The Breitling Watch Blog

New Straps reviews have been posted at Paneraisource… some really nice straps have been posted. TWB – The Watch Boys, Zeugma, Strapluxe and a new Heroic18 review have been posted.

New reviews a continually being posted here, so keep your eyes peeled! Also look for updated reviews on older existing reviews as new straps are always being reviewed!

Paneraisource Aftermarket Strap Reviews

I picked up this watch a while back, but hadn’t gotten around to posting a short review on it. GJVB is a small swiss watch company that makes their cases and fits them with Valjoux 7750 Chronograph movements. All their watches use some variation of the 775x series of movements, and they all use the same case with different dial and hand combinations.

This one is the Sports model with white dial. One of the nicest features of this watch is the fine black out-lined hands, which looks fantastic against the white dial. The case measures a modest (by today’s standards) 40mm diameter, but is plenty wide enough for my wrist size and in fact is quite well suited to me.

The bracelet is all stainless as well, as I prefer the bracelet over the strap models. It seems like no matter how much I try to get into strapped watches, the bracelet always calls me back. Aside from Panerais and serious solid gold dress watches, I can’t get used to any other watches on straps. The fully polished case on the Von Burg goes very well with the watch, giving it some presence, but still a very understated overall appearance.

The body, while only 40mm in diameter, is quite long so sits bigger on the wrist than many 40mm watches do. Lume is very strong, with numbers and three central hands all glowing. Day-date is typical Valjoux 7750 configuration, and works correctly. Not much else to say other than at secondary market pricing around $500 for this watch is a fantastic deal. Quite a bit more satisfying than many other Hamilton and other brands of Valjoux 7750 watches for some reason. The quality of the bracelet is quite good. I’ve always felt that Hamilton lacked in that area a bit.

Archimede launches a new Big(gish) Pilot, the 45mm Automatic pilot, using a automatic swiss ETA 2824-2 Movement. Sort of an in-between size as it is smaller than most of the BP watches that are a 47mm diameter, and bigger than the 42mm varieties. I personally find the 42mm a good size, though a bit more diameter wouldn’t hurt. The 47mm I do find a bit big for my wrists and tastes, so this Archimede might be on my radar, even though I have quite enough pilot watches for now.

Finally got a video review of my IWC AMG Ingenieur up. This is my favourite travel and all-purpose watch. It does not draw any attention and looks great. The only complaint that I have is possibly that it looks too sporty with a suit and the dark grey of the titanium is a bit clashing with most other types of jewelry such as wedding rings, etc. However, it does make an excellent sports watch and while being made of titanium, still weighs a big more than most Titanium watches that I’ve owned.

For Christmas in 2008, I decided to get my Fiance (Girlfriend at the time) a Tiffany watch, but wasn’t really into the newer styles that Tiffany had made for ladies. I wanted a classic style, and did not want to pay typical exorbitant Tiffany pricing, so I searched online.

I stumbled upon this Men’s tank-style watch which now seems an acceptable size for women, and promptly purchased it for my Girlfriend. Turns out there was extensive damage to the caseback where a previous owner gouged out an engraving, at least that is my guess. Also there was much debris in the dial which I had to clean out. I finally buffed and polished the watch and it was looking like new, aside from the caseback which would never be completely restored.

I really liked the final outcome and my fiance loves it as well. Here is a short video review of the watch, enjoy!

Well, full sized is a relative term. Back in the day, 36mm was full sized. Now, 42mm is the minimum that many would consider full sized. For me, 42mm is perfect size.

Enter the new Chronoswiss Chronoscope CM – a Regulator layout, with Mono-pusher Chronograph movement, based on the good ol Enicar that they love so much over there. Caliber C125 movement, and case measures a healthy 42.5mm in diameter! Finally a classic looking Chronoswiss with a big case. The timemaster was big enough, but the dial was not to my liking.

The watch is available in both Rose Gold and Stainless steel variations, and like most Chronoswiss watches has a Sapphire display back. At any rate, the movement is a unique modification by Chronoswiss, and the size is great. Combined with the unique and quintessentially Chronoswiss dial, this watch will be on my short-list.

When A. Lange releases a new watch, it is always of interest as they always do something unique, and the Lange Zeitwork is no exception. This watch has unique Jump hour and Jump minute complications, displayed “digitally” on the dial. The small seconds is located at 6 o’clock and the power reserve indicator is at 12. Healthy size of 42mm in diameter with a thickness of 12.5mm. The dial is solid sterling silver and the crystal is sapphire. This watch has an incredible parts count of 388 parts, with typical A. Lange & Sohne attention to detail.

Movement: Lange caliber L043.1
Manual Winding
66 jewels
18,000 vph
Power Reserve 36 hours
388 parts
18kt white, rose or yellow gold or platinum

Jean-Frédéric Dufour is the new President and CEO for Zenith SA as of June 1, 2009. Philippe Pascal, LVMH President, named Dufour the new Zenith President and CEO and comes to Zenith since being at Chopard since 2001. He replaces Theirry Nataf, who held the position previously.

Zenith has undergone a large number of changes since Nataf took over so it will be interesting to see what kind of direction the company takes under the direction of Dufour.