The Breitling Watch Blog

Haven’t updated with my recent video reviews, so just in case you guys have not seen them. Here is the Tutima Di300 Video review uploaded a while back here. Fantastic Titanium watch with a blasted finish. Its a wonderful German-made diver with an Swiss ETA automatic movement. Superb craftsmanship and that great german tool-watch look make this a great watch.

I’ve blogged about Sarpaneva watches before, because they are just so awesome. I love their look and character. The Sarpaneva Korona K0 is another very cool looking watch from Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva, with every piece handmade by Stepan himself – talk about a small shop!

At any rate, very killer looking stuff.

Specs:
Movement:
Modified Soprod A10 calibre
The movement’s mainplate is modified to incorporate the diver’s timer ring
25 jewels
42-hour power reserve

Case:
Stainless Steel, 46 mm in diameter, 11.2 mm thick
2.5mm Sapphire Crystal
300m Water Resistance

CJ Wilson, MLB Pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, has joined Graham as an Ambassador. He is also the owner of CJ Wilson Racing. This is perhaps a move by Graham to better infiltrate the US Market.

GRAHAM welcomes CJ Wilson

A native of Southern California, CJ Wilson, proud Graham Ambassador and Major League Baseball pitcher, brings a new edge to the Graham family. CJ is the first professional baseball player to be signed as a brand Ambassador for Graham, strengthening the brand’s presence in worldwide sports culture. CJ is also the owner of CJ Wilson Racing, which continues the long motorsports heritage of the Graham brand. The motorsports and racing legacy is a defining feature that drew CJ to the brand initially. “I really like that Graham has connections to motorsports. For me, that sends the message that they’re serious about precision and performance, not just style,” says Wilson, now in his 7th year as a Major Leaguer.

CJ has enjoyed great success in his young career, both on the baseball diamond and on the racetrack through CJ Wilson Racing, the latter of which won the 2011 Road Atlanta race in the SCCA Pro Racing MX-5 Cup on September 30th, 2011. But off the field, Wilson has become a pillar in the community for not only his dominance on the field, but it his charitable endeavors through CJ Wilson Childrens Charities, a Dallas-based organization that supports children with chronic and terminal illnesses nationwide. The Charity teams up with childrens hospitals to inspire comfort and hope by helping to believe some of the stresses associated with long-term hospital stays.

Wilson wears owns several GRAHAM watches and particularly loves the Chronofigher Oversize Diver and Silverstone Stowe Classic models. GRAHAM watches are almost emblematic of CJ’s drive for the perfect balance between performance and style on the field and into his daily life. “The Graham brand is bold- and for me standing out is important. I feel boldness- when combined with style- really sets more personality into each design element.”

Linde Linde Linde. I been wanting one of these suckers for a long time… and I finally made it happen with a Linde Werdelin The One 2.6. The heart and soul that goes into the engineering of Linde Werdelin’s designs is second to none. The watches are designed as pure sport timepieces that allow conversion to an instrument using the indentations on the side of the cases to hold the dive and ski instruments that Linde also makes.

The Linde Werdelin The One 2.6 has an imposing case size of 46 x 49mm, and it shows. The watch is a beat on the wrist, but due to the sleek case shape and angles, it doesn’t stick out from the wrist but instead molds to the curvature of the wrist very well. The unidirectional dive bezel has superluminova dots painted onto it, which gives it a neat look.

The strap is held on by two hex screws for each side of strap. They are easily removed with the hex tool that is provided with every Linde Werdelin watch. The strap removal screws are the ones that are located on the watch case, not the ones located on the bracelet. The screws on the bracelet are used to hold the strap retention bars on the strap itself.

The watch is meticulously crafted, with every faceted surface perfect and finished immaculately. Even the surface underneath where the straps mount is perfectly bead blasted with a finish that is the same as the caseback which gives it a sense of perfection. One thing is for certain: Linde Werdelin takes price in their cases.

The dial is a matte black, with large SuperLuminova indices that glow like a hot damn. They are fantastic. The 2.6 has a nice chapter ring also outfitted with some SuperLuminova and seconds markers. The bezel is very easy to turn and quite functional, with nice grippy indentations cut crisply into the edge – another hallmark of precision casemaking. The bezel is pressure fit, not screwed in.

The “armadillo” style bracelet is VERY nicely finished as well. At $750 it is not a cheap bracelet, but still about half the price of a Breitling Pilot or Navitimer bracelet. The links are pinned, not screwed, which I would have liked to see. Nice signed and hidden double butterfly clasp with pressure release buttons tucked away on the sides. The bracelet is semi-rigid and while comfortable, is not the most comfortable I have worn. I like to wear the Linde a bit looser than other bracelets because of this.

The One 2.6 is water resistant to 1000 ft, not too shabby. It also houses a ETA 2892-A2 movement, without too much extras. Linde will be making a switch to Concepto movements in the future I have read. The watch keeps spot on time, which is not surprising for the movement inside – fully capable of COSC spec timing.

Overall it is a fantastic watch. I have sent this one to a new home, since I ended up picking up a Linde Werdelin 3-Timer as well, both with a black dial so I only need one. I plan to keep my Linde for quite a while, and wouldn’t mind adding another to the collection as well, probably one with a white dial though. Overall a watch that I would encourage anyone to get if they are attracted to the sharp lines and overall look of the Linde Werdelin watches.

Blacksand burst onto the watch scene last year at Baselworld 2011 creating some very impressive looking timepieces. Their new watch, the Stratographe, features their first completely in-house designed movement, the Calibre 2002. The watch features a monopusher chronograph, and some beautiful looking parts.

Specs:
Single-pusher chronograph with crown-activated start/stop/reset functions
Blacksand column wheel and index assembly Central 60-second chronograph hand – 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock Small seconds at 9 o’clock – hand-wound – 50-hour power reserve – 28,800 vph – Chamfered mainplate and bridges, black satin-brushed, sandblasted and circular-grained decoration Chamfered straight-grained steel parts. Polished screws.
Case 46mm in Titanium and Ceramic or Gold.