Breitling has released a “normal-sized” Limited edition of their Navitimer 01, the one that’s 43mm. This is probably one of my favorite released from Breitling in recent times. Its a great color combo on the dial, with a sweet black rotor in the back. All that’s missing is a black ceramic case! But overall I really do like the execution on this… subtle, but different enough. It was announced by a member on our forums way back in November, but no news of it on the site until the other day, and it is already available in stores as one of our members has just recently got it.

From Breitling:

The legend in gray and black livery

Breitling is introducing its famous Navitimer in a 1000-piece limited edition with a dark gray dial featuring black counters and a Manufacture Breitling caliber equipped with a black oscillating weight. The new face of a watchmaking and aviation legend.

Being a great classic means starting with a powerful design and being capable of self-renewal. First launched in 1952, the Navitimer handles these two aspects as deftly as a skilled pilot maneuvers his aircraft. In more than 60 years, it has established itself as a cult object for devotees of aviation and the doyenne of all mechanical chronographs produced worldwide. Alongside the flagship model with its black dial and silver counters, it also regularly adopts new and distinctive faces, such as that of the new Navitimer 01 Limited Edition. This exclusive instrument issued in a 1000-piece series is distinguished by its dark gray dial featuring a sunburst brushed finish that subtly offsets the black counters. The result is an original, technical and eminently masculine look enhanced by indications made using the “par épargne” technique against a pure silver backdrop. While the dial side with its famous circular aviation slide rule reflects Breitling’s privileged ties with the aeronautical world, the caseback provides a window onto another of the brand’s stronghold that explains its success among aviators: impressive mastery of mechanical chronograph movements. The Navitimer 01 Limited Edition is powered by Manufacture Breitling Caliber 01. This high-performance ‘engine’, entirely developed and produced in the company workshops and chronometer-certified by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute), is a guarantee of peerless precision and reliability. Echoing the special dial decoration, the oscillating weight visible through the transparent sapphire crystal caseback features a black coating lending an original touch. The Navitimer 01 Limited Edition is available with a steel bracelet, or with leather or crocodile leather straps in various colors. All of which represents abundant additional energy further propelling it on its legendary onward flight through time.

Link to Breitling Article

Breitling has finally released the Chronomat 44 in a Blacksteel version. For many, this has been a long-awaited model, hoping for the Blacksteel material to be available on this popular model. It features the military rubber strap and very interesting looking square subdials. I am not sure what to make of the square subdials yet, as they are unusual on a round watch. They have rounded corners though, which helps.

The lume is also a cool antique lume, which is quite popular on watches these days.. overall a nice addition with some unique features to set it apart from the pack. I think I would have preferred round subdials though. Additionally, this does not appear to be a limited edition in any way.

From Breitling:

A brand-new take on the ultimate aviation chronograph

With its all-black fuselage, square counters and super-rugged strap, the famous Breitling Chronomat reasserts its feat-driven mission in a new model exuding a powerful and original style. The entire spirit of aviation on the wrist.

The unidirectional rotating bezel features black rubber-inlaid numerals. The dial is distinguished by red accents reminiscent of instrument panels. The exclusive strap combines a military-style high-tech fabric exterior with a rubber lining guaranteeing excellent comfort. This model of sturdiness and ergonomics houses a Manufacture Breitling Caliber 01 movement, powered by a black oscillating weight visible through the transparent caseback. A brand-new take on the ultimate aviation chronograph.

Barrington Watch Winders is a British watch winder company founded in 2009 with the mandate of bringing an affordable watch winder to the masses that also looks good. I’ve handled several different brands of watch winders, and have noticed that there is a huge gap in the quality of entry level winders and good winders, with nothing in-between. Barrington seeks to fill that gap.

The Barrington Single watch winder comes in a handsome high-gloss lacquered wood case, and in a variety of colors. I selected the Black one since it doesn’t stand out too much and won’t offend anyone, though some of their more colorful options do look kind of cool. Given their price, they would seem to directly compete with brands like Wolf Designs and Spin-R – at least their entry models.

The Barrington logo is printed on the side of the case, and is nice and low-key, which is nice. Most of my other winders barely even have a visible logo which is nice and classy. Don’t need it printed all over like Louis Vuitton monogram, do we? 🙂 The watch winder is also lighter than it looks to me. The wood is not particularly thick, so it seems light. It also seems quite large considering there is only AA batteries inside it. Most logic PCBs I have seen for watch winders are quite small, so I’m not sure if the size was arbitrary or determined by necessity such as counter-balancing weight of the watch.

