultants, what his favourite watches are. Don’t be shocked when he drops Gallet within the first sentence. Strive that train with Breitling historian Fred Mandelbaum, and you’ll perceive why we’re right here at the moment.
Time for a significant cleanup
Somebody has to say it: earlier homeowners wrote loads of nonsense, untruths, and fabrications about Gallet within the final decade. Their claims have been usually unsubstantiated, dates fabricated, and tales unverified, however I received’t do them a favor by echoing any of them. All I’ll say is that I’m glad it didn’t deter the parents at Breitling from their plans. Quite the opposite, they determined to scrub up the model’s heritage by eradicating all of the nonsense and getting again to arduous archive work.
What we all know
The Gallet household line between the fifteenth and early nineteenth century shouldn’t be simple to confirm. The related story originates in 1826 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the place Julien Gallet established the watch manufacture Gallet & Co. The core enterprise story, nonetheless, was written in the USA. One of many founder’s sons, Leon Gallet, could have been the driving pressure behind the US presence that began in 1856. He “created a big clientele in the USA, the place he usually traveled,” says his obituary. He ultimately died whereas on certainly one of his journeys to the US.
The following pivotal function in Gallet’s historical past was performed by Leon’s sister’s son, Jules Racine, the grandson of the founder. He left for the US in 1875, and in 1890, he established Jules Racine & Co. with Charles Perret in New York. Jules Racine held the torch as the only real distributor and importer of Gallet watches in the USA for an astonishing 45 years. As confirmed by the Smithsonian, Gallet assembled two pocket stopwatches to time the Wright brothers’ flights on December 17, 1903. Just some years later, in 1907, Gallet acquired Société d’Horlogerie Electa. Electa supplied the enhance wanted to use for patents and introduce novelties that introduced Gallet worldwide recognition, exhibition prizes, and success at chronometry competitions.
Enterprise spirit within the pocket
In 1920, George Wallace changed Charles Perret as Racine’s enterprise companion. A Thirties article from the Jewelers’ Round explains why classic Gallet catalogs from that period are stuffed with pocket watches. “Gallet imports the massive proportion of timers used on this nation [US],” it says, thus suggesting the scale and the relevance of Gallet’s operations in the USA in these years when Individuals spent $1,000,000 yearly on pocket watches. I scent a real enterprise genius right here as a result of the article additional explains that the markup on a stopwatch was generally “increased than that of the common watch however definitely by no means much less.” Stopwatches have been massive and stayed massive till the late Nineteen Seventies, and so they usually occupied a considerable portion of catalog choices.
After the Racine years
Within the Forties, Gallet entered its golden period, though it was with out Jules Racine, who died in 1934. The rise of vehicles and aviation led customers to additional favor wristwatches, which began changing pocket watches. Shock resistance, waterproofing, and different advances made wristwatches extra dependable and desired. Gallet didn’t let this chance slip by its fingers.
Within the late Thirties, Gallet launched a few of its most iconic fashions, together with the Multichron Regulator and the waterproof Multichron in a “Clamshell” case, marketed as “The First Timing Instrument of its variety in AMERICA!” In 1939, Gallet introduced the Flying Officer, the world’s first chronograph wristwatch to show a number of time zones. A really early mannequin of the Gallet Flying Officer was gifted to Senator Harry S. Truman, who later turned president of the USA.
Excelsior Park
Within the ’40s, Gallet developed a strategic partnership with motion producer Jeanneret-Brehm & Cie., which turned a game-changer for each events. Though Gallet used numerous motion suppliers, together with Venus, Valjoux, Landeron, and even Martel, Jeanneret-Brehm & Cie., which later turned Excelsior Park, was by far an important. The overwhelming majority of watches Gallet co-designed and commissioned have been from EP. Equally, regardless of offering watches to different manufacturers, most watches from EP have been manufactured for Gallet.
The final Gallet members of the family on the steering wheel
Quartz know-how did its devastating job within the US too, and Gallet was not immune. From 1975 onwards, Pierre and Bernard Gallet made a number of makes an attempt to revive Gallet Switzerland. Sadly, not even a number of sub-contracting deliveries for the navy may convey Gallet to its earlier glory. In 1994, the Gallet household bond broke endlessly, and the corporate went into personal possession. I consider I’m not far off once I say that is the chapter in Gallet’s historical past that each one the enthusiastic collectors wish to neglect. Luckily, Breitling acknowledged the model’s wealthy historical past and heritage and determined to place the resounding Gallet identify again on the map. What’s going to Gallet be like when it relaunches in 2026?
Why Breitling acquired Gallet
At the moment, Breitling covers the center and better segments, with its common watch worth round CHF 7,200. The thought for Common Genève, which Breitling bought in 2023, is to be functionally separate and have a devoted design, product, and improvement workforce. UG may even have a CEO of its personal and transfer to Geneva at a sure stage. Growing superb in-house actions received’t be low cost, so in the case of the relaunched Common Genève watches, I assume we’ll want so as to add an additional digit to their costs. Making use of primary math right here, Breitling was lacking an entry-level portfolio, and that’s exactly the hole that Gallet is meant to fill. “Luxurious entry-point,” says the press launch.
Numbers recreation
Wanting on the numbers, in 2023, Breitling nearly doubled its revenues in comparison with the 2021 monetary 12 months. Since Kern and his squad took the wheel in 2018, we’ve seen Longines dropping and Breitling progressively stepping up within the annual report on prime watch manufacturers in estimated revenues by LuxeConsult and Morgan Stanley. Breitling’s income dropped barely final 12 months. Its bull run from sixteenth place in 2018 appears to have hit a plateau within the final three years, but it surely retains a promising place in ninth place.
Get some popcorn
That’s exactly why relaunching UG and Gallet will probably be so attention-grabbing. Breitling expanded its community of boutiques within the US significantly in the previous couple of years, so the nation appears to be an necessary market. And don’t neglect that Gallet’s “house market” was once the US. In-house actions will probably be out of the query, judging by the model’s entry-level-luxury positioning. I “needed to” be upset about this thought, however then I spotted that’s what Gallet all the time was. And I like the concept of Gallet being extra reasonably priced. As Georges Kern confirmed for us right here, the brand new watches ought to be within the CHF 3,000–5,000 vary.
In terms of sure fashions, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the long-lasting Flying Officer relaunched. How near (or removed from) the unique will it’s? A dive watch can’t be lacking from the choices nowadays, and I’m tremendous interested by how Gallet will deal with that. I see this as a possibility to develop some contemporary designs.
Over the past three years, Breitling has confirmed its sturdy place and urge for food to develop additional. Let’s revisit this text in three or 4 years and verify how UG and Gallet can have boosted Breitling’s place within the prime 10. I see it going increased within the ranks. How excessive will that be?
