Breitling goes “back to black” with three new line extensions of its Colt Chronograph Automatic, Navitimer 46, and Avenger II Seawolf models, all in cases made of “Blacksteel,” a metal with a layer of highly resistant carbon-based treatment that Breitling first starting using for its watch cases in 2012. Here’s what you need to know about all three new watches.
The military-inspired Breitling Colt Chronograph Automatic Blacksteel (above and below) has a 44-mm case with a satin-brushed finish and a “Volcano black” dial with a circular raised motif radiating from the center. The dial’s large hands and hour markers are enhanced with Super-LumiNova, and the unidirectional rotating bezel features four “rider tabs” — a hallmark of Breitling’s aviation-influenced sports watches — which enable the wearer to easily turn the ratcheted bezel even while wearing gloves. The movement is Breitling Caliber 13 (based on the ETA Valjoux 7750), a COSC-certified chronometer with a 1/4-second chronograph function and date display. The subdials at 12 and 6 o’clock tally the 30 chronograph minutes and 12 chronograph hours, respectively, while the subdial at 9 o’clock displays the running seconds. The date appears in a window at 3 o’clock, and the central chronograph seconds hand has a red arrow tip for ideal legibility against the dark dial. The screw-locked crown helps maintain the watch’s water resistance to 200 meters (660 feet). The watch (price: $5,100) is available on a rubber Ocean Racer or Diver Pro strap or a military-style fabric strap.
The Breitling Avenger II Seawolf Blacksteel (below), the latest iteration of Breitling’s professional-grade divers’ watch, is a 1,000-piece limited series with a brushed 45-mm-diameter blacksteel case that is water-resistant to an astounding 3,000 meters (10,000 feet). The case is equipped with a decompression valve for saturation diving and a unidirectional, ratcheted, rotating dive-scale bezel with four rider tabs. The double-gasket, screw-locked crown boasts protective reinforcements and a non-slip grip. The dial, in Breitling’s “Cobra yellow” color, makes for a stark contrast with the black case and strap. It has large, luminescent-coated hands and hour indices and is protected under a thick, curved sapphire crystal that is glareproofed on both sides. Its COSC-certified movement, Breitling Caliber 17 (based on the ETA 2824-2), features automatic winding and a high frequency of 28,800 vph. The Avenger II Seawolf Blacksteel ($4,625) comes with a black rubber Ocean Racer or Diver Pro strap, a high-tech military fiber strap, or a strap combining a tough, military fabric exterior with a rubber core.
The Breitling Navitimer 46 Blacksteel (below) is the only one of the three new models powered by a Breitling in-house Caliber, the automatic Caliber 01, which carries a COSC chronometer certification and holds a power reserve of more than 70 hours; it has a blackened winding rotor that is visible through a sapphire window in the watch’s caseback. The satin-brushed blacksteel case measures 46 mm in diameter and is outfitted with another distinctively Breitling element, a bidirectional rotating bezel with a circular slide rule, a device designed to aid pilots in making calculations related to airborne navigation. Differing from the classical Navitimer dial, with its three silvered subdials, this watch’s dial has just two tone-on-tone subdials — small seconds at 9 o’clock and 30-minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock — along with a date display at 6 o’clock. Red is used for the subdial hands and for the central sweep-seconds chronograph hand. The black rubber strap features a new aircraft tire-tread motif, a style now available on all Navitimer models. The Navitimer 46 Blacksteel retails for $9,225.
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