Gallet Returns For Its 200th Anniversary With Four New Watch Collections
Gallet is returning to the watch industry in 2026, exactly 200 years after its founding in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The historic Swiss name returns as a sibling brand to Breitling, which will manufacture the new watches and provide the infrastructure behind them. The relaunch centers on four collections — Flying Officer, Multichron Pilot, Multichron Sport, and Gallet Classics. Together, they draw on different parts of the brand’s history, from aviation and international travel to motorsport, sailing, and exploration. According to the brand, the new watches combine historical design cues with contemporary movements and construction.
Gallet’s history provides plenty of material for such a relaunch. Founded in 1826, the company produced timing instruments for aviation, racing, sailing, and exploration. Its watches were associated with events such as the Wright brothers’ first powered flight and early intercontinental aviation. The new collections use those historical connections as their starting points rather than introducing an entirely new design language.
A Gallet catalog built around four themes
Gallet’s new lineup divides the current offerings into four collections. The Flying Officer focuses on international travel and world-time functionality, while the Multichron Pilot takes its cues from exploration and aviation. The Multichron Sport draws on motorsport and performance timing, and Gallet Classics revisits several important historical chronographs.
The first three collections form the core of the modern lineup. They use quick-release straps and bracelets, allowing owners to change the watches’ configurations without tools. Gallet will offer leather, rubber, field, and fabric straps in different colors. Stainless steel bracelets use the same system and add integrated micro-adjustment.
The fourth collection, Gallet Classics, takes a different approach. It consists of three 38mm hand-wound chronographs based on historically significant Gallet watches. All three use Breitling’s manually wound caliber B09 and offer approximately 70 hours of power reserve.
Flying Officer: Gallet’s world traveler returns
The Flying Officer is perhaps the most direct connection between the revived brand and its historical identity. Gallet introduced the model in 1939 as international air travel was developing. Its rotating city ring allowed pilots to track the time at upcoming refueling destinations.
The new 40mm Flying Officer updates that concept with a rotating bezel displaying 24 contemporary destinations. Gallet has mixed major international gateways with more remote locations, reflecting the broader scope of modern travel.
The collection comes in two formats. A chronograph version stays closer to the model’s original instrumental character, while an automatic version offers the same world-travel concept without the chronograph display.
The chronograph comes in light blue or black, both with tone-on-tone sub-dials. It uses the Gallet 23 chronograph caliber, based on the Sellita SW510, and provides approximately 62 hours of power reserve. The automatic model comes in orange or dark blue and uses the Gallet 17, based on the Sellita SW200. Its power reserve is approximately 41 hours.
The orange automatic version takes its color from the warm patina found on an aged Flying Officer. That historical reference also helped establish the orange-and-green palette that Gallet intends to use across its revived identity.
Multichron Pilot: An exploration chronograph
The Multichron Pilot dates to 1969. Its original purpose was long-duration timing and second-time-zone tracking, with a focus on legibility in demanding conditions. Gallet now reworks the concept as a 42mm chronograph aimed at exploration.
The watch uses the same Gallet 23 chronograph caliber as the Flying Officer. It beats at the same frequency and provides approximately 62 hours of power reserve. A bidirectional 12-hour bezel surrounds the dial, while a date display sits at 6 o’clock.
Gallet offers the Multichron Pilot in black with white sub‑dials or blue with black sub-dials. A telemeter scale adds another timing function, allowing the wearer to estimate the distance to an event by comparing the arrival of light and sound. Luminescent hands and indexes support readability in changing light.
The textured dial and dual-time capability give the model a distinctly instrumental character. It sits between the more travel-oriented Flying Officer and the motorsport-inspired Multichron Sport within the new lineup.
Multichron Sport: From racing to broader adventure
Gallet’s motorsport history provides the foundation for the Multichron Sport. Models such as the Multichron 12 Scientific helped establish the company’s technical approach to timing during the 1960s. The collection later became closely associated with motorsport and high-speed competition.
The new Multichron Sport has a 41mm case and houses the same Gallet 23 movement as the Flying Officer and Multichron Pilot chronographs. This watch, however, offers a tachymeter scale for calculating average speed over a known distance.
Two dial configurations are available. One combines dark blue with black sub-dials, while the other uses a black dial with white sub-dials. Both versions include a date window at 6 o’clock and use vivid orange chronograph hands to clearly distinguish the timing indications from the rest of the display.
