The Chronomat range has been around since it first launched back in 1984. Now like much of Breitling’s heritage ranges, it’s receiving a proper modern update that aims to bring the line of aviation themed watches bang up to date.
This is the new line of Chronomat watches, all of which have been very subtly tweaked and updated. The idea is to give the watch a more modern appeal, while still giving a nod to the vintage design cues and history that made the range such a big hit in the first place.
Now the watch comes in a few different versions – all of them steel. You get silver, copper and blue/black dials as well as a Bentley special edition, with a rather fetching green dial.
Now what’s super interesting are those elements on the bezel, which Breitling call Rider tabs. They exist to help pilots back in the day read the watch in tough conditions. They are raised too, meaning the watch remains functional even if you have big gloves on.
For this range, Breilting dialled the size of the tabs back a bit – not many of us need to operate machinery while wearing gloves these days, after all. But Breitling has also made the 15 and 45 tabs removable and swappable – that means you can use the bezel as either a count-down or count-up timer.
Elsewhere, the mechanical chronograph is powered by Breitling’s calibre 01, with a power reserve of 70 hours. It’s water resistant, too. Down to 200 metres.
One thing we do absolutely love about the new range is the bracelet. Breitling upgraded the original bracelet and the results are interesting indeed. From a design perspective, the polished interlinks really set off those rider tabs on the dial, making this one of the best-looking integrated bracelets we’ve seen on a watch of this type.
The entire collection is available right now.
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