The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Chronomat B01

If you're in the market for a chronograph that comes with serious horological credibility, a price that is substantial rather than scandalous and a name on the dial that the rest of the world might have heard of, then the legion of choices that most watch buyers face narrows quite sharply and surprisingly to just two: Omega's Seamaster Broad Arrow and the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. Both have names that most people understand, reputations that have to survive volume production in the 100,000s and are equipped with movements that define the standards by which others should be judged.

In terms of horological cred, the choice between the two comes down to the superior finish and sophistication of Omega's co-axial escapement calibre 3313, against Rolex's 4130, a movement designed and proven to be rugged, reliable and easy to service. There may be other chronograph movements equal to these two in terms of quality, but none in terms of price and volume of production. Until now.

Breitling has just complicated that choice with the Chronomat B01, which features the new, in-house Calibre BO1. If not quite the size of Rolex or Omega, Breitling is a serious volume maker of watches and has the muscle and will to make up the difference. Until the advent of the B01, Breitling could never be thought of as having quite the same credibility as either Omega or Rolex - the general quality of the company's watches was certainly the equal of these two, while the genuine recognition of professional pilots has been of real value, but however well finished and modified, ETA/Valjoux bases are simply not valued as highly as an in-house movement.

The B01 will be made in serious numbers, upwards of 50,000 a year and, at the launch, seems the equal of both the 3313 and the 4130, being designed from first principles to be robust, precise and easy to maintain. The COSC-certified, 70-hour running movement includes a new system for adjusting the chronograph control functions and is housed in a case that is water-resistance rated at 500m.

With five years of development behind it, the B01 is not being released untested into the world; reliability being of serious importance in coming up against such well-proven competitors. So not just watch of the month, quite conceivably watch of the next decade - the Chronomat B01.

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Nice movement - shame about the watch it has been put in.

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Agree with that Shark, went to try it on last weekend, and have to say the pictures in the catalogue look much better than the watch itself. But im sure this movement will be in more watches in the future.... I hope

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Navitimer, Steelfish, Colt GMT, Aerospace, Chronospace, Chrono Superocean

Eh so Breitling isn't as good as Omega No one I know would place Omega above Breitling.

Still haven't had a proper look at the B01. Saw them in the display case at Fairford airshow, but I'd like to have a proper look/feel

Just because lack of in-house movement.

I couldn't agree more Sharky.


Agreed........, although the 3313 is not actually an in-house anyway - it's more of an "in-group" movement!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I was amazed at the placing of Breitling below some of the other watch houses Id say its lower than PP AP & JLC but on a par if not better than the likes of Omega and Rolex etc but then again we are all Biased on here

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This is always a very emotive subject, but as much as I dislike certain things about Rolex, I think you'd struggle to say that Breitlings are "better" than Rolex. In terms of Omega vs Breitling I'd say that the low-end Omegas are below the low-end Breitlings, but the high-end Omegas are above the high-end Breitlings : Omega cover a wider range. Of course the B01 puts Breitling at a level where they can fully compete with Omega. In many ways they are quite similar in terms of market.

There have been a number of threads on this in the past, but there was a very good post a while ago, where one member found a very good graph that showed most of the major watchmakers with their approximate market share with their positioning relative to high or low-end.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Driver,

Which Omegas do you consider to be the high end Omegas?

Please don't tell me the Devilles

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Rolex DeepSea, GMT Master II TT, Pres 18038, DJ TT 16013
Breitling Chronomat 39mm (bullet+UTC), Starliner SS/MOP (wife)

back with ROLEX

Well, as with anything it's all very subjective, but for me, one measure of how "high-end" a manufacturer is is the type of movements they have in their range, and the type of innovation they undertake. The Co-Axial escapement is something unique to Omega. Now, opinions vary as to whether it's really the giant leap forward that Omega claim, but it is innovative and gives Omega a USP in that regard. The 33** series of movements are EXTREMELY refined and pretty cutting edge as far as mechanical watches go. Granted it's not totally in-house, but it was developed "in-group" in conjunction with Fredric Piguet, and isn't found anywhere else. And while there are a number of claims of fragility out there, but there are a whole bunch of people who swear they are fine. Additionally Omega have been running there own in-house movement (the 85** series) for a while now, while Breitling have only just got there with the B01. Additionally Omega have an rattrapante movement and an automatic tourbillon, none of which Breitling have at the moment.

In contrast, almost all of Breitling's mechanical movements are either Valjoux 7750 or ETA 2824 or 2892 based. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all, and they are all very well finished, but IMO it puts Omegas "best stuff" a little way ahead of Breitling. Of course, Breitling now have the B01 which should even things out.

As I say, at the lower end Omega use a lot of pretty standard non-chronomater ETA quartz movements (the "tick tock" Seamaster for one), so in that respect I'd say the lower end Omega are probably lower than the lower end Breitling.

In many ways they are indeed competitors, I think Omega overlaps Breitling at both the lower and higher ends, but this is just my own opinions here.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I am not convinced about the view of the B01. Here my criticism:


©timezone.com

- Bezel without rider is not a Chronomat
- dial why with a squere?

The whole watch looks like a swatch. I have seen the B01 at the jeweler and come to the conclusion the inhouse calibre B01 need a new watch or the Navitimer. It is not a easy way to be a manufacture. It is possible to use a chance to go one step higher to Rolex. It is a simply question of time or it is impossible? What do you think?

If we are going to be true to history then Chronomat bezels have been wrong since 1984!

Very true! Change is inevitable. If Breitlings looked the same now as 100 years ago, it is unlikely they would be as popular now. The Bentley Motors line was quite aggressively new, too, and could have been a total bust (yeah, OK, the Flying B was a total bust ). But instead they hit the nail on the head with that one...a total slam dunk IMHO. You win some and loose some.

On the other hand, Breitling also knows when it has a good thing going, as evidenced by the Navitimer line.

I don't mind the lack of rider tabs on the Chronomat B01. It's just really the font. Everything else about the watch I like. After handling a few of them, I think that the quality of the case's construction and materials really does seem at a slightly higher level than the regular Chronomat. Stylistic flaws aside, I think the Chronomat B01 does move Breitling up ever so slightly on the scale of watch brands.

I was talking to my aunt a few weeks ago, and she remembers looking at Breitlings in the 1960s and deciding on a Rolex (which she still wears today) because the Breitlings were much more expensive. Is this true? She is probably going to get a Breitling now, though.


--Mofongo

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

Flying B a bust?

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