The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Just joined the board, here's my Chronomat Evolution and the wife's Rolex, sorry about the poor quality photo, cheapo camera.

Really considering changing the dial for a different colour though.

I'm not big on the arabics but I don't mind the color. If you do change it up, consider the same layout that Ron has. Looks awesome with the diamond bezel. Slate grey, has black subs and black tach ring. Second to none on diamonds.

Wear it in good health!

That's funny...I said the same thing about mine. Gray is so boring. I ended up ditching the watch instead, but had I kept it, I probably would have switched the dial to black on black with Romans. The gray does absolutely nothing for the diamonds, imo.

That's how I feel, it's so underwhelming.
In some lights it looks darker and I think it looks good, but in other lights it looks very pale and I'm like need to change this dial.

Out of interest the dial colour is Anthracite and I was considering Grey face with Black dials or like you Black on Black, however is grey and anthracite the same colour I wonder?

That was exactly my take on it. In shade and indirect lighting, it almost looks blue; in fact, one time I called the local AD to ask what Chronomats they had in stock, and they said one was blue. I got there, and it was the Antrhacite dial. Then yes, in direct light (like in your pic), it completely washes out.


There are several gray dials for the Chronomat. Anthracite is the lightest. The gray with black subs is slate gray, which is darker. The darkest is graphite. The subdials are the same color as the rest of the dial, and it is the only Chronomat dial that has the word "Automatic" in red. Between the three, personally I would go with the graphite, but a member here has the slate gray with a diamond bezel, and it looks pretty darn good, imo. See below. You'll also notice that the slate gray dial has the bullseye guilloche pattern; the graphite does, as well. For some reason, only the dials with the Arabic numerals have no patterning to them.

Speaking of anthracite, I vented my spleen in about it this thread.

Slate gray:


Graphite:

Thank's for a very informative response JacksonStone
The info regarding the greys really helps and the thread you posted to was, erm.... well typical of an internet forum discussion I guess.

I'm looking out for a dial now but apart from ebay and posting on this thread I'm at a loss, anyway I'm in no rush. I've got a place that will swap it out for me, it's not official Breitling and I know I wont be able to take it back to Breitling for servicing but if that's what's required I'll do it.

I chose it quite a few years back and stupidly only viewed them on the Breitling website prior to ordering from my local jewellers, it looked completely different in the flesh.

Don't feel bad. I bought mine at Costco after only looking at it a minute or two...in person. The tag actually said it was black, and because it looked dark-ish in that lighting, I didn't pay much attention to the dial, focusing instead on fit, wrist appearance, etc. I only noticed it was gray after I got it home and really started looking at it. (I've learned a lot since then, let me tell you.) Justice prevailed, though, because after three years, I took it back and got a full refund. The returns manager noted that the description said it was black, and that the watch was clearly gray, so that was partial grounds for her decision to issue a refund. That, and that's their general policy anyway, but they don't guarantee a return after two years.

You do know Breitling will do a dial change, right? It's expensive - $500 - $600 for the dial alone, plus a complete overhaul, so the total bill will be upwards of $1200. No small chunk of change, but you might want to consider it. Breitling servicing does more than just regulate and keep things in general working order. A complete overhaul basically gives you back your watch in like-new condition, including a full polish. So, you send it in for a few weeks, and when you get it back, it's like you just bought a different watch - completely polished, in top working order, and the dial of your choice. Check out these videos to see what they do. This is what you'll be giving up if you let someone else swap out the dial for you. Just FYI.

Another thing to think about: if you do swap the dial aftermarket, you will have seriously hurt resale value. A lot of potential buyers won't touch it if they know they can't send it into Breitling.

That's good advice, I think the least I can do is get a quote from Breitling before I decide.
I live in the UK so will contact them to see if they can do it here.

Thanks