This is my ultimate current-production Calatrava model Functional with the seconds hand and date complication, but otherwise ultra-minimal and monochromatic. But my dream PP is a really old dress watch (pre-Calatrava or early model thereof) that I saw on a watch forum about a year ago and haven't found since. Nothing but stick indices with hour and minute hands. No seconds, no date, nothing else but the title on the dial. Minimalist perfection.
Damn that's gorgeous. Luckily the Seiko SARB71 looks similar enough and is a lot cheaper. Or maybe I'm just stupidly tight.
Nah, the SARB line is right up there. I just fantasise about the freaky thinness of the Calatrava cases. I wore a french cuffed shirt under a suit for last saturday and since the event was out of town, I only had my Sub on me - pretty dire faux pas to wear a diver with a suit, but what really got to me was that the watch wouldn't fit under the cuff!
Ha! I know that feel with the new Magrette strap. It doesn't fit under any of my shirt cuffs. Then again, the whole thing does stand about an inch off the wrist.
Being pier pressured into buying a decent watch, apparently I have to stop wearing casio g-shocks I am looking at this http://www.breitling.com/en/models/superocean/superocean-chronograph-ii/versions/ The chain link strap with the black rubber bezel, undecided on chronograph dial color need to see in flesh. Does anyone have any experience with Breitling? I've look at some Tag watches and tried then on but they all look really ghey on my manly wrist, need something more substantial Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
Agreed, some of their watches get stick for being too big, blingy and in your face, but at the heart of it all they make some stunning, manly watches- as shown. You can't go wrong.
I wouldn't ever buy a Tag, I haven't ever met anyone that gets excited when you say that you have a Tag... Breitling watches are horrible in my eyes, I just see it as an exercise in showing how much money you have. Also quite fussy and crowded design. Oh and grow some balls! Peer pressure?! What are you, 9?!
I can agree that a Tag isn't usually the nicest thing, but why say that nobody gets excited when you tell them you have a Tag and then go on to say that Breitling is just a money show? No matter what brand, you don't usually buy it to get people excited by saying "I have XYZ on my wrist. " If you don't like money show watches, why would you be bothered about people getting excited about your brand? Otherwise, you've still got something brilliant in the form of an old Air King. That can't be beaten for sheer class.
Unfortunately, that because many of their watches do get stick for being blingy and in your face, and they're not wrong with those criticisms. However, I do believe things like the Superocean 2 to be much more refined and tasteful. Then again, models like the Avenger and Chronomat disgust me- they're like industrialised turds...
Not a big Breitling fan to be honest, but I can understand the attraction for other people. The only Tag I ever got really excited about was.... http://us.tagheuer.com/en/luxury-watches/monaco-watch Just beautiful and lovely on the wrist as well.
It's not exactly peer pressure lol, just my mates giving me stick cos they think I need to wear something a little smarter than my usual casio. My problem is I have a wide wrist so I need a watch with depth and width otherwise it looks silly on me. I don't really want a classic style either as I'm an IT and petrol head fanatic so something with a chronograph I feel represents me to be more gadgety, I also use a stopwatch a lot at the gym and I swim a lot and usually watches don't leave my wrist. Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
If you don't want to spend too much but still want a chronograph with a little bit of style and size to it, take a look at the Rotary Chronospeeds. They are pretty much a rip off in design terms of the Breitling Navitimer so look pretty good. I wore one for a long time before my Citizen came along. Talking of which, the Citizen Skyhawks are a good buy if you can find a decent price on them. I paid around £350 for my Ti version.
I have to disagree on both counts. Both Heuer and Breitling are storied names in horology. Yes, they both took a beating during the quartz crisis and had to reinvent themselves to stay afloat. After two decades lost to the black hole of the 80s and the recovery of the 90s, both brands are now properly going back to their roots as competent watchmakers (as opposed to blingy fashion brands that they had become). FYI, Breitling and Heuer (along with Buren/Hamilton) collaborated in the race to be the first to produce an automatic chronograph, back in the 1960s. The other contenders were Zenith (which also happens to be a brand with great heritage that took a dive and is on the upswing again) and Seiko. All three announced success within weeks of each other and while each company now claims success for itself, there's no denying that Breitling and Heuer were part of something truly special in the world of watchmaking. I will admit the Superocean is not my personal favourite Breitling, nor any of the oversized flashy TAGs, but both companies make stunning models that harken back to their glory days. For Breitling, the Navitimer line remains as classic as ever, and the they have a bunch of non-Kanye-West-inspired designs too, like the Superocean 42, Transocean Chrono and Transocean Day-Date. I will admit I don't like the size of most (all?) TAG watches, but most of their heritage designs are stunning. Some examples for thy viewing pleasure. My dear boy, if it says "TAG" on the dial, it ain't vintage
Derp! The things I so quickly forget! D: Speaking of things without TAG on the dial, Vintage Heuer divers and GMTs are stunning: *The green Bezel diver was a project done by a good chap on TZ-UK. It's not all original, but it's a damn good example. ***** And speaking of Zenith and chrono's- who else's grail happens to be the Striking 10th?
Sorta reverent My granddad come in all cheerful this morning with his breitling a41322 which was a gift for working at a company for 25 years. He said he needed the money for this years trip down in Cornwall to book a caravan / static for a week and that nan deserved it which she does. Upon holding the watch my mind screamed out "fake" in which i told him to take it to a watch shop in town and to just ask if its authentic and gave him the parking money before selling it. Turns out his Son borrowed it and replaced it with a fake my granddad being none the wiser. sucks
