Well, for the past almost year, I have been away from the Breitling scene. Most into Omegas, and then Rolexes. The Omegas are almost gone, and I have one Rolex which is my all time favourite watch: a 36mm Explorer I. Lately, I have been lusting after the Sub No Date, which I was convinced would be my next watch.
I still have a very soft spot for Breitling, though, and had to take another look just to satisfy myself that the Sub No Date is going to be the one. I saw the Steelfish with the silver dial today for the first time. It looked rather washed out in the display case, with the brushed PRO II bracelet. It was the only Steelfish Michael had, but I wanted to get a closer look anyway. We both commented that the dial was more of an ivory or cream colour, but beautifully machined and has a great finish on it. We decided it would look best with a brown leather strap, which is very much the case!
Once that brown leather strap was on, it transformed the watch completely! It brings out the beautiful shade of the dial, and is still a wonderful contrast.
It is really difficult to describe the dial colour. I would definitely not call it silver, though. The pics on the forums and the Breitling website really don't adequately convey the true colour.
With the brown strap, I think it is one of the most unique looks in any Breitling watch that I have seen. I am usually into the black dials, and owned a black dial Steelfish also, which I sold last year and have regretted. At least, until now.
I discovered also today that Breitling has IMHO done a very smart thing with the leather straps, at least the one that my AD had in stock: they have changed the taper and made it less. The 22/18 (I had one on my Seawolf) is now 22/20. It is a very gradual taper, hardly noticeable at all, and really looks grand with the heavier divers watch!
Here are some rather poor shots of the new beast. I wish they did the watch justice. If only I could capture the unique colour in the dial. It reminds me of the cream dial I saw once on an older Omega Aqua Terra. All I can say is it looks very rich with the brown strap. I will try to get some better shots later (taken by someone else!) and some wrist shots.
Since getting my Rolex Explorer on Feb 1 this year, I have not really been exited by many other watches, except the Rolex Sub No Date. Until today. What really did it for me, was the transformation that occurred when the brown leather strap was put on. If anything, other than changing the proportions of the strap, Breitling has made it even better quality. Truly the best quality leather strap I have ever had on my wrist! At almost 5mm thick - at the edges - and the thick white stitching, it looks marvelous! The polished buckle looks wonderful, with an applied Breitling wing logo.
I had almost forgotten how beautiful the dial on the Steelfish is. The detail is amazing, with the silve frames on all the markers and the calendar window. Also the silver arabics 3, 6 and 9 looks great. Although the top surfaces of the watch are brushed, the sides and the part of the bezel surrounding the crystal are polished, and it give the watch just a perfect amount of bling. The slightly off white markers look absolutely amazing against the cream colour of the dial, and almost give the watch a retro look. With the heavier and wider strap, the watch looks in beautiful proportion.
I tried on a Panerai awhile back, looking for a perfect tool watch, that I could play around with quite a bit by changing the straps with some other than OEM. This Steelfish fits the bill beautifully!
I can't say enough about this watch, and how excited I am with it. Other than that I have to concur with those who say that the Steelfish is definitely one of the best values of any divers watch - bar none!
Thanks for looking and listening!
(my rambling)Cheers,
Carl
