This watch, No. 34, is part of a limited edition of 100 examples produced by Breitling in 1996. Leon Breitling at the age of 20 was already a watchmaker of great talent. He established a workshop in 1884, produced a chronograph in his name, and continued developing his interest for watches with complications. In 1892, he moved to Chaux-de-Fonds where he died in 1914. The company succeeded to his son Gaston and later to his grandson Willy. Since both had a passion for aeronautics, several navigation instruments were at that time produced by the company. Breitling, closely linked to various sports events, always reflected this interest in its productions. In 1970, a new impetus was given to the company by the industrialist Ernest Schneider, specialist in electronics and pilot, but who also looked to another sport, sailing. Together with Eric Tabarly, he launched a series of watches for skippers and divers. Among the most striking designs, the Navitimer was presented again in Basel in 1992, in a more compact version, using a chronograph module of 26,20 mm. In 1998, Breitling sponsored the launching of a balloon from Chateau-d'Oex in Switzerland, which attempted for the first ti me the non-stop world tour with such an aerostat. Breitling together with Bertrand Piccard (grandson of Auguste, renowned Swiss physicist, and son of Jacques) and his team, undertook the technical and electronical management of this highly important world tour. At the "Salon International des Inventions" in Geneva, in 1992, Breitling sponsor ed an exhibition of the total scientific material of the greatest stratospheric explorations of the Piccard Family, from 1932 to the transatlantic expedition of 1992.