The Breitling Watch Blog

This is a bit of a fluff post since it really has nothing to do with watches so much as the crazy special treatment you get if you buy a Bespoke Mulliner Bentley Continental GT Speed… A complimentary ride in a Team Breitling Jet and a Breitling Chronomat 44 limited edition watch… very cool. But I had to post it because this photo is just way too awesome.

These seven gentlemen and their Breitling pilots look mighty happy about to enjoy the experience of a lifetime flying with guys. I am green with envy! Those are pretty sweet though.

From Breitling:

Breitling and Bentley unveiled the Bentley Continental GT Speed Breitling Jet Team Series at the Seattle Boeing Seafair Airshow. Owners of these bespoke Mulliner vehicles were presented keys to their seven cars in front of the seven jets by the matching jet pilot, and also received the corresponding Chronomat 44 Breitling Jet Team Limited Edition numbered timepiece. After seeing their cars for the first time, guests experienced a once-in-a-lifetime passenger flight in formation with the Breitling Jet Team high above the Seattle skyline.

First of all, I should mention this is the 44mm Chrono-matic from 2006-2008, not the larger more commonly seen Chrono-matic 49 that was produced from 2009-2011. This is still a substantial watch that has considerable wrist presence due to its 44mm diameter.

As shown above, I have the watch mounted on a Navitimer Bracelet, with the swivel end lugs, which is different from the fixed lugs that all of the modern Navitimers have.

Just for kicks, here is a photo of one of the original Breitling Chrono-Matics from the 70’s. Second watch from the left:

The above photo was taken from one of the 70’s catalogs that I have scanned on the site here if you are interested.

As you can see, there are some similarities between the vintage and the modern version, particularly with the execution of the bezel, case and hands.

The Breitling Chrono-Matic features a two-subdial layout with date at 6 o’clock and a left-crown designed case. The movement is the Breitling 41LC Caliber, which is based on the ETA 2892 but is modified for a Left Crown layout.

The watch’s sapphire crystal features Anti-reflective coating, as evidenced by the bluish hue on the crystal’s surface, and the striking red chronograph second hand further enhances the watch’s retro-styling. I particularly like the interlaced boxes that surround the subdials and the date.

The back of the watch is the standard “vintage” Breitling caseback, featuring a vintage style and stylized “B” on it, similar to the case back that is used on the SuperOcean Heritage line.

Here is a side shot on the wrist, to show how lean the watch is on the wrist. It is not a thick watch, and wears quite well. I believe it is officially listed at 13.6mm.

Overall a superb watch that gains me many compliments. For some reason the combination of the silver dial and the retro style just tick all the right boxes and balances really well. My wife even tried to take it away from me! Not often something that happens, particularly with a Breitling.

The hand-wind Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute Ref. A12322 is one of the coolest Breitling Navitimers out there. It is the last in the line of manual hand-wound Cosmonautes featuring the B12 Caliber Movement, and also has the 24-hour dial that, while harder to read and mentally process, is just so darn awesome. I’ve been wanting one of these for quite some time, and when a friend decided to sell his I took the opportunity to add to the herd.

This one is the classic black dial with white subdials with the tri-compax layout. It also came mounted on a dark brown Breitling Strap, but it was quite worn so I purchased a BOB strap to put on there in a tan/saddle brown. The B12 Caliber movement does not have a date, but does have a Chronograph complication in addition to the 24hr dial. On days when I just want a super-complicated looking dial, this watch fits the bill in every way!

The sapphire crystal, like most modern Navitimers, is domed and AR-coated showing a bluish hue. The seconds subdial is located at 9 o’clock (based on 12 hour dial, not this 24 dial of course!), the Chronograph Minutes at 3 o’clock and Chronograph Hours at 6 o’clock. The pushers operate as normal with the start/stop at the top and the reset at the bottom.

The case measures the original standard Navitimer 41.5mm, same diameter as the Old Navitimer and other original models. Newer models like the Navitimer 01 feature larger 43mm cases. The lug width is 22mm, like most Navitimers as has a 14.25mm thick case – much thinner than most Navi’s because the manual winding B12 movement does not have a rotor.

The caseback is the classic Breitling Navitimer style, with the COSC engraving on it. This model was one of the latest sold roughly from 2001-2002, that featured the manual winding COSC Caliber B12 before this watch was discontinued, and is quite rare to get in this configuration. The majority of these watches found on the secondary market are Pre-COSC.

This is a unique and very collectible Breitling that will be unlikely to be ever released again, especially with the Breitling Cosmonaute being released a couple times in a 43mm version with the handwind in-house B02 movement.

Specs:
Model: Cosmonaute (Lemania)
Production Years: 1992-2001
Gender: Mens
Case Materials Available: Steel, 18k
Movement: Breitling 12
Power Reserve: 42 Hours
Water Resistance: 30m
Bezel: Bidirectional
Crown: Push-Down
Crystal: Sapphire
Diameter: 41.5mm
Thickness: 13.3mm
Weight: 69.8g
Bracelet: Navitimer
Lug Width: 22mm

A bit late on this post, but I figure better late than never! Was away without real internet for a bit so now its back to business!

Breitling releases another Ladies model, this time featuring its new SleekT Tungsten Carbide bezel in the smaller 38mm Chronomat form factor – the new Chronomat 38 SleekT. These are by far the cleanest bezels ever produced by the company, in stark contrast to Breitling’s normally busier designs.

I remember when this came out a few years back, and I actually saw it on TV. Didn’t think much of it until I saw it on Youtube again just recently and figured there might be a few of you that have not seen it. Very cool watch, about a 50 minute video, so sit back and relax!