This afternoon I was in town, which was pretty much my first trip into town for 7 months, mainly due to Covid but also due to work, and I finally got to see the new Chronomat in the flesh! Most of you have probably already seen them, so I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new, but just thought I'd share my impressions anyway.
As Fred will know, I was madly keen on getting hold of the Frecce version from the day it was released, but I ended up not taking the plunge for two reasons. Firstly I'm just not a huge fan of the current shade of blue that Breitling are using. From the publicity shots I was hopeful of a really deep but vibrant blue (kind of like the blue Tag Heuer are using on their new Carrera, or what Rolex calls 'Bright Blue'), but all the IRL pictures I've seen show it as more similar the blue currently being used on Breitling's black-eye-blue models, which I personally find "washes out" somewhat in certain lights. (Not a criticism, just a personal view, but reason enough not to risk a sight-unseen purchase). And the second reason I didn't take the plunge without seeing one in person, was the butterfly clasp. Again I'm just not a fan of them as I see them as more of a "dress clasp" rather than a "sports clasp", and I'm a real stickler for an EXACT fit on my wrist : nothing irritates me more than a watch that is too tight or too loose, and gambling on getting an exact fit on a butterfly clasp watch just wasn't something I was going to risk. So long and short of it is that I didn't jump on the Frecce despite really wanting it.
Fast forward a few months and today I was in town and got my first chance to try on the Panda and Reverse Panda variants. All I can say is, WOW! Both are stunning, but the Reverse Panda was absolutely gorgeous to my eyes. The head is an absolute thing of beauty, and the bezel (which I was a initially a little unsure of given the ticks in the top half only) is actually fantastic - I really see what Fred means about how well it just works on this design. The case is gorgeous, the dial is wonderfully executed, the handset is perfect, and the all round finishing is fantastic (Oh and the date window hidden at 6 - SUPERB!
). The Rouleaux bracelet is also very nice, and definitely well made, but I must be honest the butterfly clasp and that lack of fine adjustment is a real issue for me. Yes it looks very seamless and very true to the original design, but I'd personally happily forgo that little nod to history for a bit of micro-adjustment and a sports clasp. (Yes I get that the links are small so a reasonable fit should be easy to find, but it's still a risk I'm unwilling to take).However, I did get the sales-woman to dig out a black leather strap from their store and hold it up against the head so I could get a view of what it'd look like on a strap....., and it would look incredible! As nice as the Rouleaux is, I think I'd definitely wear this one on a strap - probably a black croco, or potentially even rubber.
So the upshot is, YES it's a truly beautiful piece, and YES I really do want to get one
- the Reverse Panda would be my choice 100% - but I'm going to wait until/if it becomes available on a strap because I really don't want to pay for a bracelet I probably won't use.(PS - Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I was trying to touch as little as possible in the AD!)
