In November WatchPro unveiled its Watches of the Year 2013, made up of 10 winning timepieces and 90 highly commended watches that we felt boasted commercial appeal, innovation and had wowed consumers and retailers alike over the past 12 months.
Winner of the WatchPro Innovative Watch of the Year 2013 was the Breitling Emergency II.
When Breitling’s Emergency II launched in 2013 we bowed to its innovative rescue technology, which has come on leaps and bounds from the already impressive original.
The timepiece is the world’s first wristwatch with a dual frequency locator beacon, meaning it has a second transmitter to pinpoint the wearer’s location for search and rescue teams, making it more useful than ever for adventure seekers.
In addition to the original 121.5MHz transmitter, the Emergency II adds the new digital frequency of 406MHz, providing rescuers with more information with which to be able to track the wearer down.
This frequency permits the launch of a distress signal directly into space to reach low-altitude earth orbit geostationary satellites.
The distress signal, released by simply twisting off the transmitter cap and pulling out the antennae from both sides of the watch case, alternates between the 406MHz digital signal and the 121.5MHz analogue signal for a 24-hour period.
Its dual frequency transmitter is compliant with the specifications of the Cospas-Sarsat International satellite alert system and can both issue alerts and guide search and rescue missions, whether the wearer is floundering on land, at sea or in the air.
To ensure enough power to keep the emergency functions charged, Breitling has worked with a specialist to create a rechargeable battery. It’s not just the emergency functions on the watch that are bolder, so too is the size.
This version of the multifunction quartz chronograph has a 51mm diameter titanium case, which is a leap up from the 43mm original. All this comes with a choice of black, yellow or orange dial.
The Breitling Emergency II demonstrates just how useful and, in this case, life saving a watch can be – innovation at its best.
To read a digital version of the WatchPro Watches of the Year 2013 edition click here.
