The Breitling Watch Blog

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.

The COSC released their stats for 2008, and again it is a record year with an increase of 8.6% attestations from 2007 with a total of 1,599,588. While the increase in timepieces submitted was actually increased by 10.6%, this means that many more timepieces must have been denied attestation. The actual number of timepieces submitted was 1,676,515. Compare with COSC figures from 2006 and 2007.

Total mechanical attestations: 1,536,950
Total Quartz attestations: 62,638 (56,224 of which were Breitling!)

List of manufacturers in order of most COSC certificates issued:
Rolex (769,850)
Omega (377,514)
Breitling (234,021)
Panerai (46,446)
TAG Heuer (35,429)
Chopard (22,977)
Mido (10,870)
Ulysse Nardin (10,249)
Enicar (8,861)
Ebel (8,823)
Corum (8,801)
Chanel (8,407)
Bulgari (8,067)
Rado (5,807)
Ball Watch (4,312)
Tissot (3,767)
Titoni (3,513)
Movado (3,446)
Carl F. Bucherer (2,262)
Concord (2,224)
Porsche Design (2,217)
Montblanc (2,094)
Hermès (2,064)
Tourneau (1,485)
Sinn (1,478)
Bremont (1,466)
Waltham (1,283)
Invicta (1,069)

None under 1000 are shown. But that is actually quite a suprising list.. there are many brands on there that I am surprised even exist, let alone would make the list such as Waltham and Enicar. Mido and Titoni are revival brands but I am surprised they have so many… maybe they are more prominent in Europe.

I’ve been dying for a shell cordovan strap for a while… something about having horse-butt leather on a strap is appealing to me. Maybe its because Shell Cordovan has a unique look and sheen to it that leather does not.. or maybe its that it bends without ever making those micro-folds that leather always develops, or maybes its that it is more water-resistant than normal leather. At any rate, Shell Cordovan just has that mysterious coolness to it for me.

There aren’t too many companies that use shell cordovan to make watch straps and they always cost more… Nomos uses it for their watch straps, and there are a few other European companies that do as well. There is only one factory in the US that processes Shell Cordovan, and that’s Horween. Note: The material really does come from the butt-cheeks of a horse.

I ended up purchasing my shell cordovan strap from Europelli. Many of you who frequent Timezone know Europelli. They have a very broad range of straps for Panerai and many other types of watches. I picked up a 22/20mm Shell Cordovan to wear with my Graham Chronofighter, and it is great. I have to say that while it looks like leather to most, it is definately has a different feel to it and its own charm.

To supplement the Breitling The Book post I had earlier.. I have added a Breitling The Book video review for those that are interested in purchasing the book, but aren’t really sure what it is like given Breitlings some what limited information on it and highly stylized photographs that don’t really illustrate what it looks like.