The Multichron Sport also features quick-release pins on the strap and bracelets, allowing owners to switch things up at a moment’s notice without tools.
Gallet Classics: Three historical chronographs
Gallet is also marking its bicentennial with three watches grouped under the Gallet Classics name. Rather than creating new interpretations of the brand’s history, the collection draws directly from specific watches that collectors and historians consider significant.
All three watches have a 38mm case with Breitling’s hand-wound B09 chronograph caliber inside. This COSC-certified chronometer movement provides approximately 70 hours of power reserve. Unlike the core collections, the Classics watches come exclusively on 20mm straps, with the same quick-release system that allows owners to switch between materials.
The first model is the Tribute to Multichron Yachting Big Eye. Its inspiration comes from a 1960s regatta chronograph with a large countdown register designed to help sailors during the final minutes before a race. The modern version uses a white dial with a tone-on-tone sub-dial and a larger regatta register in dark blue and red.
The Tribute to Multichron 45 takes its inspiration from a chronograph originally designed for interval timing in aviation and racing. Its contemporary interpretation features a black dial with tone-on-tone sub-dials and a compact 38mm case. The design combines an anti-glare appearance during the day with luminous elements for nighttime use.
The third model is the Tribute to Silverlight. Its design draws on the historic Multichron Navigator, which featured a display intended to help the wearer orient toward true north. The new version uses a silver-toned dial, stylized numerals, and a vintage-inspired layout.
Manufactured by Breitling
The return of Gallet takes place within Breitling’s existing manufacturing and distribution infrastructure. Breitling will manufacture every Gallet watch, while its network will also provide after-sales service and global distribution. Select Breitling boutiques will feature dedicated Gallet displays.
Vintage ad for the Gallet Flying Officer, ca. 1950
That relationship gives the revived brand access to an established Swiss manufacturing operation while retaining Gallet’s historical identity. The movements also make that relationship visible. The core chronographs use calibers based on Sellita’s SW510, while the automatic models use a caliber based on the SW200. The three anniversary Classics instead use Breitling’s B09 manufacture chronograph.
Gallet’s new collections, therefore, occupy an interesting position within the Breitling family. The watches have Gallet’s specific historical references and visual language, but their production is embedded in the infrastructure of a much larger modern watchmaker.
Benjamin Kellett
A new generation of Gallet adventurers
The relaunch also includes a group of contemporary adventurers who will feature in Gallet’s Field Notes video series. The group includes conservationists, photographers, filmmakers, and other professionals working in different environments.
The initial contributors are Donal Boyd, Benjamin Kellett, Dhir Jakharia, Benjamin Hardman, and L. Renee. Their work includes elephant conservation, Himalayan paragliding, Arctic sailing, wildlife documentation in Kenya, and exploration of the Northern California coastline.
This part of the relaunch connects Gallet’s historical use by pilots, racers, and explorers with contemporary forms of adventure. Rather than relying solely on historical figures, the brand is positioning its new watches alongside people working in those environments today.
First impressions
Gallet’s return focuses heavily on its existing archives. Each of the four collections takes a recognizable historical model or use case and adapts it for a contemporary audience. The Flying Officer emphasizes international travel, while the two Multichron collections retain the brand’s association with technical timing.
The Gallet Classics take the heritage approach further by recreating the character of three specific historical chronographs. Their smaller 38mm cases and manually wound movements also set them apart from the more contemporary core models.
The use of Breitling’s manufacturing infrastructure gives the relaunch a clear technical foundation. At the same time, Gallet has retained separate collections, movements, and design elements to distinguish its watches from those of its sibling brand.
The new lineup also makes strap interchangeability central to the ownership experience. Across the core collections, a shared 20mm lug spacing and quick-release system allow the watches to shift between leather, rubber, fabric, and field straps. The system adds practicality to a collection built around travel and changing environments.
Two centuries after its founding, Gallet is returning with a lineup that looks to the past for inspiration while using contemporary production methods. The four collections provide distinct interpretations of the brand’s history, from the original world-traveling Flying Officer to the three anniversary chronographs in Gallet Classics.
At the time of writing, prices for all the new Gallet watches were not available. We will update this article with pricing info as soon as we can, but in the meantime, please check the official Gallet website.
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