Emergency Watch

Breitling have pioneered the emergency watch; that is to say a watch with a built in emergency transmitter that can be activated in serious circumstances. Breitling produce both a civilian version of the emergency watch that transmits on 121.5 MHz (the universal distress frequency) and a military version of the emergency watch that transmits on 243 MHz (the military distress frequency). This emergency watch is an astonishing piece of technology that can be detected over 90 nautical miles away from the actual transmitter, which aids search and rescue in locating you should you have an accident. Breitling sell their emergency watch to anyone but if you are not a pilot you must sign a disclaimer that states you will pay any costs incurred by emergency services the world over should you inadvertently activate the transmitter and search and rescue should be dispatched to aid you. Other manufacturers have now started producing their own versions of the emergency watch so if you are in the market for some added security that could save your life perhaps you should consider one of these unique timepieces.

The emergency watch proved how useful it could be in a dire situation when it was demonstrated in a real life rescue in 2003. Steve Brooks and Hugh Quentin-Smith crashed their helicopter in the cold, dark waters 100 miles from the coast of Antarctica. They climbed aboard their life raft and activated their emergency watch, this allowed rescue helicopters to home in on their signal. Steve Brooks called his wife using a satellite phone to raise the alarm and the search and rescue helicopter was able to locate the two lucky individuals far quicker than normal thanks to their unique timepieces. A Chilean Otter aircraft also came to their aid after hearing the distress beacon transmitting on 121.5 MHz from their watches, as you can see thanks to their timepieces plenty of help was at hand as quickly as possible.

There is no doubting that an emergency watch can indeed save your life. That is not to say these kind of timepieces that are equipped with transmitters are for everyone but if you have an interest in extreme sports or some kind of hobby that puts you in harms way such as sailing or mountaineering they may be worth purchasing; although they broadcast on the international aviation distress frequency this is constantly monitored and is not only useful to pilots; if you are in the wilderness the most likely thing to pick up your signal is in fact an aircraft. Added to this the fact that rescuers can home in on the signal the watch transmits and you can be sure you are in safe hands.