The Breitling Watch Blog

The new Bremont Codebreaker, which was announced at Baselworld is one of the most awesome watches I have ever seen and is right up my alley. Unfortunately the limited production of 240 pieces in Steel will probably prevent me from ever getting one. It has the in-house Bremont caliber BE83AR, which is a flyback chronograph with interesting subdial layouts and a GMT complication. The Codebreaker name is named after the role that Bletchley Park played in WWII as a codebreaking facility and was instrumental in saving thousands of American and British lives and contributing to the war effort.

The movement the Bremont caliber BE83AR: 39 jewels, 28,800 vph and 46 hours power reserve. It features a three-legged Glucydur balance with Nivarox 1 mainspring, Incabloc shock protection, perlage and blued screwed decoration with hand crafted stainless steel and Bombe rotor. It includes flyback chronograph and GMT complications. The limited edition numbered on the side of the case is made from material used at Bletchley Park itself.

The case is classic Bremont (as classic as such a new company gets I suppose), and looks fantastic. Measurements are 43mm diameter, 15mm thickness and 22mm lug width.

The rotor on Bremont’s in-house movement is pretty awesome, as we American’s like to say (even though I am Canadian). It looks fantastic and makes me want the watch even more! The more I look at Bremont Watches the more I realize I need one. I think that this Bremont or another similar piece will be in my stable before the end of the year!

At long last, my video review of the venerable Breitling Chronomat 01, featuring the Breitling 01 Caliber in-house chronograph movement. It is such a great mainstay and revived flagship model for Breitling. A great evolution of the previous Chronomat (Evolution) model that evolved from the original 40mm Chronomat that was an icon for many years at Breitling. Watch Trends move nearly as quickly as mobile phone trends these days, so manufacturers have to keep on top of these things!

Breitling launches a new dial for their ultra-functional Transocean Unitime watch, dubbed the Unitime Pilot. The Pilot is basically a clean-dial version of the Unitime that does away with the globe and contrasting subdials. Additionally, the steel versions feature a satin finished case as opposed to a polished case. Gold models are still polished. There is also a limited edition of 1000 pieces in Stealthy Blacksteel with Blacksteel bracelet – very cool. Specs are otherwise identical to the regular Transocean Unitime.

Basic specs again for Unitime: 46mm Diameter Case, 15.4mm Thickness, 100m Water Resistance, Breitling 05 In-House Calibre, 70hr Power Reserve. Check out the stealthy Blacksteel on Blacksteel Ocean Classic bracelet:

From Breitling: A true aviator’s chronograph

The Transocean Unitime Pilot combines an innovative Manufacture Breitling caliber featuring an ultra-practical worldtime system, with a technical look echoing Breitling’s grand tradition of watches for aviators.

From the first Breitling onboard chronographs in the 1930s to the legendary 1952 Navitimer, along with countless models dedicated to skyborne heroes, the black dials with white indications have always been a token of recognition as the best instruments for pilots. The Transocean Unitime Pilot highlights this understated, readable and functional design by teaming a satin-brushed steel case with a steel mesh bracelet. Thanks to its entirely crown-adjustable worldtime system (one smooth move corrects all indications, including the date, either forwards or backwards), this high-performance automatic chronograph proves the ideal partner for all those who – whether in the cockpit or the passenger compartment – constantly juggle with timezones around the world. Manufacture Breitling Caliber B05 with its patented mechanism is chronometer-certified by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute), the ultimate benchmark in terms of precision and reliability. The Transocean Unitime Pilot is also available with a blue dial, a polished red gold case, as well as in a 1,000-piece limited series with a black steel case and bracelet. Each to his own flight plan.

Ancon Watches, a new brand which appears to be based out of Malaysia or somewhere in Asia, launched late 2012 with little online presence and a fairly large dealer network in Asia especially. Unlike most grassroots boutique brands that have launched in the last few years, Ancon didn’t do it with lots of online support and collector feedback. They took a lot of the styles that have made recent brands popular like Bronze Cases and Chunky Dive watch styling. They currently have three models, all of which are quite similar using the same overall case with some changes to dial and crown guards/crowns. The Domain ownership information is hidden for their domain, which makes you wonder. Companies like Rolex and Breitling do not hide their Domain Ownership information, not even companies like Helson hide their Chinese roots in their domain registration.

This is the first watch released by Ancon, the Sea Shadow. A very nice piece, and priced decently at $700 with free shipping. The watches are most likely made and assembled in Asia, and feature Miyota 8215 movements. The case measures 45mm in diameter and 15.5mm thick, so this is quite the beast of a watch. The overall specs are good and the styling is good, but I just can’t get around the smoke and mirrors about hiding the origin of the company. Clicking on “about us” takes you to some info about how their watches are named after historical boats, and talks more about the watches themselves… it really has nothing a typical “about us” page would have. I understand that Asian watch companies are always trying to sound like they are European, but the more vague they are, the more it looks like they’re trying to hide something. Most luxury watch buyers are quite intellligent.

This is the Sea Shadow California, with the California style dial in the same case as the regular watch. Nice pieces, and for the money, they seem fairly reasonable compared to some other watches out there. I personally wouldn’t fork out $700 for a Miyota movement, no matter how cool the Bronze case is, but I can see many people buying these. There have been reports that they have already been popping up second hand in Asia in the last few months, so people are buying them in large enough quantities that they are being sold again. Either way, they’re a nice looking watch, but I personally wouldn’t be interested unless they come in around $400.

Check out their third and latest model, the Magnus, as well as some more detailed information on their site here:
http://www.anconwatches.com/

Tutima launches a few new watches, of which there are some interesting peices. The Saxon is a bit odd looking, but the Grand Fliegers are great Tutima-style watches that really resonate with me. The M2 Pioneer is always pretty awesome, and the Patria is a fantastic Gent’s piece that features the delightful in-house Tutima Calibre 617. In addition to that, all the chronographs feature Tutima’s Caliber 321 movement, which has an in-house Tutima Chronograph module that appears to operate like the Lemania 5100 movement with the centrally mounted seconds and minutes totalizers for the Chronograph.

Tutima Grand Flieger Airport Automatic

Case Diameter: 43mm
Case Thickness: 13mm
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Sapphire crystal
Sapphire display back
200m Water Resistance
Movement: Tutima Caliber 330

Tutima Grand Flieger Airport Chronograph

Case Diameter: 43mm
Case Thickness: 16mm
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Sapphire crystal
Sapphire display back
200m Water Resistance
Movement: Tutima Caliber 321

Tutima Saxon One Automatic

Case Diameter: 44mm
Case Thickness: 12.4mm
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Sapphire crystal
Sapphire display back
100m Water Resistance
Movement: Tutima Caliber 330

Tutima Saxon One Chronograph

Case Diameter: 44mm
Case Thickness: 15.3mm
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Sapphire crystal
Sapphire display back
100m Water Resistance
Movement: Tutima Caliber 321

Tutima M2 Pioneer Chronograph

Case Diameter: 46mm
Case Thickness: 15.8mm
Case Material: Titanium
Sapphire crystal
Sapphire display back
300m Water Resistance
Movement: Tutima Caliber 321

Tutima Patria

Case Diameter: 43mm
Case Thickness: 9.7mm
Case Material: 18K Gold
Sapphire crystal
Sapphire display back
30m Water Resistance
Movement: Tutima In-House Caliber 617 with 20 jewels, 21,600 vph and a power reserve of 65 hours.