X82310A41B1S1
Ernest Jones / Milton Keynes, 13th September 2021
There was a time when I really liked Breitling, and very specifically the Avenger Blacksteel and Avenger Hurricane models, but I never quite took the plunge. The Avenger Blacksteel always seemed to turn up pre-owned with damaged coating and the Avenger Hurricane was always a little bit out of my price range... and by the time it started turning up at Bicester Village at a more 'sensible' price, unfortunately the magic was gone. I still have a sneaky admiration for both the Aerospace and the Exospace: any watch with a combination analogue and digital dial tends to spark my interest, although the mother of pearl dial, black diamond encrusted Emergency I looked at in the BV boutique a while back was too much even for me!
But then it seemed that Breitling went completely off message, ditching their winged logo and discontinuing their cool 'modern' models left right and centre... while simultaneously releasing the godawful 'Navitimer 8' line and don't even get me started on this year's pistachio and salmon abominations! Thankfully they have seen the error or their ways and worked their way back into my good books with their extremely awesome Endurance Pro series.
This really is manna from Heaven for a TAG Heuer fan, I mean look at it. Is that not a TAG Heuer in spirit? Is that not a Formula 1 to die for? Is that not a watch that should be wearing a TAG Heuer logo? Of course it is, but it's not a TAG Heuer and nor is it a 'cheap' quartz watch. The Endurance pro has two special features to elevate it above the norm; firstly the case is made of Breitlight (a composite of titanium and carbon fibre IIRC) and secondly the movement which is a super-quartz; which means it is thermally compensated to adjust for temperature changes and thus much more accurate even than a normal quartz powered movement.
I said when this came out that Breitling had effectively out-TAGged TAG, and they really have. The only problem is that they've probably over specced it and made it too good and too expensive. Let's be honest, if this was say £1600 instead of £2550 I would already have bought one. Yes, the movement and the case probably justify the cost, but it pushes it up out of the regular buyer's comfort zone - I don't know whether to applaud them for giving it the full bananas or scold them for missing a golden opportunity to bring new customers into the brand.
But leaving that aside, this is another watch that looks good in the window, and even better on the wrist. It's also incredibly light, which is probably not surprising given the material and the rubber strap, but considering it's effectively 44mm in diameter it still catches you unawares. You would also not believe it was 44mm, in fact I was about to write here that it was 42mm and my eyebrows raised when I checked my facts. Those super short lugs make this wear very well and to be honest I can't really think of much negative to say about it.
Okay, I don't really like the way the subdials cut off the 3.6 and 9 numerals... but aside from that, honestly I'm struggling. This is a pretty perfect watch and I can imagine that demand is going to be high on the pre-owned market. After all, how many others are there out there like me that would have bought this already but for the price?
View the Breitling Endurnace Pro collection on the Breitling website by clicking the link:
No comments:
Post a Comment