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About 5 years in the past, when one other classic Gallet chronograph watch landed in my assortment, I informed my spouse what I had been daydreaming of for fairly some time: “I’ll purchase the Gallet model sometime!” Nicely, it appears that evidently I used to be not the one one.
Instantly after I discovered about Breitling’s plans to accumulate Gallet a number of years in the past, I felt unhappy. I really had supposed to purchase the Gallet model, nonetheless ludicrous that will sound. Then again, the concept of Gallet, my most beloved watch model of all, rising from the ashes underneath Breitling’s administration was past thrilling. That’s primarily as a result of everyone knows how a lot the present individuals 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 enjoyable ones I’ve written since I joined the Fratello editors’ crew greater than six years in the past. So, let’s have a look at what precisely Breitling purchased, the reasoning behind it, and what subsequent yr’s Gallet model relaunch may seem like.
Gallet means potential
Since Kern’s squad arrived at Breitling, two books on the Navitimer and Premier have been printed. Regardless of a number of false guarantees made by earlier Gallet model house owners, there is no such thing as a e book on Gallet historical past but. And that’s a disgrace as a result of there’s a lot to jot down about. If we have a look at the breadth and variety of the portfolio of Gallet chronographs for the reason that Thirties, it’s fairly astonishing, together with a number of improvements and a sequence 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 large because it could possibly be. Ask Eric Wind, one of many foremost classic sellers and watch specialists, what his favourite watches are. Don’t be stunned 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 as we speak.
Time for a significant cleanup
Somebody has to say it: earlier house owners wrote a number of nonsense, untruths, and fabrications about Gallet within the final decade. Their claims had 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 oldsters 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 exhausting archive work.
What we all know
The Gallet household line between the fifteenth and early nineteenth century will not 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, might have been the driving power 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 finally died whereas on certainly one of his journeys to the US.
The subsequent pivotal position 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 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. Only a few years later, in 1907, Gallet acquired Société d’Horlogerie Electa. Electa offered 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 associate. A Thirties article from the Jewelers’ Round explains why classic Gallet catalogs from that period are filled 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 People spent $1,000,000 yearly on pocket watches. I odor a real enterprise genius right here as a result of the article additional explains that the markup on a stopwatch was generally “larger than that of the common watch however definitely by no means much less.” Stopwatches had been large and stayed large till the late Seventies, they usually usually occupied a considerable portion of catalog choices.
After the Racine years
Within the Nineteen Forties, Gallet entered its golden period, though it was with out Jules Racine, who died in 1934. The rise of cars 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 way of 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 form 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 had been from EP. Equally, regardless of offering watches to different manufacturers, most watches from EP had been manufactured for Gallet.
The final Gallet members of the family on the steering wheel
Quartz expertise 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 army may convey Gallet to its earlier glory. In 1994, the Gallet household bond broke without end, and the corporate went into non-public 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 need to overlook. Fortuitously, Breitling acknowledged the model’s wealthy historical past and heritage and determined to place the resounding Gallet title 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 crew. UG will 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 with regards to the relaunched Common Genève watches, I assume we’ll want so as to add an additional digit to their costs. Making use of fundamental 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
Trying on the numbers, in 2023, Breitling nearly doubled its revenues in comparison with the 2021 monetary yr. Since Kern and his squad took the wheel in 2018, we’ve seen Longines dropping and Breitling step by step stepping up within the annual report on high watch manufacturers in estimated revenues by LuxeConsult and Morgan Stanley. Breitling’s income dropped barely final yr. Its bull run from sixteenth place in 2018 appears to have hit a plateau within the final three years, however it retains a promising place in ninth place.
Get some popcorn
That’s exactly why relaunching UG and Gallet will likely 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 overlook that Gallet’s “residence market” was once the US. In-house actions will likely be out of the query, judging by the model’s entry-level-luxury positioning. I “wished to” be dissatisfied 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 must be within the CHF 3,000–5,000 vary.
In the case of sure fashions, I wouldn’t be stunned 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 as of late, and I’m tremendous interested in 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 robust place and urge for food to develop additional. Let’s revisit this text in three or 4 years and verify how UG and Gallet could have boosted Breitling’s place within the high 10. I see it going larger within the ranks. How excessive will that be?
