Sat 27 Jun 2009
Breitling SuperOcean Heritage 46 & 38
Posted by The Breitling Source under Breitling , Watch Reviews[12] Comments
Recently, I bought both the SuperOcean Heritage 46 and 38 watches for my Fiance and myself as wedding gifts. We are getting married on July 11, 2009, and wanted to have a couple of Breitlings to commemorate the occasion. Since Much of my recent life has revolved around watches and Breitling more specifically, we felt matching Breitling watches were the way to go.
So I set about finding an AD that offered a good price for the purchase, which I did. The SuperOcean Heritage 46 in Black is a very popular watch, and the wait time on that watch is approximately 6 weeks, which is what it finally took for the watch to arrive. But it sure was worth the wait!
They are truly stunning watches, with a very business-black dial and presence on the wrist. Case and bracelet craftmanship is of the typical high Breitling quality. The Specs are as follows:
SuperOcean Heritage 46
Diameter: 46mm
Movement: Breitling Caliber 17
Water Resistance: 200m
More Info Link
SuperOcean Heritage 38
Diameter: 38mm
Movement: Breitling Caliber 37
Water Resistance: 200m
More Info Link
The SuperOcean Heritage 38 is a bit small for me, but to be quite honest, I think that is more than big enough for many wrists. It is slightly small by today’s standards, and while a men’s watch, we decided that it would be a good watch for my fiance as it would match very well with mine. It is a bit large on her wrist, but looks quite nice still.
Here is a nice close up of the dial detail. You will notice that one of the Lume Dots is slightly off-centre. It isn’t noticeable to the naked eye really, but under a loupe or zoom up in a good macro shot its easy to see. Otherwise the dial is immaculate. You can see the slight bluish hue that comes from the double Anti-reflective coating on the Sapphire Crystal.
A nice Bokeh shot with the SOH 46 in the foreground. I think these photographs turned out quite nice, with a slight bit of overexposure. The mesh bracelet is very cool, and fits VERY comfortably on the wrist. It is the most comfortable bracelet that Breitling has made, in my opinion. While the style of the mesh might take a while to really appreciate, the comfort is noticeable immediately.
Bezel clicks very solidly and reeks of quality, as does the crown movement and case machining. Given the price of these watches, I do appreciate them better than the price I would have had to pay for matching Rolex Datejust watches. I probably paid just over half of what a matching pair of all-steel Datejust watches would have costed, and the mens watch would only be 36mm. However, the woman’s datejust does look better for women, I believe.
Here is a shot of the engraving done on the side of the watch. additionally we had our names engraved on the back in an arch, which turned out quite nicely as well. The case-side engraving was a really cool touch, and feels a bit more permanent than the engraving on the caseback, which is something that we liked about it.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Loved your comments. Just bought the men’s Avenger 46 in Aruba after shopping a lot of stores and watches. I also own a Cockpit with mother of pearl face which I love. Did not know about this special edition and my wife, brother-in-law and sister-in-law spotted this one, I was looking at another model. Good idea on the engraving and congrats on your wedding and wishing you many years of happiness,
July 13th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
As an Art Director of a Design Company, I really like your shots. Since I was circa 20 years old, errr some 30 years ago, I have always been a Rolex fan and have owned almost every Rolex in the range, I remember my first Daytona with a Zeneth movement that I purchesed for circa £5500 that I have recently seen for sale for over £8500. Problem is, I bought it as I loved the design and felt that I would own something almost unique. When I went out to eat the weekend of my new purchase, I was thrilled to be sporting my graet new Rolex. You can guess what I am going to say can’t you? For a watch so much in demand and so short of supply, I must have counted atleast 4 other guys with the identical watch, only difference is, I did’nt own the Ferarri outside. Anyway, I recently sold my lovely Rolex GMT Master 2 as I got fed up with the green second time zone hand and am now watchless. I have been carefully searching to firnd something that I really like and have tried on the Heritige Chrono on the metal strap, I think it is beautiful, then I started looking more in to Breitling watches and also like the Blackbird, O and theCronomat with the black dial with silver sub dials, I also love the simplicity and elegance of the 46. I am still trying to decide. But soon I will be joining the Breitling team and leaving my roots forever. Unless that is that Rolex bring out a new larger Sub. Hust to say that I wish you and your Wife a very happy and healthy future together. Guess you must be on your honeymoon right now.
July 15th, 2009 at 4:06 am
Thank you very much! I am writing this from a hotel in Thailand.
Actually, Rolex has brought out a larger sub in the new SeaDweller Deepsea. It is very large, and very nice!
Having said that, I am more of a Breitling Guy overall than I am a Rolex guy and personally think the design of the Chronomat and Blackbirds are superior, especially when the new B01 movement makes its way into more models.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:17 am
I have a superocean heritage 46, damn fine watch.
