VB5510H2/BE45-235E
Selfridges / London, 9th March 2019
I've long admired Breitling's ani/digi watches, and indeed it was probably the root of my decision to buy my TAG Heuer Chronotimer, which offered a similar combination dial at a fraction of the cost. Still, it was nice to finally get my hands on one of Breitling's 'Superquartz' pieces and I certainly went big here with the Exospace B55. Measuring a whopping 46mm, the Exospace B55 has a lot of wrist presence, rather too much really, even for my substantial 7.3/4" wrist. This measures just 1mm larger than my Carrera Heuer 01 Skeleton but it feels a whole step bigger. I guess the blue strap probably doesn't help matters, although I quite liked it, I must admit I'd prefer a black one.
Unfortunately I was served by an absolute tool of a salesman, and I think that's maybe why I've left it so long to review this piece. Clearly it's not Breitling's fault that the guy working in Selfridges presents their company in a bad light, and I have to say that my experiences in the Breitling boutique on Bond Street have been very positive. Unfortunately that means that my memories of the day are somewhat vague, and in truth I didn't actually have the watch on for all that long.
I do remember being somewhat disappointed that the watch isn't as 'black' as I'd hoped. It actually has a gun-metal grey kind of look, which I'm not sure really goes with the blue rubber strap, but still, each to their own. Actually, thinking about it more, a black strap would make the case look even lighter so that's probably not the answer either. Maybe white would work best? If Roger Dubuis and Richard Mille can do white rubber straps, then why not? Hmm, probably not now, since Breitling are consciously moving towards being a more 'conservative/backwards' looking company.
This, on the other hand, is a very forward looking and technical watch, with a perpetual digital calendar, a flyback 1/100th of a second chronograph (not really sure how you can have a flyback digital chronograph though...), seven daily alarms, a countdown timer, countdown/count-up clock, bluetooth connectivity and more. The watch also features a ratcheting, bi-directional bezel marked with simple minutes.
In addition to it's fairly epic size, it's also relatively (if not outlandishly) thick at 15.25mm, which means that you certainly won't forget you're wearing it even though as it's made of titanium it's not especially heavy. All in all it's a hell of a thing, but I can't honestly say I was reluctant to give it back to the salesman. Truthfully, while the Chronotimer isn't as 'impressive' overall, it has more than enough digital capability for me and still has a great deal of wrist presence due to it's chunky case and mirror finished, skeletonised hands.
Then there's the price, the Breitling Exospace B55 is not a cheap watch at £6710 (I believe it was £6300 back in March so there must have been quite a price hike in the meantime!) and bearing in mind you could easily pick up a mint pre-owned Chronotimer for less than a grand on eBay, well... it's a hard one to justify for me.
Obviously the Exospace B55 isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, and I'm sure it appeals to a certain specific kind of customer, I just hope Breitling don't go so far down the retro-road that they start shutting down these avenues to concentrate wholly on mechanical movements and endless variations on the Navitimer; because while I could find better things to spend £7k on, I'm kinda glad that this exists.
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