The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Just got my 2004 Super Ocean Chrono today. Nice watch but it looks a little tall on the wrist. I checked the specs before I bought it, and it states case thickness is 15.1mm which is fine by me.
I measured mine with my digital micrometer at 17.2mm. It looks and feels as any other Breitling I've owned so I believe its totally genuine.
Am I missing something here. Do Breitling measure in a specific way ?

When you measure the thickness, did you include the caseback? I would imagine Breitling only measured the actual case... But what do i know?

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Correct.

Of all the Breitlings that I have checked the thickness spec. on, the Chrono SO is the only one I have found to be incorrect. They usually are right-on measuring from top of crystal (top of rider tab where applicable) to bottom of caseback. I don't know why the Chrono SO is at least 17mm as you say but spec. says 15mm. This is the only reason I haven't purchased this model (too thick for me) as I love the dial design of this model.

Hope you can make it work, awesome piece!

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Chrono Jetstream
Montbrilliant 1903
Aerospace E79362

Congrats on the purchase. It is a thick watch, but soon I doubt you'll even notice it. Enjoy it. I love mine.

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sco
Breitling Chrono Superocean
Omega Aqua Terra 8500
Rolex Submariner Date Ceramic

I used to own a Colt GMT and after a few times you wear the CSO, you can't notice the difference in thickness. That caseback just sinks into your skin...AWESOME!

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Mat

Breitling Navitimer 01
Omega Seamaster 300mc
Omega Speedmaster Pro "Mitsukoshi Mod"
Seiko Prospek Orange Samurai

Thanks for the replies and I'm glad its not me.

Yes I measured from caseback to top crystal.

I've had a few 17mm thick watches but I wanted a slightly lower profile. 42 x 15 should have worn smaller than the Blackbird I had and regret selling at 44 x 17. But this one actually feels taller. Maybe just because of the slightly smaller case it appears taller.

The caseback also makes the watch stand a bit taller.

But again, Breitling measures the actual thickness of the case, which does not include the caseback. That would be why you measured 17mm rather than 15

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This has not been my experience. My Evo measured 17mm, from caseback to crystal, which matches Breitling's stated thickness for the model. When I measured the CSO, I noticed the same thing as the OP - it's definitely 17mm as well, despite being labeled as 15mm by Breitling. There is a discrepancy in how Breitling came up with the measurements for the two models, although which one is the aberration, I don't know. Kodiak claims, though, that the CSO is the only one that is off.

It seems to me that if Breitling isn't taking the caseback into account, they should be. Thickness should be a measure of how high up on one's wrist the whole watch sits. Not taking the caseback into account - especially given how far many of Breitling's casebacks protrude - would make the measurements meaningless. It seems Breitling has stopped providing thickness measurements on its newer models anyway, though, so it may be a moot point.

On a side note to the OP: the thickness of the CSO (both absolute and relative to the diameter of the case) was one of the big reasons I ended up selling the watch. Given that the case is narrower the most other Breitling's of that thickness, it just looked too thick and stubby. I never really understood Breitling's choice there. A total thickness of 14-15mm would have been more appropriate, IMO.

I guess it depends on where you wear your watch. See mine, it just sinks and it doesn't look chubby.



Yes i'm hairy!!! haha

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Mat

Breitling Navitimer 01
Omega Seamaster 300mc
Omega Speedmaster Pro "Mitsukoshi Mod"
Seiko Prospek Orange Samurai

I have the Black Dial CSO on bracelet and noticed that it appears larger on the wrist for a 42mm compared to my 44mm Steelfish. I don't know if this is correct info but my AD told me that this was because of its thickness?

Maybe im doing something wrong then? I just measured my CSO and it came out to just over 15mm but under 16mm...

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Which generation CSO, and how are you measuring it? Mine was the older one (just discontinued), and I measured using calipers from the caseback to the top of the crystal.

I did not measure the caseback, because i have been told by several people that Breitling does not measure the caseback, they only give you the dimensions of the actual case itself.

So i measured from the top of the crystal to the bottom of the case(not including the caseback)
I ended up at just over 15mm

My CSO is also the older gen.

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That seems like a tricky way to measure. Given the dome shape of the crystal, the top is exactly in the center of the watch. If you use calipers, I don't see how you can have the top prong placed at the top of the crystal without having the bottom prong include the caseback. The only way to leave out the caseback is to keep the calipers at the side, and then you're not getting the full measurement of the crystal. Either that or take off the caseback, which I'm not going to do.


If that's true, evidently Breitling are not entirely consistent with that, since, as I said, they posted the thickness of the Evo as 17mm, which matched my measurement taken from caseback to crystal.

Additionally, I fail to see the point in taking a thickness measurement without including the caseback. To me, the thickness measurement is useful for determining how high up a watch is going to sit on my wrist, and to be able to compare to other watches. Given that a caseback can add several millimeters to a watch's height, not including it makes the measurement useless. I suppose it's a moot point anyway, though, since Breitling has stopped providing thickness measurements, which means anybody who wants to know is going to have to do it themselves.