The Breitling Watch Blog

So, I got my Eterna Airforce Chrono earlier this week, and wow… am I impressed! Once I put it on I noticed that it felt a lot like a slightly more expensive Tag Heuer Aquaracer… in fact, its more robust feeling, and uses the same movement as it, the Valjoux 7750…. also the same movement as the Breitling 13 used in the Chronomats and Navitimers. Bidirectional Compass Bezel, and Superluminova arabics and hands… completely swiss made. This watch is incredible for the price… absolutely incredible. Its likely that the lack of proper marketing of the brand is the reason that they are not as popular as they could be. Porsche Design bought the company out a while back as far as I know… and their Kon Tiki line is somewhat popular.

The dial is very nicely made.. .and has very nice guilloche subdials. I am actually quite stunned by it. It reminds me of a cross between a Tag, and the dial of a late 90’s Chronomat. Very nice. I would highly recommend this watch to anyone who wants quality and doesn’t really care too much about name dropping.

Bracelet is okay.. about right for hte price point.. not as well made as Breitling bracelets, and about in-line with the entry level Tag bracelets like the Formula 1 and possibly the Aquaracers, but certainly not the Link.

Movement: 8/10
Case/Crystal/Crown: 8/10
Dial/Hands: 8/10
Strap / Buckle / Bracelet: 7/10
Accuracy: 8/10
Comfort: 8/10
Packaging / Manual: 8/10
Overall Impression: 8/10

Since I picked up that Silver Navitimer in Toronto, I’ve been wearing two Navi’s…. one of them is a Black model with the Valjoux 7750 style layout, using the Breitling Caliber 13 movement. I think I will be getting rid of this one… If anyone is interested, my asking price is $2300US Shipped + paypal fees 😉

Anyway, this is a great watch… very classic, and the colors Black with white subdials and outer ring are instantly recognizable as a Breitling Navitimer. What better way to start off a Breitling Navi collection right? I am hoping to snag a larger Heritage in either white with black subdials or black with white subdials… this one is dubbed the Old Navitimer II, and is a 2002 Model. COSC ceritfied with all boxes and papers. I really liked wearing this one with a suit, and it keeps time to within 2 seconds a day.

Band is well made, but will need to be replaced. Has a quickset date which is a plus. The new model does not!

Beautiful back and excellect construction… I will be buying more Navitimers in the future. Possibly a Navitimer world or maybe a Heritage next. I also want a Chrono SuperOcean or Chronomat Evolution soon! So many watches, so little time. Keep ’em sharp!

The Navitimer keeps great time, within COSC specs… has a great curved Anti-glare sapphire crystal, and looks fantastic on the wrist. The packaging, as with all Breitling watches is very nice. Though I really like the newer style Breitling pacakging that includes the travel case!

Movement: 9/10
Case/Crystal/Crown: 9/10
Dial/Hands: 9/10
Strap / Buckle / Bracelet: 8/10
Accuracy: 9/10
Comfort: 8/10
Packaging / Manual: 8/10
Overall Impression: 9/10

I just got a new Formex 4Speed GT325 watch, and I really like it. However, I like the watch better when it is not on my wrist, so I have traded it for an Eterna Airforce Chronograph with a Valjoux 7750 movement in it. Hopefully this Eterna will suit me better than the Formex did.

Here she is:

All that aside this is a pretty nice watch. The bracelet is “hunky chunky” as one of my friends likes to call it. He owns a couple of Formex watches himself, and is completely addicted to them. Its funny because I’d always wanted one, but never bothered getting around to buying one until I showed them to him and he bought one on the spot almost!

The watch has a “suspension” system, which means the head will bob up and down depending on how much pressure you apply to the caseback. This is supposed to make it more comfortable… unfortunately i think this is a gimmick since it doesn’t really seem to make a difference and the watch is somewhat uncomfortable. Bracelet is made of Titanium as is the caseback, however the suspension system and the bezel are both Stainless Steel. The quality of the bracelet is not the best… I would say that it is adequate for a watch in this price range, but it is not up to the quality standards of a Breitling, Omega or Ball. It is similar in quality to an Tag Heuer Aquaracer or Formula 1 maybe.

The watch comes with all sorts of nifty extras… a Lanyard with Formex writing all over it, TWO extra straps.. one in black Leather with red stitching, and one in Reb Rubber. Also comes with two sets of allan keys for adjusting the straps and changing out the bracelet and sizing. The Box itself is kind of a cheap aluminum wrapped around big foam peices… but looks cool enough and suits the watch.

The crystal is sapphire, and it says so somewhat cheesily on the bright red dial. I’m not sure if the red dial was a bit of a turn off too… perhaps I should have gotten blue. It doesn’t really matter since I’ve got a trade deal on it now. Dial is sort of a Matte color and looks sharp under a 10x Loupe. There is absolutely no debris in the case, so it looks good. Chronograph pushers have to be pushed way in to get it going, which is a bit funny. The date is set by turning the hour hand around 24 hours, there is no quickset date in this ETA movement. Manual is very limited, includes the ETA printed manual that comes with the movement!

The movement kept accurate time. It was not off by anything after a day, but it is a quartz movement.

Overall, the watch is a nice watch, but really not for me. It is for racing enthusiasts and people that like hunky chunky watches and flashy colors. It definately fits the theme that it is chasing, but to me in the end it lacks the refinement and class that I look for in a watch. As evidenced by my friend, there are people that will really like this watch, I’m just not one of them.

Movement: 5/10 (its a quartz)
Case/Crystal/Crown: 7/10
Dial/Hands: 7/10
Strap / Buckle / Bracelet: 6/10
Accuracy: 9/10
Comfort: 5/10
Packaging / Manual: 8/10
Overall Impression: 7/10

I picked up an Invicta Grand Diver not too long ago to try out what a 47mm diameter watch would feel like on my wrist. I also liked the lines of the Grand diver and how it imitated the lines of the celebrated Omega Seamaster, but in a much larger format. The Planet Ocean never looked good on my wrist, but the Seamaster did.

This watch is VERY well made and a steal at the $160US Shipped price I paid, brand new. It came in the typicall yellow Invicta box and came with all the usual goodies. The suggested retail of $495 seemed unrealistic since it seems all invictas are available at what seems to be about 1/4 of the retail price.

The movement is a Miyota 21-Jewel non-hacking movement made in Japan. The face had some debris inside it and was cleaned out by me when I opened it up for inspection. I cleaned it out nice and good with alcohol, and the watch keeps very good time.. within 5 seconds a day.

Watch has TONS of links, great for a guy with a big wrist, over 8 inches i would say. I have a smaller wrist at 6 3/4. Watch is water resistant to 500m, so would make a great candidate for diving.. but the bezel is quite hard to turn while the watch is on, i could only imagine how hard it is to do with a glove on while diving.

Case is nice solid stainless, and VERY solid for the money. If you can’t afford a Seamaster, get yourself one of these bad boys PRONTO. You will not be disappointed… like every other invicta… tremendous value for the Money.

I give this guy a 9/10 overall.