May 2008


My good friend Norman aka “Nubo” has posted a great review on the hunky chunky Marathon CSAR. Marathon is a Canadian company that produces products for military and other such entities. The Marathon CSAR is a huge watch, 47mm in diameter, and looks almost as big as a Breitling Super Avenger, but much more tool watch in character. Almost like a big Fortis. Enjoy Norman’s review!

One of the more knowledgeable but new members of the Breitlingsource forums, Bere4421 recently visited Baselworld 2008 in Switzerland and took some pics when he was there of the beautiful Breitling Booth. Again the fishes were back, and the massive booth does not fail to amaze.

Here is the shot he took of the Front corner with the nice Breitling Logo:
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The obligatory Breitling Logo closeup shot:
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Nice shot of the fishtank:
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The Breitling showroom had 4 floors, a bar and a full restaurant.. bloody amazing. That’s where all the money from our watches goes!

See the full post here:
http://www.breitlingsource.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2894

Here’s a video review of a Breitling Super Avenger White dial that I did. This is the first generation of Super Avenger… it went through one change with the Pro II and larger Applied Wings logo, and next years model will lose the arabics and have trapezoidal indices instead.

The Super Avenger is a hulking watch and after some consideration, I decided that it is not the watch for me. Too big, though maybe one day I will wish I had one again!

The IWC Portuguese is one of the most recognizable classics in the IWC line of watches, having changed very little from generation to generation, though new variations have been coming out such as the F.A. Jones, 7 Day 5000 series Portuguese with the Pellaton winding system, and the new Regulateur Portuguese. The Portuguese Chrono is probably the most commonly seen variation of this IWC, and also the entry level model.

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The one I have here is a Steel case, with Opaline dial and Gold Arabics and hands. The Chronograph hands are blued steel to differentiate them from the ones that tell the time. The movement is a modified Valjoux 7750 which IWC calls the Caliber 79350. The date wheel has been removed, and the seconds subdial moved from the 9 o’clock position to the 6 o’clock position. The movement is also the all gold-colored version of the Valjoux 7750 as you can see below.

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The dial is a beautiful peice of work, with Guilloche subdials and finely lacquered writing, and the three-peice case is very well crafted. The bezel is polished stainless steel with a domed Sapphire Crystall, and the case and caseback are mostly Brushed Stainless. The Crocodile strap that came with it is on the thin side, but still quite serviceable. The only thing the watch is missing is a Date, but the dial would likely suffer from the addition of a date window.

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A rear shot:

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The case is 41mm in diameter, almost the same size as the Breitling Navitimer, and it wears very similarly as well. The style of the watch lends itself to the slightly older consumer as it is less sporty and more classic. Overall, an impeccable peice, with tons of history and style. Wearing the IWC brand tells those around you that you are a watch aficionado, not just a casual wearer.

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Diameter: 41.5mm
Case: 3-Peice Stainless Steel
Strap: Crocodile
Crystal: Sapphire
Movement: IWC Caliber 79350

Video:

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