The back is pretty straightforward as you can see. There is a battery compartment at the top where you can insert two AA batteries and run the winder without an AC adapter. The battery life can depend on various conditions such as the weight of the watch, the TPD (times per day) setting and the type of batteries, but I am told that you can expect a good pair of batteries to last a month under normal settings and watch weights. This isn’t spectacular but not bad for a couple of AA batteries, and it is certainly nice to have the option of going wireless.

I’m also told that it would be prudent to remove the batteries if you are using the AC adapter since the batteries may have slight parasitic draw while it is plugged in between cycles. You also have a choice of AC Adapter as well for European and North American buyers.

Here’s where this winder shines above the rest in terms of features: The control panel. The Barrington Single Watch winder provides more programmable options than most winders in this price range and even above. Many winders will give only a single option of TPD or Direction, or sometimes they only offer a few choices, but Barrington goes the extra mile here to make sure that you can really tweak your winding experience. They offer TPD from 650 all the way to 1950, and clockwise, counter-clockwise as well as both for winding. This is a very nice set of features. They are adjusted by turning the click knobs that are mounted on a nice mirrored plate, which is quite attractive.

In action, the winder is whisper quiet, probably among the quietest winders I’ve owned, and the LED only goes on when it is winding and turns off between cycles. I personally would have designed the LED to be constantly on when it is turned on, since you can always tell that it is winding by simply looking at the winder itself, but you can’t tell if its on between cycles without looking at the back, but that’s just one man’s opinion!

The cushion snaps into place using two flared plastic handles, which is similar to several other winders out there. The fabric used on the cushion is a faux carbon fiber, which looks modern and matches the design of the winders well IMO.

Just wanted to show that they used the faux carbon fiber fabric inside the winder as well, which is sort of a nice touch.

Here is the shot of the cushion that inserts into the winder. As you can see it has a spring loaded backpiece that compresses and clicks in if you are on the smaller side of the size spectrum. This is the normal sized model, and not the small cushion version. I didn’t measure my wrists before ordering but I probably should have as this model is ever so slightly too big for my watches and while they will still close around the cushion, it is VERY tight. I have a 17.5cm wrist (6.75″) so that could be used as a way to determine which winder size you need. Their website states 20.5cm as the smallest size for the regular sized winders so I am off by 3cm!

Here is the cushion with my AP Royal Oak on it, super tight! But you can see how it fits. I could always adjust the deployant strap to a larger hole in order to make it fit the winder better, but this can’t be done easily with a bracelet watch. I tested out the winder with a variety of watches, some quite heavy and it seems to do very well. The motor doesn’t seems to strain, and its been quiet for the couple days I have had it running which is a good sign. I have seen some cheap watch winders work great right in the beginning especially if no watch is in it, and then they start grinding and struggling when you put something heavy like a Panerai in it… speaking of which:

There she is in action with my Panerai PAM288 in it, doing a fine job of winding it. In summary, I think this is a solid buy especially if you’re looking for a wood finished winder in this price range, since there are very few, if any, wood finished winders in this price range. I can’t comment on the longevity of the winder, but Barrington claims ultra-quiet Japanese motors. I can attest to the ultra-quiet part and the Japanese make very good electric motors. The cushion isn’t my favourite, and I generally prefer fully soft cushions like those used in the Orbita Sparta winders, but it seems to do a decent job and has a wide range of fit. Keep in mind that you might need the small cushion winder if you have a wrist under 7″ around. I really like the multitude of programming options and the option to use AA batteries as well as AC power.

Specs:
· Measures just 11cm x 11cm x 15cm
· Can be operated either by AC mains or two AA batteries.
· Ultra-quiet Japanese motor
· Multiple rotation settings: clockwise, counterclockwise or alternating
· Multiple Turns Per day (TPD) settings from 650, 750, 850 or 1,000 to suit any weight of watch
· Adjustable cushion is suitable for watches with a strap/bracelet circumference of 20.5cm to 24cm (for watches with a smaller band see our Small Cushion winder here)
· LED light when operating
· Comes with British 3 pin power adapter as standard (European or US available on request)
MSRP: £99

See the complete line of Barrington single watch winders

The hand-wind Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute Ref. A12322 is one of the coolest Breitling Navitimers out there. It is the last in the line of manual hand-wound Cosmonautes featuring the B12 Caliber Movement, and also has the 24-hour dial that, while harder to read and mentally process, is just so darn awesome. I’ve been wanting one of these for quite some time, and when a friend decided to sell his I took the opportunity to add to the herd.

