The Breitling Watch Blog

Eterna has always been a watch brand that I’ve liked, and I have owned several over the years, hoping that one day they would again create something as innovate as the ball bearing rotor and again revolutionalize the watchmaking world. They have just announced their new Spherodrive movement, the in-house Caliber 3505, which uses a brand new ball-bearing mounted spring barrel. While Eterna has begun manufacturing and designing their own movements in-house, they have not hung back and simply re-invented the wheel, with many of their new designs they are incorporating new ideas and new ways of helping us tell time. Eterna is poised to be another Watchmaking powerhouse – at least I think so.. but I’m biased since I’ve always had a soft spot for the brand.

The New Eterna Madison with Spherodrive uses a modified 3500 movement with the new ball-bearing mounted barrel, and measures 35x 38mm. The watch has a Sapphire crystal front and back, and is water resistant to 50m.

First time this has ever been compiled. I have been working on this on and off for the past year because I have been busy, but its finally done. I’ve compiled all the Breitling models from 1996 until now with their MRSP in US Dollars only. This will allow you to track when a model was released in the pricelist/chronolog and what the US MSRP was during the entire model run. The pricelist includes Strap and Bracelet prices, and lists watch MSRP according to the value of the Head Only.

Download it here:
Complete Breitling Pricelist Grid 1996-2009

Don’t really want to get into an extensive review of this Omega Seamaster GMT, as there are plenty out there. Just wanted to make a few notes regarding the watch, as I have reviewed the other Seamasters in the past, both in videos and in writing.

The Omega Seamaster GMT is a very nice watch, which uses the same 41.5mm case design as all the other Seamaster 300m Divers. The GMT hand is unique compared with most other GMT watches in that when you adjust the hour the main hour hand moves, not the GMT hand. This makes the watch much easier to adjust for Local Time than other GMT watches. You simply keep your GMT hand on Home Time permanently, and adjust the main hour hand in the 1-hour increments to adjust for local time.

The watch has a day/night two-tone bezel which many peopel don’t like, including myself. It can be relatively easily changed to a standard black or silver bezel if you wish however.

Basic Specs:
Diameter: 41.5mm
Movement: Omega 1128 (Base ETA2892)
Water Resistance: 300m
Crystal: Sapphire

I had been drooling over the Graham Chronofighter watches ever since the first time I saw them… even with their ridiculous espresso machine levers mounted on the side, and fairly standard Valjoux 7750 movements, the design of the watches really enticed me. For the retails prices of near $10,000 a pop, these are pricey watches given their modest innards.

This model is the Chronofighter classic model in the 42mm case size. It actually measures closer to 43mm but with the lever on the size the watch wears like a 44-45mm watch easily. The bezels on all the Graham watches are an concave shape and are one of the defining features of the brand.

I’ve mounted this Graham on a Nubo Straps ammo leather strap, 22mm lug width, and it looks amazing. Much better than the boring black leather strap that it came with. Unfortunately I can’t wear the 20mm buckle with this strap. I picked up a Di-Modell Bali that works very well with the stock buckle since it has slotted holes which are important since the OEM Tang is very big.

As you can see from the dial the Valjoux 7750 inside is COSC certified. A nice feature. It has been modified to remove the date and use only two registers. The Chronograph is operated using the espresso lever, and has some mechanics inside to move the start/stop pusher to the crown position.

The machining and craftsmanship of the espresso lever is very well done, and completely flawless. Everything about the casework and dial are extremely well made. The case back is deeply engraved with the serial number of the watch deeply engraved as well. Lume is very good also.

The proverbial wrist shot – As you can see, quite large on the wrist. The large crown device is noticeable with a short sleeved shirt, but under the cuff of a dress shirt it looks like any other watch, allowing this watch to pass for dress or casual. From a style standpoint, this is one of the most satisfying watches I’ve owned.

Omega Launches a brand new innovation, a Liquidmetal® and Ceramic dive bezel on their new limited edition 42mm Planet Ocean Liquid Metal. The Seamaster PO 42mm Liquid Metal is a Limited Edition of 1948 peices, and features the same movement as previous PO models with the Caliber 2500 Co-Axial movement. The watch adds applied arabic numerals as well to the design, but is primarily the same as previous models.

Liquidmetal®: seamless bonding, remarkable hardness
The Liquidmetal® alloy is an amorphous metal – a metallic material with a disordered, non-crystalline atomic structure. Its fusion temperature is half that of conventional titanium alloys but when it is cooled, its hardness is three times as great as that of stainless steel. Its amorphous structure allows it to bond seamlessly with the ceramic bezel.

The Liquidmetal® is a bulk metallic glass alloy consisting of five elements: zirconium, titanium, copper, nickel and beryllium. A bulk metallic glass can, by virtue of its low critical cooling rate, be formed into a structure with a thickness of more than a tenth of a millimetre. Zirconium is an important constituent part both of the Liquidmetal® alloy and of the ceramic material which is made of zirconium dioxide (Zr02).

The final, perfectly smooth bezel is particularly resistant to scratching and corrosion because of the hardness of the two components.

The union of ceramics and Liquidmetal® at OMEGA
First, ceramic rings are formed. The numbers and the fine lines of the minute scaling are then engraved into these ceramic bezel rings and polished. The alloy is heated and pressed into the cavities in the ceramic material after which any excess Liquidmetal® is removed. The Liquidmetal® can be manipulated at a lower temperature than metals normally used in watchmaking so the heating process does not damage the ceramic material.

The Liquidmetal® numbers and scales are then satin brushed. Because the ceramic is a harder material than the alloy, the satin brushing of the fine details can be done without affecting the ceramic bezel. The numbers and scaling then appear in bold, vivid contrast to the glossy ceramic background.

Redefining longevity in the watch industry
The OMEGA Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal® Limited Edition, which has a stainless steel case and bracelet, is driven by OMEGA’s revolutionary Co-Axial calibre 2500. These movements, which have been heralded for their long-term chronometric performance, are perfectly complemented by the ceramic and Liquidmetal® alloy components which are incredibly resistant to corrosion and scratching. The result is pure OMEGA: a design premiere which will retain its appearance indefinitely, blended with innovative Co-Axial technology.