Continuing its modern messaging that has involved partnerships with many high-profile celebrities and sports figures, Breitling has now become the “global luxury timepiece partner of the NFL.”
For a brand with a 141-year history focusing mainly on aviation-style watches boosted by pilot-style marketing in line with its long history, Breitling’s move into the celebrity space has been an interesting one to watch. This was kickstarted in 2017 when the biggest private equity firm in Europe, CVC Capital Partners, purchased the Swiss-based brand from previous owner and CEO, Théodore (Teddy) Schneider. Schneider retained a 20-percent stake in the firm his family owned from 1979 through 2017 until November 2018, when he sold the remaining shares to CVC (which was taken over by Partners Group, a Swiss investment and private equity firm, in 2022).
As in 1979 when the Schneiders took over Breitling and installed heavy marketing centered around the then popular pilot ideal, the new owners decided to go another way involving heavy marketing. Installing Georges Kern as CEO – Kern was previously the CEO of IWC – Breitling now offers revamped watch designs based on its historical icons and heavy investments in celebrity marketing.
Which brings us to the most recent NFL watches and a partnership launched in the early fall of 2025.
Breitling and the NFL
The NFL’s 2025-2026 season just got underway, and to kick off the official partnership Breitling has released a special Chronomat in honor of every team in the league. In all, there are now 32 versions of the Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 NFL Team Editions.
At this point, it makes sense to back it up for a minute to examine the history of the Chronomat. Among the classic models of Breitling, the Chronomat is one of the most well known thanks to its introduction during the booming renaissance of mechanical watches underway by the mid-1980s. This was the first watch to emerge from Breitling once again powered by a traditional mechanical movement after the end of the so-called quartz crisis that gripped Switzerland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chronomat marked Breitling’s return to the mechanical watch and celebrated the brand’s 100th anniversary, introducing the now-legendary bezel outfitted with rider tabs or “claws.” It quickly became Breitling’s bestseller.
In line with Kern’s dedication to fashion and trend, Breitling has been releasing versatile sporty-chic watches based on its classic models, in particular the Chronomat, which is finding a new lease on life in some of the brand’s most high-profile partnerships with a new feel for color and shape.
The Breitling Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 NFL Team Editions
There are 32 versions of the new steel 40 mm Chronomat Automatic GMT, one for each NFL team. Each variant is housed in stainless steel and only deviates from the standard model in the dial color and logo: each team edition gets its own interesting dial color and each team’s logo is etched onto the stainless-steel case back. If I were to critique anything on this watch, it might be the small date display at 6 o’clock, which is somewhat hard to see at a glance. Additionally, the date wheel was left in white, which in my opinion provides a relatively jarring contrast to the otherwise colorful dial. On the other hand, one fun design detail is the use of each team’s secondary color for the contrasting GMT (second time zone) hand.
The watches come on a stainless-steel rouleaux bracelet; the Breitling rouleaux bracelet is one of the most distinctive on the market today. Rouleaux is French for “rollers,” which is an apt description for the long, cylindrical links with rounded tips that make up the bracelet. Today’s rouleaux bracelets are beautifully refined and have a distinct jewellery-like quality about them, mainly because of the brushed metal rollers interspersed with polished rings on alternate links.
These watches are powered by Breitling Caliber 32, which is based on the ETA 2893-2, a solid workhorse movement with decades upon decades of use in the watch industry. This movement features not only displays of the time and date, but also an additional time zone, hence the “GMT” designation in the model name. GMT stands for “Greenwich Mean Time” and is a term often used to describe a watch with a second time zone display. This movement, like all other Breitling calibers, is certified by the COSC (Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute) for accuracy.
Additionally, Breitling is now offering a special titanium Endurance Pro model in 44 mm for each of the 32 teams as well. Powered by Breitling’s COSC-certified SuperQuartz Caliber 82, these robust titanium watches feature an inner bezel with a pulsometer scale in the team’s primary color, while the team’s logo is found on the dial within the 6 o’clock subdial. The NFL logo is etched on the case back. The busy dial with its typical Breitling design also includes a chronograph and a compass.
As the NFL has been making strides to become more and more of a global brand, it stood to reason for Breitling to launch this collection worldwide. However, the official celebration logically took place in New York City with brand ambassador and Hollywood actor Austin Butler, football great Eli Manning, and more famous faces. There will be seven regular-season NFL games played abroad, featuring games in Sao Paolo, Dublin, London, Berlin, and Madrid.
In case you were wondering, this is not first time Breitling has collaborated with the NFL. Way back in the 1990s, Breitling worked with the Baltimore Ravens to produce a limited-edition Chronomat called Reference 1305012.
Despite the current economic chaos in the world, it’s nice to see a Swiss luxury brand dedicating thousands of watches to an American audience. Then again, NFL teams generally have pretty dedicated fans. Rah rah sis boom bah, let’s go Breitling!
