The second thing I always look for when I am browsing watches online is the diameter of the watch. The first is to see if I like the design. Nowadays I don’t really take notice of anything under 42mm, if it’s over 46mm, that’s the best!
Thing is, not all 48mm watches are created equally. I’m going to compare two 48mm watches watches just to show you. Actually one is a 48.7mm, and the other is a 48.4mm watch. The two watches are the Breitling for Bentley Motors and Breitling Super Avenger, respectively. The Super Avenger is typically considered the largest watch in the Breitling Repetoire, however, I feel that the Flying B might be, though I do not own one to compare with… its a bit pricey for me! So I’ll have to compare some Super Avengers with the Bentley Motors.
As a side note, I should say that lighter dials also present a larger wrist presence than dark dials typically. So if you want the watch to appear bigger, go light!
Here is a side by side of the two for you to take a look at, notice that the size is quite similar. The depth of the Super Avenger gives it a look of thickness. It is, in fact thicker:
The Super Avenger is 18.6mm, and the Motors is 15.2mm. Quite a difference, and the difference gives both a very different look and feel on the wrist. The Super Avenger is much more noticeable and less comfortable to me.
As you see in the above picture, the Super Avenger (on the left) is much thicker. 3.4mm makes quite the difference on the wrist, and my first day wearing it I had to remove it from my wrist several times during the day simply because it wasn’t very comfortable. This was not the case with the Breitling for Bently Motors.
I’ll leave you with a couple of wrist shots, on my small 6.75″ wrist. So you guys get an idea of what either watch looks like on, and which you may prefer and other factors to consider besides diameter!
Here is the Breitling for Bentley Motors:
And here is the Super Avenger (this time in white):
Notice the Lug-to-Lug is much longer on the Super Avenger… that is a stat that many watches don’t give you, but can make a difference. Omega’s in general tend to have a very long lug-to-lug length. Hope you enjoyed the article!
Here’s a video analysis of a fake Breitling Chronomat Evolution that I did. This is a very convincing fake Chronomat Evolution. I tried to go over the inconsistancies of the fake, but it is very convincing. Without a fair bit of time spent with a real one most people would get duped by this copy.
I probably should have done a side by side of a real one just to compare but I hadn’t thought of it, but I no longer have this fake Breitling Chronomat Evo in my posession. Hope this helps, guys!
IWC Watches have always held a special place for me… they have that men’s no-nonsense thing going on, and really make a nice, simple functional watch. They are the only company that is a manufacture and also makes many watches that suit my personal style. However, I do not own any of them. Why? Because they are simply too small.
I draw the line at 42mm. I do not buy any watches smaller than 42mm anymore simply because I won’t wear them. I still have some, such as my Navitimer and Chronomat that are under 42mm, and I wear the Navi, but not the Chronomat. IWC’s watches at their largest were 43mm with the Ingenieur, and that just simply did not cut it. I believe their Aquatimer Cousteau edition also was a bit larger like 44mm or something, but did not fancy paying the premium for it.
I’ve always wanted an IWC with their Manufacture movement, which is why I liked the 42mm Portuguese with the seven day power reserve. The Ref 5001. Caliber 50010 IWC movement.
Enter the IWC Big Ingenieur
A 45.5mm Ingenieur with a power reserve indicator. Utilizing a Calibre 51112 Movement also with a seven day power reserve! Wow. My dream watch.
Very nice. Utilizing the IWC Pellaton winding system, and … in case you missed it.. 7 day power reserve! This is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) automatic movements in production. Watch comes on Rubber or Crocodile, and not stainless in this size unfortunately.
I might have to settle for the new 44mm Ingenieur Automatic on steel, but only if they add a Chronograph to it. It looks a bit too plain without any subdials. The 44mm Ingenieur does not have the seven day movement, unfortunately!
The new 602HP 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed has a brand new Breitling Clock in it… which is very cool for new prospective Continental GT owners. As a Breitling Enthusiast, I think it’s really cool that there is now an applied logo on the Breitling Clock that’s in all the new Continental GT Speed models!
The Breitling script that adorned previous models is gone, now replaced with the applied Winged B Logo in Gold with silver-plated hands. There is no second hand.
