The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi everybody,

I'm a newbie and have a hard time deciding about my first Breitling . I narrowed down my choices to Chrono Colt and Chrono Superocean. They both look great but I have always had Quartz watches and never had an automatic watch before. I have two concerns about automatic watches:

1. I've heard that automatic watched are not very accurate and I'm obsessed with accuracy. How accurate is Chrono Superocean?

2. I've heard that that automatic watches are very sensitive and even clapping hands might damage them. Is this true? I plan to wear my new watch all the time, at work (I'm a software developer so it will be quite safe at work) and leisure (my biggest hobby is going to metal concerts and take pictures of the bands). Anybody knows how sensitive Chrono Superocean is?

Thanks in advance,
Zhubin

Hi

all Breitling watches are Chronometer certified. That means:

1.automatic watches should have an acurracy between -4 and +6 seconds per day.

Quarz watches should have an acurracy of approximately 15 seconds per year.

christian

Hi, As far as accuracy goes, I guess it depends on how obsessed by it you really are! My personal experience is that the chronometers I have owned and currently own exceed the COSC requirement of -4/+6 per day. On average I seem to get a deviation of -1/+1 day, but that's just for the ones I own - you may have a different experience if you take the plunge on an auto. The thing to bear in mind is that you will have to stop any watch (unless it has a perpetual or semi-perpetual calendar) at least 5 times a year to adjust the date, so that provides an ideal opportunity to reset the time. On my watches for example (assuming a daily gain of 1 second), that means that any watch of mine is never more than 1 minute wrong. If you really couldn't live with that, then maybe an auto isn't for you. However for me (and I think most automatic owners will agree), the pleasure of owning an automatic watch is derived from something more than just telling the time with atomic-clock-like accuracy. It's a little more esoteric than that. It's about the workmanship and the beauty of something that in an age of digital technology, can still be made in (fairly) traditional ways and still be accurate and precise. A lot of people will say that an auto is a "living thing" compared to the robotic "tick-tock" of quartz. If that isn't something you "get", then you may be better to steer clear of an automatic......

On your second point, I've never heard of an auto being that fragile. No-one I personally know has damaged a watch by clapping! A quartz may be slightly more shock resistant, but I feel you would have to be extremely rough (rough enough to damage the case) in order to do the movement any harm.

Hi!

Buy the Superocean!

Great accuracy and great design.
In my oppinion it looks better on the wrist.
Perfect size; 42 mm in diameter.

I have a SO Professional. And its a great, both regarding to accuracy and design.

Regards

Frodef.

I'd also recommend the CSO, but the Chrono Colt II is a nice looking watch.. I prefer the dial over the CSO if you're comparing the silver with blue subdials.

Thanks everyone for you recommendations and comprehensive explanations. I guess I'm going with a CSO

Good man! You won't regret it.

Good call on the CSO. I have had mine about 2 months and love it. I was out with some friends a few nights ago and I noticed the bartender kept looking at my watch. She finally came over and asked me what it was. Her comment was "wow, that watch really has a presence to it"

Out of curiosity I also have been comparing the accuracy with the atomic clock program on my computer and it is usually never off by more than 5sec.

I just picked up one - black face, Pro II braclet - no regrets.

_________________
Blanker

Good that you went with the SuperOcean, there is not much of a price difference. Also, I looked at both the Colt and SuperOcean the other day, as I am planning to upgrade my older SuperOcean. I noticed that the numbers and hands on the Colt are not luminous. Don't know if that makes a difference to you or not.
Cheers,
Carl