Everything you need to know about the stealth red carpet tease and Breitling’s new Top Time B31 watch — as seen on Austin Butler’s wrist
In the space of a month, Breitling has signed Austin Butler as a brand ambassador, launched a new collection and snapped up a dormant brand.


March has been a busy month for Breitling: Last week it confirmed the long-rumoured acquisition of dormant brand Gallet, a storied watchmaker that it intends to revive and reposition as an entry-level luxury sibling. Now, the brand has announced the arrival of actor Austin Butler as its latest brand ambassador. Although for watch fans, that’s not the most exciting part.
The star of Elvis, Dune 2 and Masters Of The Air was photographed two weeks ago at Paris Fashion week — where dedicated watch geeks were able to look past his smouldering gaze and loose Saint Laurent tailoring to spot a Breitling on his wrist that didn’t seem to exist anywhere else in the world.



The stealth red carpet tease has become a bit of a staple trope in recent years, perfected by Omega and Daniel Craig, who in his post-Bond era has affected a ‘who, me?’ air of innocence while carefully showing just enough of an unreleased watch to set the internet alight. Now Breitling is in on the act, and we can reveal that Butler’s watch is in fact the first of a brand new collection, the Top Time B31.
Breitling introduced the Top Time chronograph in 1964 as an alternative to its established lines of pilot’s watches and marketed it at the nascent muscle car generation. It remained in the range until the company ceased operations in 1979; when it was revived in 1982 the Top Time was deemed surplus to requirements. In 2020, the name was revived, once again on a line of chronographs aimed at petrolheads.
This new model marks the addition of a simple time-only design to the Top Time line. Available in three dial colours — green, blue and white, each available on a stainless steel bracelet or leather strap — they will cost £4,550 for leather and £4,850 for the bracelet. Measuring 38mm across and water-resistant to 100m, the range also marks the introduction of a brand new automatic movement, Calibre B31.
Perhaps surprisingly, this is the first simple, non-chronograph movement Breitling has designed and built in-house in its 140-year history. Recently, it has relied on movements sourced from rival brand Tudor under a deal struck in 2017, whereby in return for Tudor’s time-only calibres, it would sell Tudor its B01 in-house chronograph for use in its Black Bay models. Now, with an automatic movement all of its own and a growth strategy that will soon involve multiple brands, that deal may be about to run its course.
US President Harry S. Truman poses with his Gallet Flying Officer in Miami in 1949 — a gift from two members of his Senate staff
Breitling, under the leadership of CEO Georges Kern and with the energetic backing of private equity investors Partners Group, is on an ambitious path that will eventually see it sit at the heart of a watch brand conglomerate to rival Richemont or Swatch Group. In 2023 it announced that it had bought up Universal Genève, another highly respected Swiss watch brand that had drifted into irrelevance. Last year, it showed the first hints of a product line-up that will see Universal revive references popular with vintage collectors, and confirmed that it will sit above Breitling’s core price point as a more exclusive and refined brand.
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Gallet, which like Universal is best known for its chronograph watches of the 1950s and 60s, will be positioned slightly beneath Breitling in price, offering a more entry-level option. Kern has confirmed that it will be stocked alongside Breitling in its boutiques, while Universal Genève will have its own separate retail operation. Expect revivals of models like the Flying Officer and Multichron Clamshell chronograph, tool watches that Gallet introduced during the Second World War.
Chris Hall is a freelance writer and editor specialising in watches and luxury. Formerly Senior Watch Editor for Mr Porter, his work has been published in the New York Times, Financial Times, Esquire, Wired, Wallpaper* and many other titles. He is also the founder of The Fourth Wheel, a weekly newsletter dedicated to the world of watches.
-
Vertigo at Victoria Falls, a sunset surrounded by lions and swimming in the Nile: A journey from Cape Town to Cairo
Why do we travel and who inspires us to do so? Chris Wallace went in search of answers on his own epic journey the length of Africa.
By Christopher Wallace
-
A gorgeous Scottish cottage with contemporary interiors on the bonny banks of the River Tay
Carnliath on the edge of Strathtay is a delightful family home set in sensational scenery.
By James Fisher
-
Athena: We need to get serious about saving our museums
The government announced that museums ‘can now apply for £20 million of funding to invest in their future’ last week. But will this be enough?
By Country Life
-
Materials, textures, construction, expression: A Brutalist watch on your wrist
Luxury watchmakers are seeking to bridge the gap between two contrasting styles, with exciting results.
By Chris Hall
-
Folio, Folio, wherefore art thou Folio? Shakespeare set to be auctioned by Sotheby's
Four Folios will be auctioned in London on May 23, with an estimate of £3.5–£4.5 million for 'the most significant publication in the history of English literature'.
By Lotte Brundle
-
Curators, art historians and other creative minds share their pick of J. M. W Turner's best works, on the 250th anniversary of his birth
Cold moonlight, golden sunset and shimmering waters are only three reasons to love Turner. On the 250th anniversary of his birth, curators, art historians and other creative minds reveal which of his paintings they’d hang on their walls and why.
By Carla Passino
-
Boxy but foxy: How the humble Fiat Panda became motoring's least-likely design classic
Gianni Agnelli's Fiat Panda 4x4 Trekking is currently for sale with RM Sotheby's.
By Simon Mills
-
The coveted Hermès Birkin bag is a safer investment than gold — and several rare editions are being auctioned off by Christie’s
There are only 200,000 Birkin bags in circulation which has helped push prices of second-hand ones up.
By Lotte Brundle
-
Ford Focus ST: So long, and thanks for all the fun
From November, the Ford Focus will be no more. We say goodbye to the ultimate boy racer.
By Matthew MacConnell
-
Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style: A whistle-stop history, from the Roman Baths to Hampstead Heath
Emma Hughes dives into swimming's hidden depths at the Design Museum's exhibit in London.
By Emma Hughes