Some of you may have seen this already from the Breitling electronic newsletter. I thought it was an interesting read and great that the B01 has won crucial early recognition (as the title states
) "In its September edition, German specialized trade magazine Uhren-Magazin is full of praise for Breitling’s new Chronomat B01. Backed by concrete figures, it highlights the exceptional performances of Caliber B01, a chronograph movement entirely developed and produced in-house by Breitling. Its final verdict is 6 out of 6!
Uhren-Magazin, the German publication widely acknowledged in professional circles as the world’s most serious watch journal, recounts in detail its thorough scrutiny of the Chronomat B01 presented by Breitling at Baselworld last spring. This six-page article signed by Gerhard Seelen gives pride of place to the new Caliber B01, including a reminder of the advantages provided by its column wheel and its vertical coupling-clutch; by the fast date adjustment system that can be operated at any time; and by the patented mechanism for the auto-centering of the chronograph reset hammers.
The journalist is particularly enthusiastic about the result of the rate precision tests conducted by the magazine: «[…] the Caliber runs with incredible precision, to the point of creating the impression that the Chronomat is equipped with a quartz movement.» A glance at the results does indeed confirm that the performances achieved are even more impressive than the official Breitling data: «With the chronograph activated, the variation is scarcely measurable at approximately 0.3 seconds per day; while the variation is barely 0.8 seconds when the chronograph is not in action: these are truly dream values.» During the tests Caliber B01 also displayed a minimum 72-hour power reserve, two hours more than announced by Breitling and a performance directly linked to the excellent rating results.
The maximum 6 out of 6 score awarded to the Chronomat B01 by the Uhren-Magazin editorial team is nonetheless not exclusively due to the performances of its movement. While the article does indeed focus mainly on Caliber B01, it also emphasizes the quality of the design and the impeccable finishing of this chronograph, which «seems to be built for eternity» in the words of Gerhard Seelen, who concludes the feature in even more lyrical terms: «the space available here could not possibly suffice to list all the positives of the Chronomat B01.»
Breitling vice-president Jean-Paul Girardin is naturally delighted with this article: «The praise heaped upon the Chronomat B01 by Uhren-Magazin is significant in that it stems from an extremely serious and neutral source, as well as being based on objective parameters backed by concrete figures. As for the results themselves, they reflect the philosophy that guided the entire development of Caliber B01 and which consists in giving top priority to movement performance, meaning its reliability and its precision. Finally – and very importantly – I note that the magazine salutes the quality of the Chronomat B01 in its entirety: not only that of the movement alone, but also the originality of its overall design, the level of its finish and its technical characteristics. At a time when consumers are clearly returning to authentic values, I see this as an encouraging sign for the Chronomat B01 – a wrist instrument designed to assert itself as the benchmark among selfwinding chronographs".
