The Breitling Watch Blog

Many of you guys know that I am a sucker for a good PAM Strap, and now that I’ve got a Bell & Ross, I’m a sucker for a good B&R strap too! The thing is, more so than any other watches out there, Panerai and Bell & Ross are characterized by their straps. Without a good strap, the watch just doesn’t look as good as it should.

One of my recent acquisitions is a French Ammo Canvas strap by Micah of Vintagerstraps. I reviewed this recently on Paneraisource, and it is certainly worth a look if you are interested in something different:

The French Ammo Pouch Canvas is mounted on a medium-soft leather backing and looks amazing. I have to say this is one of the most fun straps I’ve worn in a while. Micah is a true artist.

Below is a strap by one of the most creative minds in modern strapmaking today: Shane Delaurian. This one is one of his tamer models, the Easy Rider. The tale is folded over on this model, which gives the strap a subtle uniqueness to it. Something about old school leatherworking gives these straps tons of personality and makes them a joy to wear.

Shane’s straps are always hand-signed on the back or the side of the strap!

This last one here is one from the famous ABP-Paris, which is considered the finest aftermarket strapmaker on the planet. They do custom EVERYTHING, and make Aftermarket OEM replacements for nearly every single watch available. A great choice if you’re having trouble finding a strap for a watch with odd lugs. ABP straps will cost you, however – a typicaly strap costs around $350-500.

Mounted happily on a Panerai PAM90. I love my Panerai Straps!!

The MontresGB, or MGB Diver, is a German Made watch made for BMS Jewelry in Scottsdale, AZ. Interestingly, their website has less info about them than their eBay site. They also sell other watches by brands such as Tag Heuer and Breitling.

The MontresGB watch is a 1000m Diver designed by BMS Jewelry, and is actually a pretty nice watch. They are currently selling them for $600 on their eBay site, and claim the retail pice is $1500. Given the specs of the watch, there are many others out there selling for that kind of price with similar features, but stronger pedigree.

As you can see, the watch is fairly attractive as Divers are concerned, and features similar minimalistic design as Kobold watches, the arctic diver in particular. The MontresGB is actually quite feature rich for its $600 price tag:

1000m Water Resistance
Swiss ETA 2824-2
Sapphire Crystal
41.2mm Case Diamter
German-Made 316L Stainless Steel Case
SuperLuminova

Nice matte black dial with what looks to me like a Kobold-inspired look, with a bit of Rolex Sub thrown in. Of course everything these days seems like a derivative work, but so I’ll just leave it at that, but it is a nice looking, balanced dial with great lume. Easy-to-read, and nothing to distract you from telling the time.

The German-Crafted case is indeed very nice, and exceeds the quality of more entry level luxury Swiss watches such as Hamilton. The “GB” signed crown is rather uninspired, but I suppose is better than nothing. Unidirectional bezel is easy to turn and use. Sapphire Crystal is flat and no AR coating is present.

Case back is quite nice, with everything deeply laser etched into it, giving it a quality look and feel. The lugs are interestingly only 20mm, which to me looks a bit odd sometimes. Its probably my biggest complaint with the watch as I would really have liked to see 22mm lugs, especially since the lugs themselves are somewhat puny. The watch would look much more substantial with a bit more lug width.

Bracelet is very nice for the price point and appears to be a variation on the all-popular Watchadoo bracelet.

Finally the money-shot. Great wrist presence and in the end what I would call a poor-mans Kobold. Very happy to keep mine as a beater, and will probably use it for a while at least. The 1000m water resistance and quality German and Swiss craftmanship sold me on this watch and I was not disappointed.

I’ve posted a new video review of my Eterna 1935 Automatic watch. I’d wanted one of these for quite a while, because Eterna’s always been great bang for buck on the secondary markets. Phenomenal case-work and quality for the price. This is a bit of a old-school rectangular style, but if the JLC Reverso can be considered beautiful, why not this right?

My Wife is the best.. for our 2nd wedding anniversary, she got me a Rolex Milgauss! I am so stoked about this watch.. I’ve wanted it for quite a while, and its the only other Rolex besides my GMT-II Ceramic that I want. Now I am satisfied with my modest Rolex collection of two watches.

A quick wrist shot peak, and a review to follow:

I picked up a Glycine Airman World Timer a while back, and actually put it up for sale. I figured I’d do a quick review of this before sending it off. I’ve always liked the Glycine Airman watches, especially the world timers. The 46mm version here was really interesting to me because it has 24mm lugs, allowing for the use of 44mm Panerai Straps to be swapped in, and the exposed lug holes allow for you to use tubes in the straps as well.

This example has a beautiful blue brushed dial with standard indexes as well as a 24hr chapter ring for the GMT hand and an additional 24hr bezel that can be adjusted to allow for a third timezone. This means that you can see three timezones at a glance, a very nice feature that most GMT watches don’t have. The second crown at 3:30 unlocks the bezel and it spins freely once its been unlocked, rather than having ratcheting.

Movement is a base ETA2892 decorated very sparsely with little more than a Glycine signature, but is nonetheless visible through the exhibition caseback. The watch also has a screwdown crown and features 200m water resistance and sapphire crystal. The casework on the Glycine watches that I have owned are decent, but not up to the standards of watches such as Rolex, Breitling or Omega, as as such I find the case build to be a bit less exciting than the overall style and heritage behind the watch. The Airman is an iconic aviation watch that has been around for a long time and therein lies the charm.

I apologize beforehand for the photos, as they were meant to be for selling the watch, not reviewing it. The Box that accompanies the Glycine is the one that I’ve gotten with most of my Glycine watches, aside from the Limited edition Glycine SST D24. Its a spartan looking thing, with barely enough room for the papers that come with it! At any rate, its not about the box, its about the watch, right? I think Glycine watches are great, and for the second-hand prices they command, they are a great watch. I wouldn’t pay retail, but if you can score one you like used – they’re good for the money!