The Breitling Emergency is a serious piece of equipment with the ability to save lives. Unique even in high-end aviation watches the Emergency contains a built in radio transmitter that can emit the position of the wearer to enable rescue.
Breitling Emergency
As with all Breitling watches the Emergency is Swiss-built with a quartz movement. With this particular watch it is imperative that the battery is replaced at the intervals designated by the EOL (end of life) indicator and by an authorised dealer to ensure the function of the transmitter in an emergency situation. This should certainly not deter from the purchase of the watch as battery life is three years and the watch has an international 2 year manufacturer warranty.
In terms of style the Breitling Emergency has flexible choices at purchase. Available with a strap of steel, titanium, white or yellow gold or diver’s pro rubber and with a face in yellow black, blue or orange which is clear and easy to read, with a professional appearance. The functions include a perpetual calendar, chronograph and alarm. The Breitling Emergency Co-Pilot model also features a secondary display, located on the bracelet. This displays local time, take off and landing time.
The exclusive feature of this watch is the microtransmitter which broadcasts on the 121.5 MHz aircraft emergency frequency. In the event of a crash or forced landing the transmitter is activated by unscrewing the protective cap and pulling out the antenna. The watch will broadcast the signal constantly for 48 hours and can be received by aircraft at a distance of 100 miles, flying at an altitude of 6000 metres. While pilots have no wish to test the effectiveness of this feature two British pilots can attest to its performance. After crashing their helicopter and activating their Breitling Emergency watch transmitters the pair were rescued from their lifeboat in Antarctica by a Chilean Otter aircraft that received the emergency signal from the watches.