The Breitling Watch Blog

GoS releases their Spring Season watch, in a limited edition of 5. Why they’re releasing the Spring model on the first day of Fall, I’m not sure, but what the heck, they’re Watchmakers, not meteorologists. It is a beautifully crafted watch, like all of the GoS pieces, and features Damascus Steel cases and damascus dials with unique 18k hands.

“GoS proudly presents – Spring – the third model in the Nordic Seasons series of watches that are designed with inspiration from the rich contrasts of the nordic seasons. The dial for the Spring is made in tempered pattern welded steel, also known as damascus steel, that has been hand forged in Johan Gustafsson’s unique Explosion pattern. The yellow tempered coloring of the steel meant to illustrate the return of the sun, which is a very
important aspect of life in Scandinavia.

Since ancient times, people living in the northern hemisphere have had a need to celebrate the arrival of spring with cleansing bonfires and celebration at the end of a cold and dark winter. Swedes do this on April 30, Valborg (Walpurgis Night). Normally, Spring is already well established in the southern reaches of the country, while northerners still have to wait a few weeks longer. Nevertheless, this is the evening when Swedes welcome the Spring.”

Watch series – Nordic Seasons
? Case: Stainless steel and stainless damascus steel 44/45mmx10mm (10ATM)
? Lug width: 22mm
? Glass: Flat sapphire glass with AR coating
? Movement: Swiss manual ETA 6498
? Movement refinement: Refinished and improved to chronometre grade by the swiss company Soprod.
? Dial: Handforged damascus steel
? Index ring/rehaut: Solid gold, shaped and polished by hand
? Hands: Solid gold, shaped and polished by hand
? Crown: 9mm in finegrained stainless damascus stainless steel, double gasket crown inset
? Case finishing: Stainless damascus steel, highgloss polished with GoS logo engraved on case side.
? Strap: Handcrafted strap in soft nubuck leather fitted with GoS stainless steel buckle

Damascus steel movement
? Movement: Swiss manual ETA 6498 : yellow
? Movement refinement: Improved to chronometre grade by the swiss company Soprod.
? Movement modification: 3/4 bridge made in solid handforged damascus steel.
? Limitation: 4pcs, available as an option to the Nordic Season series.

Watch Model – Nordic Seasons Spring
? Dial: Handforged explosion damascus steel, tempered to receive a main nuance in yellow
? Hands: Solid 18K gold in the red swedish gold nuance
? Index ring: Solid 18K gold in the red swedish gold nuance
? Limitation: 5pcs

Presentation Box
? Individually crafted box in svepask technique of birch wood
? Colored with natural pigments mized in linseed oil
? Covered with high grade natural wax and polished to a deep finish
? Protection box of black&grey hard paper
? Guarantee certificate, two years guarantee

I was browsing around on a British Watch forum, and stumbled onto this brand called Pacardt. The cases were really cool, reminding me of Kobold and and another German Boutique brand – UTS, both of which have caught my eye at one time or another. Pacardt leans towards the chunky side, but maybe not quite as chunky as UTS. The watches have a minimalist style, with a less-is-more approach to dial design.

Currently all their watches appear to use what they call the 1T case style and come in PVD as well as plain Stainless Steel. They have an impressive 1000m water resistance, with the help of a 5mm sapphire crystal. Price is €440-750, which is pretty reasonable. Interestingly, right now I can’t tell where you can buy these aside from eBay.

Case diameter: 45.5 mm
Case thickness: 15.5 mm
Case material: stainless steel
Case back: screwed
Crown: screw-down
Bezel: unidirectional rotatable, 120 clicks
Movement: automatic, ETA2824-2 Swiss Made
Water resistant: 1000 m
Date: yes
Crystal: Sapphire crystal, 5 mm, screwed with case
Luminous hour markers: Super-LumiNova Grade A
Luminous hands: Super-LumiNova Grade A
Bracelet: silicone strap
Lug width: 24 mm, screwed
Buckle: Pin buckle, screwed

Website: http://www.pacardt.com/

Another new “Midnight Carbon” model, aka Black Steel, from Breitling. This new special limited edition Bentley Barnato is limited to 1000 pieces worldwide, and features the smaller 42mm diameter. Movement is the Caliber 41B. A cool take on one of the best Breitling for Bentley models to be released in a while.

Breitling for Bentley Barnato 42 Midnight Carbon
Specs:
Diameter: 42mm
Movement: Calibre Breitling 41B
Water Resistance: 100m
Strap: Black Rubber
Case: Midnight Carbon Black Steel

A black-clad sports model

Barnato. The name of the most famous among the “Bentley Boys”, the men engaged in a passionate pursuit of victories and accomplishments that included winning the Le Mans 24 Hours Race no less than five times between 1924 and 1930. Also the name of an exceptional chronograph combining superlative style with peerless performance. Breitling for Bentley now interprets this sporty model in a 1,000-piece limited edition entirely clothed in black – from the case made of a steel that is the color of night thanks to a highly resistant carbon-based treatment, through the dial to the supple and sturdy rubber strap. The “instrument panel” appearance is reinforced by the chromed steel-rimmed counters, the red accents and a tachometric scale on the inner bezel. The generous size of the bezel heights the effect of the elegant raised knurled motif inspired by the famous Bentley radiator grilles. The large hour-markers and the oversized hands enhanced by a luminescent coating guarantee easy reading of the time in any circumstances, even in the heat of action. This ardent and sophisticated sports model is powered by a selfwinding chronograph movement chronometer-certified by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute) – the ultimate token of precision and reliability. Bentley Barnato 42 Midnight Carbon: the stuff of a champion.

Finally, I have reviewed the outstanding Rolex DeepSea Sea-Dweller, often shortened to DSSD. This is a beast of a watch, and pretty awesome to boot. Very imposing size, and very hard to miss. Hope you enjoy the review. The watch is rated to 3,900m water resistance.

Model: 116660, 116660-BKSO
Movement: Automatic, Certified Chronometer (COSC)
Caliber: Rolex 3135
Case: Stainless steel, Ring Lock System, titanium caseback
Diameter: 44mm
Thickness: 18mm
Weight: 215g
Dial: Black
Features: Date at 3:00
Bezel: Black ceramic (Cerachrom)
Band: Stainless steel Oyster bracelet, Glidelock clasp, Fliplock dive suit extension link
Lug Width: 21mm
Crystal: Domed sapphire (5mm)
Depth Rating: 3,900m or 12,800ft, equipped with a helium escape valve
Crown: Screw-down

This is a very cool new release from Sinn, and I have been admiring it for the past few days since it was announced. While it doesn’t QUITE fit the Sinn brand to a T, it is a super cool vintage-inspired piece with cool tachymeter graphics and the chronograph is limited to just the central seconds – both minute and hour counters have been omitted in this iteration of the ETA/Valjoux 7750 movement.

41mm diameter case measures 15mm thick and has a super domed Acrylic crystal with antiqued lume on the dial. Bezel is a PVD affair which is the one piece that is not vintage looking but still somehow works in my eyes. This piece is limited to 100 watches! That’s pretty darn limited, and all for a relative bargain price of €1350. Euros are at an all time low right now!

Solid case back, looks really substantial and resembles the shape of Breitling’s casebacks. Overall this is a pretty sweet piece of kit and I wouldn’t mind picking one up myself, even for full bang retail.