Here is the old Breitling clock in the Bentley Continental GT:
And the new Breitling clock in the Bentley Continental GT Speed:
I think the new one is a significant improvement over the last one. I haven’t been able to find any information on the clock itself. I assume it uses some sort of Breitling Quartz movement… not like the instrument clocks in aircraft.
Maybe it’s my age, or the age of people around me now, but it seems like the whole world has been struck with automatic watch fever. All my friends around me have slowly become interested in the world of watches and I’m meeting more and more people with the same addiction and enthusiam to watches that I have!
My father has gotten into Breitlings as well having two peices that I picked up for him, with his friends getting into the Breitling brand. One of our friends that owns a Bentley Continental GT just bought a Breitling for Bentley Mark VI. Other friends of ours are now getting into the hobby and I’m finding that all my friends are asking me to help them pick up deals on certain watches on the secondary watch market. Its quite remarkable really.
Even small brands like Fossil are making automatics, with entry levels brands like Invicta creating increasingly expensive watches, and even making Swiss made watches. Invictas watches are very well made, but their involvement with Chinese made watches cheapens their brand in my opinion.
Antiquorum, the market leader in Watch Auctions broke 8 world records with a sale of $9,283,000US. Rolex sales broke record after record, and the future of watch collecting looks extremely promising. Even pocket watches, that I picked up on ebay a year ago would cost me double what I paid now! Now is the time to buy watches, as they will continue to cost more and more.
Being outside of the US, its very beneficial for us to buy our watches from the US right now, as there is such a significant discount from the lower US dollar.
Ask around.. you might notice an increase in watch enthuisiats around you. I certainly do!
I have just posted a new video review of the Schaumburg Lindburgh & Benson Aquamatic COSC Certified watch. Really nice watch, with fantastic wrist presence.
The L&B Schaumburg Aquamatic watch really stands out from the wrist and has a neat military look to it. Goes super deep and has a helium valve like any good diver watch.
Got another vintage Breitling Identification question from a visitor… any help would be appreciated! The question goes like this:
“I recently purchased this ladies Breitling watch that I am trying to find information on. Here are the markings I can see on it: It has a very unique gold case 7/8″ square (art deco looking) marked PLAQUE G 20. The dial face is 1/2″ Dia and is marked with a stylized B BREITLING GENEVE SWISS it is black with gold markings and hands.
The back looks like steel and is marked with the stylized B BREITLING 5519 on the outside and FOND ACIER INOXYDABLE 742452 MOD DEPOSE F.F.M (and some other no’s scratched in probably by a repair man that are hard to see) on the inside. There is a metal cover over the movement, the movement is marked with a stylized B and BREITLING. It has been almost impossible to find any info, any information would be greatly appreciated.”
Here are the photos, and some insight in addition to the video review that was posted earlier.
The Breitling for Bentley Motors is my favourite watch, and probably draws the most looks and remarks… some for its sheer size, and some for it’s beauty.
With the distinctive Knurled Bezel that is a Bentley trademark, the watch does not go unnoticed, and the wide, shallow dial gives extremely easy reading with a bold statement in style. Applied stainless steel indexes and a gloss white dial, guilloche subdials all add to the elegance of the watch.
The beautiful large applied wings logo looks fantastic in the 12 o’clock position, and inside beats a 30 second chronograph which is more accurate than your standard chronos. Subseconds are located at 3 o’clock. Slide rule bezel with inner gear system that allows the watch to be more water resistant white still using the inner bezel and without the inconvenience of using a crown to turn the inner bezel like the IWC Aquatimer and Sinn 903.
The back of the watch is simple, with the model and some text engraved. Serial number and model numbers as well. The Breitling Bentley 6.75 has a much nicer caseback, and I wish this one did too.. but oh well!
But as you can see from the shot above, its all about wrist presence and class… and the Breitling for Bentley Motors has them both! This watch looks incredible on the wrist with it’s enourmous size yet maintains a level of class rarely associated with wrist clocks of this size such as the Breitling Super Avenger which tends to be less class, more bling/sporty.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures and short review of the Breitling Bentley Motors watch!