July 28th, 2009 at 6:23 am
I loved your comments.
I just bought my Heritage 46 black/steel bracelet last week and been utterly happy ever since.
Now, my story begins with getting the Emergency(yellow dial/titatnium strap) in 2005 for my graduation present from my lovely mUm
Ever since I followed toys for big boys Breitling was the benchmark of watch craftsmanship to my knowledge.
Nevertheless, after a lot of traveling and interaction with unique & obsessed individuals for horology and wrist timing, I became educated meticulously about several other brands which even worsened my watch addiction more.
They’re 1)IWC 2) AP 3) Patek 4)Vacheron.C 5) Panerai 6) Zenith 7)Glassute 8)Breguet 9)Jager Lecoultre and etc…
Not that I didn’t know these brands, but frankly I had no idea, just like the mass population when they address exclusive watches just as same as a 50$ Swatch
(perhaps they might be politicaly correct).
But started to study their sheer elements and philosophy, and at the end, I felt most comfortable and soul-mated with IWC.
Now I don’t how just felt after reading the last sentence, but to my view IWC just completes Breitlings existence and sculptures it by many means.
Hence, it did intrigued me when I read Richard said “I am still trying to decide. But soon I will be joining the Breitling team and leaving my roots forever.”
Just when I lost faith in this weird feeling that I have, he proved me wrong.You see I generally felt that those who wear Rolex, will prejudicely stay with it and never discover the beauty of the huge choices.
I don’t have any personal agenda really about Rolex, it’s just the fact that it’s TOO recognized and isn’t kept exclusive in terms of image and opulence.
All my mid level managers in the company as soon as they get their first raise they quickly rush for a typical gmt or submarine and change their car’s finance from VW to AUDI
It was always hard to digest the same routine that everybody follows.
I say , since there are more than 100 proper watchmakers, why do the mass have end up choosing the MASS PRODUCER.
Lets not get dragged away, shall we..
Bottom line, it took a big courage to sell my gift watch and put a big chunk of my beloved savings on the top and buy the IWC BIG PILOT which is the flagship with 7 day power reserve 46.2 mm.
For me, no other watch gave me the best feeling when I was trying on most available watches when buying.( I’m talking about Selfridges & Harrods). Although I should add that I don’t do my shopping from there.
After all, I then decided to harm the Big Pilot less and keep it for special occasions and bring in a smaller sister that’d preserve the same size, and yet there is the Heritage 46
I confess, I did first wanted the Panerai new generation that comes in 47mm!!! but it was a serious purchase and would make no sense of buying a practical daily watch.
I hope you find my comment interesting!
Best wishes for you and your wife!
enjoy everyday of life as it’s precious!
Kind regards,
Sam
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Hey man congrats on the watches and not to forget your wedding. Hope you are doing great both ways !!
I have decided to gift my self a breitling for my birthday which is 3 weeks away. I am very confused b/w the SOH CHRONOGRAPH and the Super avenger with the new baton markers.
Off late reading the reviews online and seeing the pictures, the wire mesh bracelet and the understated elegance of the SOHC is slowly seducing me….on the other hand, the sheer size of the super avenger is hard to dismiss straight up !!
i tried both of them at a local AD and yet no verdict…..got a few suggestions , it going to be my first breitling giving company to my panerai and AP RO
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Thanks!
If it is your first Breitling, I would suggest the Super Avenger since it is probably becoming one of the more iconic Breitling models. The SOH is a beautiful watch, and arguably has close to just as much wrist presence, however the Super Avenger serves a purpose, and that is sheer size and wow-factor, and as far as that goes, very few watches can compete with it in that area.
The SOH to me is more of a second Breitling than a first Breitling.
October 7th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
The Breitling Super Ocean Heritage has a really great retro look!
October 7th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
If you’re going to spam my blog to try and get people to your freeman jewelers site, at least post something with value.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:05 am
[...] 38 for my wife and myself as wedding gifts… we had them engraved and you can see that in an earlier post. This is the first of the reviews, looking at the 46mm Heritage on the Mesh Ocean Classic [...]
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:36 am
I too have a SOH 46 what a stunner it is I bought it Oct 2009 but these last three weeks it has started to gain 3 minutes each week. The first time it happened I naturally turned the watch back three minutes to the correct time, the second time it happened I stopped the watch for three minutes exactly using another highly accurate time piece, when I did this the date did not move on the next day, now it is happeneing again. Has anybody any ideas why this may be happening and does this watch need to go back to the Breitling dealer for tests or recalibration?
Maybe I have done something wrong by trying to correct it?
Any info or similar would be appreciated
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:32 am
The watch may have gotten magnetized, which can cause it to become unnaturally fast. As for the date, I’m not sure unless you tried to adjust the date between 9pm and 3am, which can damage the date wheel. Either way, the watch should be looked at by your dealer or a service centre.