Breitling Chronomat Review
Breitling is almost a synonymous of chronograph, and in 2009, Breitling has officially launched the Breitling Chronomat B01 with their latest in-house automatic-winding chronograph movement, recognized as Caliber B01. The watch will be offered at only about 40 retailers in the United States, with additional distributors coming online quickly. As of mid-2009, about 2000 pieces had been manufactured. Manufacture will finally reach about 50,000 pieces per annum.
The Chronomat B01 has been in development for almost five years, and its launch coincides with Breitling’s 125th anniversary. The movement incorporates a column-wheel switching device and a vertical clutch, two hallmarks of a well-made chronograph. The vertical clutch assures that the chronograph seconds hand does not jump when the chronograph is busy. The Breitling Chronomat has central chronograph seconds, continuous seconds at nine, and a juping half an hour totalizer at 3. The instant-change date is positioned at 4:30. The time and date can be modified at any given time, ever near 12am. The movement includes a patented mechanism for adjusting the start, stop and reset hammers. The 47 jewel movement uses a smooth hairspring and a flat balance wheel. A single barrel brings 70 hours of power reserve. The Chronomat B01 ticks along at 28,800 vph, and as with all Breitlings, the Chronomat B01 is of course COSC-certified.
At Basel in Switzerland, Breitling’s VP Jean-Paul Girardin said that the company decided to manufacture Caliber B01 to satisfy market demand for a production movement, and to guarantee Breitling’s future. The organization felt that it must have a stable supply of mechanical chronograph movements, as this type of watch accounts for 55% of Breitling’s gross sales.
The Chronomat B01 measures exactly 43.5mm in diameter and it will be available in 4 versions, all steel, steel with gold, steel with steel and steel with 4 gold quarterkers and 18K red gold. That’s 18 different dials. The unidirectional bezel turns easily with 240 teeth. The steel and two-tone ones are water resistant to 500 meters, while the all-gold model can be only taken down to 100 meters.
The Chronomat B01 starts at approximately $6500 for a steel model on a leather strap, while the opening price for the two-tone edition on a bracelet is $7770. All all-gold watches on a strap will begin at more than $20,000. The Chronomat B01 tops out at more than $40,000 for the red gold and diamond version, which is on a beautiful red gold bracelet.
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