The Breitling Watch Blog

Now this isn’t one of my video reviews, but a video review from Banks & Lyon Jewellers, one of our Sponsors in the UK. The review is conducted by Bob Breden F.G.A & D.G.A., which is one of their Managers. Since I haven’t been lucky enough to get my hands on one of the new SuperOcean II watches, this might be a good one to post here for you guys.

The Breitling civilian jet team has had their Jet’s redesigned for a spiffy new black look. Check out the new colors!

Here’s a cool video showing the team in action. They still have their old colors here.

Nicolas G. Hayek (1928-2010), the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Swatch Group Ltd., passed away today at work due to heart failure. Mr. Hayek was an icon in the world of Horology and one of the most enthusiastic characters and supporters of the mechanical watch movement. He will be missed, but his work will live on.

Who says Doxa’s are unique? Well, Irreantum Watch, a new watch company based in Maine, USA, has put out their first watch: The Magellan. The watch is due to hit the streets summer of 2010, and is available for pre-order at $150. The full price of the watch is $545.

The 316L Stainless Steel case features a massive 45mm diameter and 13.6mm thickness. The crystal is sapphire and the movement is an ETA 2824-2, presumably unmodified. Throw in a C3 SuperLuminova and 500m Water Resistance and you have quite the package at $545 retail.

While I’m sure many Doxa fans are screaming “Copycat!”, the Magellan isn’t really a copy of Doxa’s watches but more a copy of the style of watches from the 60’s that Doxa has continued to produce to this day. Magellan’s watches are offered at a much lower pricepoint, and probably uses cases constructed more affordably. The dials are quite nice, and they are available in a few different colors, all of which you can check out on their website: http://www.irreantumwatch.com/, and more on their blog: http://ordinaryhappilyeverafter.blogspot.com/2010/01/irreantum-magellan.html

While I love the aesthetics of Tag Heuer’s new Automatic Chronograph, I still wonder why they have not spent more effort on creating a new in-house movement (UPDATE: Turns out the Caliber 1887 is indeed partially in-house, but whether it is 100% in-house is debatable). The new Aquaracer 500 line is fantastic in looks, but I am hoping that with all these new in-house designed calibers such as the Caliber S, the Caliber 360 and other experimental stuff that they do, why is there no true 100% in-house Chronograph or even a base movement for a brand that so closely associates themselves with timing and chronographs?

While Breitling was slow to the game, Tag is even slower. At any rate, they still design some very nice looking watches, and are still desired by the many out there as the gateway watch to the eventual Rolex.