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 Post subject: Re: World or Big Pilot?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:01 am 
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Beyond Man wrote:
heres a borrowed pic i found online for you to drool over.

Image :wowzers

Not only borrowed from the net : borrowed from me in fact! :lol: Yeah thats my pic of my World and BP. You can tell it's mine because it's such a poor quality photo! :lol:

Anyway, yes I can give an opinion on both.

While they're both 46mm pilots watches they are actually quite dissimilar pieces - Chrono vs non-chrono, ETA vs in-house, 30m WR vs 60m WR, busy dial vs simple dial, polished vs brushed, etc. They aren't even competitors on price with the BP being circa twice as expensive.

Taking the BP first - I've alwas found the finish on the case and dial to be superb. Amazing attention to detail on something that is in essence quite a simple watch. For such a large watch it oozes class. Contrary to popular belief from those who have never owned one, the crown doesn't dig in to your hand at all if you wear your watches above your "wrist bone". If you wear your watches flapping about your hand like a ladies bracelet :poke: then maybe it will, but that's not an issue for me. The diamond crown is also a historic thing as it harks hacks back to the WWII pilots watches that the BP was designed on. Yes it's an expensive piece but where most of the money goes is into the in-house movement which with it's 7 day power reserve and pellaton winding mechanism is a very very cool piece of kit. Less cool however is it's fairly well documented inability to keep good time! Mine has been back to IWC a number of times to try and sort out it's timekeeping. All to no avail. :roll: Its for this reason and this reason alone that I'm probably going to sell it. If it kept good (or even reasonable) time it'd be a lifetime keeper as it's an awesome piece in terms of looks and finish.

In contrast, the World is much more flashy to look at, but decidedly a lot more ordinary under the skin. The Breitling modified ETA 7750 isn't going to win any prizes for originality, BUT it most certainly wins prizes for being reliable and being able to keep COSC time. Mine keeps superb time, all the time.

Ultimately it's about personal preference and budget. On looks, class and innovation alone then the BP wins hands down IMO. No question at all. Which makes it all the more frustrating that it can't do what a watch should always do first and foremost - I.e. Tell the damn time!

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 Post subject: Re: World or Big Pilot?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:21 am 
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Show me the ....pic please

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 Post subject: Re: World or Big Pilot?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 5:41 am 
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Driver8 wrote:
Beyond Man wrote:
heres a borrowed pic i found online for you to drool over.

Image :wowzers

Not only borrowed from the net : borrowed from me in fact! :lol: Yeah thats my pic of my World and BP. You can tell it's mine because it's such a poor quality photo! :lol:

Anyway, yes I can give an opinion on both.

While they're both 46mm pilots watches they are actually quite dissimilar pieces - Chrono vs non-chrono, ETA vs in-house, 30m WR vs 60m WR, busy dial vs simple dial, polished vs brushed, etc. They aren't even competitors on price with the BP being circa twice as expensive.

Taking the BP first - I've alwas found the finish on the case and dial to be superb. Amazing attention to detail on something that is in essence quite a simple watch. For such a large watch it oozes class. Contrary to popular belief from those who have never owned one, the crown doesn't dig in to your hand at all if you wear your watches above your "wrist bone". If you wear your watches flapping about your hand like a ladies bracelet :poke: then maybe it will, but that's not an issue for me. The diamond crown is also a historic thing as it harks hacks back to the WWII pilots watches that the BP was designed on. Yes it's an expensive piece but where most of the money goes is into the in-house movement which with it's 7 day power reserve and pellaton winding mechanism is a very very cool piece of kit. Less cool however is it's fairly well documented inability to keep good time! Mine has been back to IWC a number of times to try and sort out it's timekeeping. All to no avail. :roll: Its for this reason and this reason alone that I'm probably going to sell it. If it kept good (or even reasonable) time it'd be a lifetime keeper as it's an awesome piece in terms of looks and finish.

In contrast, the World is much more flashy to look at, but decidedly a lot more ordinary under the skin. The Breitling modified ETA 7750 isn't going to win any prizes for originality, BUT it most certainly wins prizes for being reliable and being able to keep COSC time. Mine keeps superb time, all the time.

Ultimately it's about personal preference and budget. On looks, class and innovation alone then the BP wins hands down IMO. No question at all. Which makes it all the more frustrating that it can't do what a watch should always do first and foremost - I.e. Tell the damn time!


Very well stated. It funny to see how people are leaning one way or the other about these two... :D
The time issue would also be a deal breaker for me... especially for that kind of money! :shock:

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 Post subject: Re: World or Big Pilot?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:52 am 
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I can certainly appreciate a clean, simple dial.....but the BP's design reminds me of a wall clock in a high school lab. Great watch from a great brand, but I could never wear one....

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