When Breitling‘s then-owner Ernest Schneider put the brief to the Frecce Tricolori in the early ’80s, it was essentially impossible: build a watch that could survive a cockpit, tolerating forces up to 20G and nearly triple what the human body can endure, while remaining polished enough to wear at a formal dinner. The Italian Air Force’s elite aerobatics team needed something that functioned as a precision instrument in the air and said something about the person wearing it on the ground. The result was released in 1984 for Breitling’s centennial, and named by combining “chronograph” and “automatic.” The world was introduced to the Chronomat: a watch that refused to choose between tool and icon, and became both.

That origin story rightfully casts a long shadow over the 2026 relaunch. The Chronomat’s identity has always been defined by the tension between performance and presence, which is precisely why Erling Haaland makes sense as a face for it. “I like things that mean something,” the Manchester City striker tells Hypebeast, as he begins preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. “Things with character. This watch has that. It’s built for people who push themselves, and I think in football I’m a little bit like that too. I always want to see how far I can go.” The Norwegian footballer has spent the past several seasons redefining what the position demands, building a version of the striker’s role that’s simultaneously more physically extreme and more technically considered than what came before it. The parallel isn’t decorative.

The 2026 collection comprises 22 pieces across three references, covering both men’s and women’s models and building on the 2020 redesign that brought the watch back to its 1980s design language. CEO Georges Kern frames the update with characteristic directness: the new Chronomat refines what made it iconic, evolving the design while keeping it true to its identity. Haaland follows a similar philosophy as a high-level athlete; his game evolves, but he never loses what makes him effective. “You always want to improve and get better, but you also can’t forget who you are,” he explains, “I always want to keep that hunger, that energy, that instinct. That’s a big part of me.”

The “Feel the Detail” campaign, starring Haaland alongside Austin Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo, takes that philosophy literally. Shot in macro, it invites the viewer into the watch through its essential components rather than its overall silhouette. The rider tabs, interlocking cylindrical links of the Rouleaux bracelet, the crown guard — the details that have defined the Chronomat since the Frecce Tricolori first strapped it on before takeoff. Football, at its highest level, is the same. “The small things are everything,” Haaland shares. “Sometimes people only see the goals, but there’s so much behind it, how you train, how you recover, how you prepare, even how you think. I’m always looking at those little details because that’s what helps you stay at the top.”

The most significant engineering development in the 2026 collection is one most wearers will never consciously notice. The Chronomat has moved from a semi-integrated bracelet to a fully integrated case and bracelet design, a shift that tightens the visual relationship between the two and creates a more unified profile on the wrist. The challenge with integration, as any watchmaker will tell you, is that it typically compromises strap interchangeability: a deeply integrated case limits options for swapping to leather or rubber. Breitling’s solution is to conceal the lugs behind the case entirely, keeping alternative straps a viable option while achieving the cleaner silhouette. It’s the kind of detail that takes considerable engineering to make invisible.

“I always want to keep that hunger, that energy, that instinct. That’s a big part of me.”

Equally considered is the patented micro-adjustment system on the Rouleaux bracelet, available across steel and two-tone models. It allows the wearer to extend the bracelet by one link on each side of the concealed butterfly clasp while the watch is on the wrist, a direct response to the real-world conditions that affect fit: temperature, altitude, pressure, the difference between a wrist at rest and a wrist in motion. The Frecce Tricolori understood that problem in 1984, and the 2026 Chronomat solves it mechanically.

The three references cover the full range of what the Chronomat can be. The B01 42 is the chronograph anchor of the collection, its case thickness reduced from 15.1mm to 13.77mm without sacrificing presence, powered by the COSC-certified Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01 with approximately 70 hours of power reserve. The Automatic B31 40, at 10.99mm deep and running on the Caliber B31 introduced in 2025 with approximately 78 hours of reserve, marks the first time a time-and-date Chronomat has been offered in a 40mm size. The Automatic 36, powered by the COSC-certified Caliber 10, runs at 9.68mm and covers a range extending from clean stainless steel dials through to mother-of-pearl with lab-grown diamond-set bezels.

Haaland understands the problem differently. He and Manchester City are deep in a title race with Arsenal, managing the accumulation of pressure that only the final weeks of a Premier League season can produce, while carrying something larger on his shoulders: Norway‘s first World Cup campaign since 1998. A country that watched its golden era of the 1990s fade without ever arriving at the biggest stage is finally going back, and the person who got them there wasn’t even born when they last joined. “It means a lot. For me, for the team, for the whole country,” he says. “Norway has waited a long time for this, so to be part of that is special. But we don’t just want to go there, we want to do something.”

The squad Haaland will take to that tournament is a rarity in football: a generational convergence. 27-year-old Martin Ødegaard, the creative engine of Arsenal’s title challenge, and 21-year-old Antonio Nusa, one of the most exciting young wide players in Europe, arrive alongside him at the biggest stage simultaneously. These are three players who have come up through the Norwegian ranks together and know each other as teammates and as people. “We have a good group,” Haaland says, “not just good players but good people. A squad that has grown up together and are good friends. There’s belief growing, and that’s important. In football anything can happen if you stay together, work hard, and enjoy it.” It’s the squad dynamic that tends to matter most in tournament football, and it’s the kind that can’t be assembled in a transfer window.

With a title race, a World Cup, and a country waiting, Haaland has learned to read pressure. “I actually enjoy it. These are the moments you dream about as a kid,” he says. “I just love football. I love competing, scoring goals, winning games. When you love it that much, the motivation is always there. Of course there are hard days too, but those are usually the days that make you better.”

Breitling’s Chronomat collection runs from $5,950 USD to $49,900 USD, available at Breitling boutiques worldwide and Breitling online.