Breitling Chronomat 41 AB0144

Breitling is the yeast extract-based spread of watchmaking. Some people can't get enough of them, others wouldn't even wear one on a bet, but either way we've all heard of the brand. Pre-quartz revolution, Breitling watches were the go-to tools of the experts, found on the wrists of pilots, engineers, scientists and even astronauts, but post-quartz revolution, well—let's just say that Breitling seems to have taken a little longer than most finding its groove.

The top news stories from all the best watchmakers in the world, including Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille and Breitling, plus we announce the winner of our Rolex Explorer competition prize.

Thanks to the Romans, Pope Gregory XIII, Jesus and of course the orbit of our home, Earth, we have a calendar system that is as concise and efficient as the English language itself. I can imagine that early watchmakers loathed the fripperies of our months, years and leap years when devising methods of recording and displaying the path of our journey through space, but thankfully they persisted in their endeavours, giving us today what we call the perpetual calendar. And despite the complexity of microchips and atomic clocks, we can still enjoy the hard work of previous generations in devising what just might be the most impressive complication ever to sit inside a watch.

It's understandable to discover that, on awaiting receipt of the Wempe Chronometerwerke, I was a little apprehensive. Store-branded watches have a habit of being mediocre at best, and are often half-hearted attempts to - you know, I don't even know what they're trying to do. The Chronometerwerke looked pretty good in photos, but as a photographer myself, I know how much of a misrepresentation a tarted-up photo can be. So out it came, wrapped in a protective plastic film, and I waited with butterflies in my stomach for it to be unveiled. That was the job of Lynn, the Managing Director for the Wempe boutique in London, who was sat opposite me as I tried hard to remember how to pull a polite smile.