The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello, all.

Anyone else see the April issue of WatchTime with the B01 vs IWC comparison? I just finished reading it and the result was...

...or maybe you'd like to guess?

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"Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped!"
- Groucho Marx

I'd like to read that. And the winner was......?

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Driver8

Site Moderator

The comparison winner was [drumroll...] The B01!

However, it was a pretty close race. The overall score was:
B01: 89 of 100
IWC: 86 of 100

The B01 won out on better ergonomics and considerably more bang for the buck (about half the price of the IWC)

The reviewer didn't delve into as much detail as I would like and had a couple of strange calls, such as giving negative marks for the screw-in chrono pushers and not giving the B01 any advantage for the fact that it has more features (not a lot more, but more). I also would have thought the 500 m water resistance compared to the IWC's 120 m would inch the B01 a little ahead...

But all in all it was a pretty balanced comparison. I only really directly disagree with the reviewer on one point: that the B01's case and finish is clearly more elaborate than the IWC. The review gave them about equal marks for this.

For those of you who plan to get the magazine: Sorry about the spoiler

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"Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped!"
- Groucho Marx

Can anybody be bothered to scan it? Sounds like it would be interesting.

On a side note, I dont like screw down pushers either. I dont know if I could take points away if I were reviewing it objectively, but I personally would rather not have them if given the choice. I like my chrono available in an instant, and unscrewed pushers look silly to me.

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-RJ

The reviewer mentioned that the "start" pusher being hard to push. I've handled a B01 before, but didn't really notice it. Of course, I've only handled 7750-based chronos before, so perhaps it felt about the same.

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My Breitling team:
SuperOcean (blue, circa 2007)
Airwolf (black, circa 2009)

I read the comparison; I'm glad groucho posted some of it.

Many Breitling fans only compare the B01 with other Breitling offerings. Then the complaints are, too much money, weird looking bezel font, not enough like Breitlings of old . . . this article proved that when looked at more objectively, the B01 movement is a comparative value and the B01 case isn't that bad at all.

Peace

Mike

I agree that it was a good article with mostly the right outcome. Definitely an interesting read.

RJ I'm not at home right now but when I return I can scan and send you the article if you'd like?

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Happines is Good Health and a Bad Memory.
"Ingrid Bergman"

Another point the reviewer makes is that creating an in-house chronograph movement (as opposed to a non-chrono) is quite an undertaking. I don't know much about actual watch-making so I can't say how big a deal this really is, but apparently for a watch company it's one of the things that separate the boys from the men. And as Mikey points out, the value for money is very good in comparison.

Overall, I'd say that Breitling's models generally give very good value for money when you compare features, build quality and styling compared to pretty much any other brand.

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"Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped!"
- Groucho Marx

That would be awesome. Maybe even post it here for all to read (although I hope that doesnt infringe on any copyright laws )

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-RJ

Great outcome in the test. I´d really love to read it too.

Thanks for posting that Groucho.

It comforts me on my choice for choosing the B01.

I just wish that Breitling lovers are not so harsh and critic against it.

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

Just picked up the April issue. Good, easy to read article - some technical movement details but not to much to cloud the overall impressions. They actually tested the "rate" or sec. deviation per day which was nice - real data.

I also thought the preceding article on the short history of Bell and Ross was interesting. Didn't realize they were so new - in watchmaker years.

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Chrono Jetstream
Montbrilliant 1903
Aerospace E79362

I'll be home again on Friday and will happily scan and post the article if someone doesn't beat me to it. Not sure on copywrite law but will take the risk

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Happines is Good Health and a Bad Memory.
"Ingrid Bergman"

Holy cow!! That's a pretty bad boy that the BO1 went up against and won. I'd certainly give the BO1 more points for the 500m water resistance and the column wheel chrono does make the top pusher a bit stiffer to operate but eliminates the 'jump' in the hands at the start of the chrono operation-another big plus for the BO1, in my opinion.
I'm about to get the limited edition version of the BO1 tomorrow

With IWC aggressive marketing and the brand being pushed to the mass public in movies such as Wall Street 2 in the last couple of years its great to see Breitling take this one. Good point on the effort and dedication to create in-house chrono movement and value offered to the end client.

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Alex
Breitling - Navitimer
Breitling - SuperOcean
Breitling - Chrono SuperOcean