The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hoping such questions dont get asked on a near daily basis I reluctantly wonder:

1999 - SuperOcean Professional (metal wings-not printed)
Black face, SS bracelet, Chronometre

Somewhere along the line "PROFESSIONAL" was dropped from below SuperOcean where CHRONOMETRE now lives. All else appears to be the same...as far as I can tell.

Does anyone know perhaps when and/or why this happened? I would be grateful for someone to share such useless knowledge with me. Thank you in advance.

Part of my curiosity is because there currently seems to be few watches listed in the Professional category yet the SuperOcean once, but no longer had an option or upgrade to Professional model?

SuperOceanMan,....painfully debating Avenger Seawolf gear revision/upgrade

The superocean professional had a brushed finish, unlike the regular superocean which was polished.

Right, and don't get confused between the SuperOcean Professional and the Professional line of watches (which has now been split into Aeromarine and Professional, with the SuperOcean now being in the Aeromarine range).

Welcome. First Colt Superocean 17040 (1000m WR) appeared around 1994-95 I think, (don't have catalogs that old). 1998-99 Colt Superocean Professional 17045 was introduced. Differences from Colt Superocean were; 1524 meters WR, applied dial logo, brushed case and was made only in black and yellow dial. Both models were in production till 2002, but they changed ref# in 17340 and 17345 because they were COSC certified by then. Another model of SO 17360 was introduced in 2002 and lasted until this year. Differences from old SO and SO Professional were only slight cosmetic (´Chronometre´ written on the dial) and case was 42mm instead of 41.5mm.
Hope this helps.

wow, very interesting. Thanks to all

Seems like (at the time) SuperOcean had an upgrade for awhile to Professional model. Later that model became the standard so to speak with minor/subtle cosmetic differences.

_________________
A Mayan cenote swallowed my Breitling...in the Yucatan...Part of me died that day

Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools

Thucydides

Something like that, but only 17045 and 17345 SO Professional are matte finish.

So matte finish, a major plus to me, was until recently an option.

I am not aware if that finish is or is not standard now but doesnt seem to be?
Finish is listed as :Steel - so obviously not?

_________________
A Mayan cenote swallowed my Breitling...in the Yucatan...Part of me died that day

Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools

Thucydides

They are both made from steel, one is polished and one is brushed.
Manufacture of SO Professional which is brushed ended in 2002.
After that, all SO's are polished.

Exactly, and thank you

In my opinion (matters not) this is awful

_________________
A Mayan cenote swallowed my Breitling...in the Yucatan...Part of me died that day

Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools

Thucydides

You can still opt for the superocean steelfish or the new steel avenger seawolf, both of which are brushed.

I think it should be clarified (again), that "professional" these days is only the name of that group of watches and has nothing to do with them being superior to other breitlings. Its just the name of the line.

The superocean professional name probably had something to do with an active professional needing a brushed watch that would show less signs of abuse.

Yes, and also military regulations frown upon shiny or polished anything so the matte or brushed finish is a nice feature to me.

Ofcourse I had one watch and not several so it was an everyday piece for me

_________________
A Mayan cenote swallowed my Breitling...in the Yucatan...Part of me died that day

Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools

Thucydides