The Return of Gallet Watches: A Look Inside the Launch Event in Vienna

Last week I was invited to the Gallet launch hosted by a local Breitling boutique. The event took place at the Butterfly House (Schmetterlinghaus), a tropical butterfly house inside Vienna’s beautiful Art Nouveau Palm House in the Burggarten, next to the Hofburg.

The Palm House was decorated with Gallet elements

Inside the Palm House

Exactly 200 years after the brand was established, Gallet is back with its first modern collection, and is now part of the Breitling “House of Brands”. The theme behind the relaunch is wanderlust, which I think feels very fitting for a brand with such a strong history of making watches for pilots and travellers. 

Between the checkpoints, there were also smaller stations with information about the brand and its new watches.

The staff dressed the part too.

It was also a hint for the dress code. When I realised I could just go in the outfit I was already wearing that day, I thought “wanderlust” might actually be a good word to describe my personal style. I usually call it relaxed and casual, but it’s also very practical. Ecru jeans and a jungle jacket, for example: in this outfit, you can go almost anywhere and do almost anything. Just change the footwear depending on where you’re going - exploring a city or heading out for a hike.

I was wearing vintage US Army Jungle jacket with ecru jeans and suede penny loafers

And Breitling Top Time B31 on a new orange leather strap

The new collection is heavily inspired by the brand’s historic models, but most of the models are modern reinterpretations, not vintage reissues.

Chronomat Automatic B31 40 from the side - it looks very sleek

Side profile of the Chronomat B01 42 Chronograph, where you can see ratio of bezel vs case vs caseback.

There were 3 stations inside the Palm house, first two were with watch display, to experience the new models and try them on, and the final checkpoint was the bar at the exit, where we could hang out, and snacks and drinks were available.

Trying on the Flying Officer Automatic 40. It’s a good size and wears well.

It was quite a unique experience to have only a few people inside the Palm House at a time. The butterflies seemed much more relaxed, flying around more freely rather than hiding away.

Multichron Pilot Chronograph 42. This one is a bit too big and chunky for my taste.

At each checkpoint we got a stamp.

The exception are the Gallet Classics, which are much more accurate remakes of specific historic models and stay very close to the original designs. And those are also the ones I like the most! The 38mm case just shows why most vintage watches have a unique charm and wear so well, and with Breitling’s movement and open caseback, I think this watch is a very sweet package.

Tribute to Silverlight on the left vs Tribute to Multichron 45 on the right

Tribute to Yachting Big Eye and a butterfly in the background

From the new models, I prefer the Flying Officer Automatic 40 and Multichron Sport Chronograph 41, but I really, really like the Classics. The 38mm case is a perfect size for a chronograph, and the display caseback adds a premium touch to the watch while also being a good way to show Breitling’s B09 movement inside. And after trying on the Classics, I think there aren’t many watches that fit my personal style as well as the Tribute to Multichron 45.

What are your thoughts on the new Gallet watches?

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