The Breitling Watch Source Forums

For all you Cosmonaute owners and aficionados out there: how long did it take you to adjust to the 24-hour dial? Was it hard to adjust to if/when you rotated it through your collection? Did you find yourself having to spend more than a casual split-second glance at the watch face to correctly tell the time?

I like the idea of the Cossie but am a bit uneasy each time I see a stock photo and realize the watch is displaying 8:10pm instead of 10:10.

no big issue , it only takes a split second that you realize something is 'off' when you look at the dial and then another split second to 'remember' its a 24Hr watch

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"I spent most of my money on Booze, Breitling and Boats. The rest I wasted" - mostly Elmore Leonard

+1 must admit I never wore it long enough to have that "split second" disappear, am sure that after some weeks of wearing it without changing watches it would be come totally "normal".

As I have said in the past when this topic comes up, I have far more (relative) problems with minutes than hours, and even then it's really nothing more than a double take.

As far as making the shift to reading a 24-hour watch -- as a general matter, it really does become second nature. You just start to think of the dial in a different way, and it starts to feel familiar over time.

That being said, while I love the romance of the Cossie -- rocketing into space with Scott Carpenter -- I just don't find the Cossie dial to be particularly user-friendly in terms of telling time at-a-glance. But that's not due to the fact that it's a 24-hour watch -- it's due to the particular layout of the dial, which I find to be cluttered and confusing. I know there is probably a special place in Breitling hell for me for saying this...

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Cheers,
Jim

I know exactly what you are on about.
It is highly unlikely that I will ever be as fluent telling the time on my Cossie than any other watch with a conventional dial. As they say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks
All my friends and colleagues ask how the hell I can tell the time with that
Nevertheless, it is a must have in my collection and I do enjoy wearing it.
If all else fails I can always reach out for my phone

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Don't wear it often enough to for it to become natural, you have to 'look' what time it is, but that's part of the charm. For me all premium watches are about a sense of occasion rather than telling the time (otherwise would have a modern digital watch) and the Cosmonaute dial always gives this in spades.

My brother has an old Porsche with the 'Racing' dog-leg gearbox (1st gear is where 2nd is on a normal car). This is very similar to the Cosmonaute, a great sense of occasion and history/heritage (Racing) but you always have to pay attention on the road that you don't put it in reverse (where 1st gear is in most cars) at the traffic lights!!

Love mine and wouldn't be without one in my collection and is actually my wife's favourite watch of mine.

Well put, John90.

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Cheers,
Jim

Absolutely right! Especially because the marker next to the Arabic to indicate the hour is so small on the Cossie. I sometimes have to find a 15/ 30 minute marker and count back if i want the exact time!

readability isnt too bad ?

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"I spent most of my money on Booze, Breitling and Boats. The rest I wasted" - mostly Elmore Leonard

Stunning

Yes, its not all that bad

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"I spent most of my money on Booze, Breitling and Boats. The rest I wasted" - mostly Elmore Leonard

just an old watch again, René, no, it isn't too bad.....

Absolutely no problem on my screen where it is about 10 cm in diameter

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"It is just a matter of time!"

It took a bit of practice but eventually I got the hang of it.

RHS of face is daytime, LHS is night. Just minus 12 for anything over midday (at the conventional 6 o'clock position) and you have conventional hours. It soon gets easier and you don't need to do that anymore. . Well, that's what I found.

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Jim

"You have Control".