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When I first started really getting into proper watches (2016), as opposed to just owning one or two (2005 onwards) the two brands that grabbed my attention were (obviously) TAG Heuer and to a much lesser extent Breitling. Principally because they were the only two brands that really catered to my tastes (modern, colourful, slightly in your face, etc) in a price bracket that was somewhat achievable, but even then there was never really a great deal in the Breitling range that appealed to me.
I do recall seeing some kind of Blackbird Avenger Blacksteel Warrior Nightvision Extreme chronograph in my local Goldsmiths once... but I've never quite managed to pin down exactly which one it was - I've found things that look similar but, never quite how I remember it. I think it was a limited edition and it cost about £4000, but that's about it... as I remember it had very large stenciled white Arabics and it was all black, but it also had a bit of red on it here and there, kinda like this:
But maybe even more so... I reckon it might have had white on the bezel as well? Or is my brain just playing tricks on me? Aargh!
Anyway, it was a chunk of money and to this day I've not found the watch I remember (probably because it doesn't exist) and anything close to it always turns up slightly damaged or looks far too 'grey' in the photographs for something called 'Blacksteel'!
Ahem.
There have been other Breitlings that have tickled my fancy, like the 45mm Avenger Hurricane, Exospace, Emergency, and the Chronomat 44 Jet Team, but they are all seriously expensive and while I did like the Colt Skyracer I couldn't take to the faux 'three-dimensional' printed Arabics on the dial. And of course with the new CEO of Breitling (Mr Kern) taking Breitling in a seriously retro direction of late it's been easy for me to dismiss Breitling completely. Same goes for our friend 'Jim Dolares' who regularly takes to the Calibre 11 forum to throw shade on the direction the brand is taking, and especially their decision to discontinue the Breitlight watches, their quartz pieces and the change of brand logo to the extremely retro 'B' without the wings.
But then, completely out of the blue, this happened:
And I was like, what the actual f.... these look REALLY cool, more like something I would expect from TAG Heuer in fact. Furthermore, they are quartz (albeit super quartz with thermal compensation which makes them ten times more accurate than normal quartz - which is pretty accurate anyway!), they have Breitlight composite cases and the proper winged logo to boot!
Furthermore, at £2450 they make a reasonably compelling argument for purchase.
I mean, yeah, I wish four of the numbers weren't compromised by the subdials for the chronograph, but they do come with the ultra cool Breitling rubber straps (which I've always wanted) in a variety of colours and you can buy them separately if you want to mix it up, although bear in mind they are colour coded to the chapter ring, so some combinations might look a bit off. Then again if you bought two extras in different colours you could really go to town and 'Benettonize' the hell out of it!
Bah, I'm talking myself into this now... but what about my commitment to TAG Heuer? I have thirty TAG Heuers now and no other brands in my collection, unlike my wife who has an Oris and an Omega (traitor!). Truthfully if this had TAG Heuer on the dial I would have already bought it... I can't help feeling Breitling have pulled out something of a coup here, out TAGing TAG at their own game in fact.
I think I need a lie down.
Maybe just one Breitling wouldn't hurt?
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