In its own words Breitling’s new release is “a watch you’ll get noticed in, without having to worry about it”.
The Super Chronomat is a whopping 44mm version of an already imposing sports chronograph it reintroduced into its collection last year. That watch, the Chronomat, was itself an update of a model from the mid-Eighties, developed in collaboration with Frecce Tricolori, the Italian Air Force’s aerobatics team. Launched at a time when skinny digital watches were all the rage, Breitling’s unapologetically weighty sports chronograph was a significant outlier. A mixture of pilot’s and diver’s styles, it was distinctive for its “rider tabs”, the visual markers at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock that protected the watch, as well as its steel “bullet” (or “Rouleaux”) bracelet.
Now comes the grand royal version.
The Super Chronomat is being released in three standard models; all feature a new steel bezel with a ceramic insert, plus the option of a rubber strap that mimics the look of the earlier "bullet" bracelet (still available as an option). Two feature a blue or black dial/bezel combination. The third has a brown dial/bezel and a case in 18k red gold.
There is also a quirky black dial version, with a second clock face embedded into the bracelet. This shows Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) – the primary time standard used to regulate clocks all over world – a feature of some versions of the Chronomat and other Breitling watches in the Eighties.
The jewel in the collection, through, is the Super Chronomat 44 Four-Year Calendar model. This comes with day, date, month and moon phrase indicators on the sub-dials, and needs only to be adjusted once every leap year – or every 1,461 days. That one comes in two versions, black with 18k red gold or blue with 18k red gold.
The Chronomat was already more than just another aviation-inspired tool watch – its £6K starting price put it in the category of a serious luxury purchase. The Super Chronomat doubles down on that notion – not least in the all-guns-blazing 18k red gold versions.
It is, for sure, a watch you'll get noticed in.
From £6,750 to £27,600; breitling.com
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