This one is the classic black dial with white subdials with the tri-compax layout. It also came mounted on a dark brown Breitling Strap, but it was quite worn so I purchased a BOB strap to put on there in a tan/saddle brown. The B12 Caliber movement does not have a date, but does have a Chronograph complication in addition to the 24hr dial. On days when I just want a super-complicated looking dial, this watch fits the bill in every way!

The sapphire crystal, like most modern Navitimers, is domed and AR-coated showing a bluish hue. The seconds subdial is located at 9 o’clock (based on 12 hour dial, not this 24 dial of course!), the Chronograph Minutes at 3 o’clock and Chronograph Hours at 6 o’clock. The pushers operate as normal with the start/stop at the top and the reset at the bottom.

The case measures the original standard Navitimer 41.5mm, same diameter as the Old Navitimer and other original models. Newer models like the Navitimer 01 feature larger 43mm cases. The lug width is 22mm, like most Navitimers as has a 14.25mm thick case – much thinner than most Navi’s because the manual winding B12 movement does not have a rotor.

The caseback is the classic Breitling Navitimer style, with the COSC engraving on it. This model was one of the latest sold roughly from 2001-2002, that featured the manual winding COSC Caliber B12 before this watch was discontinued, and is quite rare to get in this configuration. The majority of these watches found on the secondary market are Pre-COSC.

This is a unique and very collectible Breitling that will be unlikely to be ever released again, especially with the Breitling Cosmonaute being released a couple times in a 43mm version with the handwind in-house B02 movement.

Specs:
Model: Cosmonaute (Lemania)
Production Years: 1992-2001
Gender: Mens
Case Materials Available: Steel, 18k
Movement: Breitling 12
Power Reserve: 42 Hours
Water Resistance: 30m
Bezel: Bidirectional
Crown: Push-Down
Crystal: Sapphire
Diameter: 41.5mm
Thickness: 13.3mm
Weight: 69.8g
Bracelet: Navitimer
Lug Width: 22mm

One of the more exciting quartz releases to come out of Switzerland in recent years is this neat Omega Speedmaster Spacemaster Z-33. I picked this up as part of a package deal along with another Omega watch even though I was not totally interested in this one, but the friend that sold it to me wanted them both gone to fund another purchase.

The Spacemaster Z-33 is inspired by the original Flightmaster 1969, which shares the same case shape/style, though the Z-33 is titanium. It features a brand new multifunction quartz movement, and is designed as a pilot watch and even features a log book for logging flight times.

The Grade 5 Titanium case sits at 43 x 53mm in size, and is quite thick. The analog screen is a cool black LCD with red segments in it that adapts to ambient light in order to be visible in low as well as regular lighting and bright lighting conditions. There is also a red LED backlight when things get really dark. The Red really pops in the day time outside lighting and looks fantastic. Its an interesting technology and really sets this watch apart from others in the category.

The back features a resonator panel in beautiful polished titanium complete with Speedmaster logo in order to make the alarm sound louder. The casework on this watch is very impressive, and definitely feels a cut above in terms of comparing with the other speedmasters somehow. There is an exceptional amount of care taken in the design.

This version of the watch was selected with the leather strap and titanium deployant, a superb combination I think. While it looks fantastic on the rubber, the leather just gives it a little something-something that gives it just a touch of personality to it. The 21mm leather strap has special locked-in-place lug ends that prevent it from swiveling once installed on the watch – a common Omega strap feature.

Overall this is just a really bad-ass quartz watch from Omega. It pushes the envelope in terms of design, and also takes a lot of risks in order to give buyers a watch that will really stand out on the wrist, in a multi-function quartz package. This is the “runway piece” of Omega’s collection – few people will buy it, but everyone will love looking at it and talking about it. I get a lot of compliments and comments on this watch when I wear it.. it is an impressive piece.

Specs:
Features: Chronograph, Perpetual Calendar, UTC, Alarm Features, Pilot Log
Movement: Caliber 5666
Crystal: Scratch Resistant Sapphire Crystal
Water Resistance: 30 Meters / 100 Feet
Case Size: 43mm x 53mm