The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi everyone,

Well, yesterday I got a day away from the office to go racing. No, not the Grand Prix. I don’t normally go to these things, but it in this case it was an event not to miss. So along I went. I thought I better don a racing watch for the occasion and went looking for something appropriate. The racing in particular was the annual St Patrick’s Day horse racing in the beautiful Yarra Valley at Yarra Glen, just east of Melbourne.

I don’t exactly own a racing watch for horses, so I strapped on the next best thing. A Formex 4Speed 6500. I have had this watch for about 4 years now and believe it or not, it’s the first time I have ever worn it. I picked this up in a bidding war and got it for a reasonable price.



It came with the original aluminium camera style box and all the paperwork. My first impression was that it did not seem to have any wear on it at all. It’s so clean and near perfect, so I am happy to have this in a modest collection. My brother in law is a professional photographer and he snapped this one for me on a couple of occasions during the day. Many thanks to him, I can now share this with you. I have had to cut the pictures down slightly for photo bucket, but I think the resulting images capture the watch well. It would have been more appropriate at the GP, but I am not one for protocol. So the neddies will do!

I did not win anything and got a slight case of sun burn from the unseasonal weather. A great day, all in all, and a good opportunity to try this one out. It’s well balanced and is only one of two or three Bulls head watches I own.

_________________
Jim

"You have Control".

Racing in UK, first Spring meeting on the flat, was cancelled today due to... snow!

hi Jim, what a rugged watch! It's actually quite strange but I like it very much. I like tool watch with plenty of functions. What do you have there more than chrono and calculator?

Hi Guys,

Sorry to hear the weather is so bad in UK at the moment. Our main racing season here is in the spring as well, and finally summer racing has drawn to a close. But racing still goes on all year round here and usually in good weather. It’s not a sport I really get into, although it’s good to see the neddies running occasionally.

This watch is a little different, and I bought it because it fills in a few blanks in for me. I have only two Bullhead chromos (if you can truly call this one a bullheads), the other being a Tissot Sideral. The other reason is that this is a square case. Hard to find a slide rule watch in a square case, although not unique. It has a suspension system on the case and allows the viewer to tilt the watch for better viewing. It’s interesting but not overly ‘chunky’ as one might first think. Beautifully finished in black, with some surfaces in matt, and others highly polished (think mirror finish). Truly, a very nice piece of work by the factory.

It’s a well balanced watch and the slide rule is accurate to within one gradation line on the C,D scales. I like this one very much for its simplicity and the nicely hued blue AR coating. Of course, being at the races I timed a few events and the chrono function worked fine. Surprising how little I normally use the chrono function for anything other than normal time.

It’s not an expensive watch either. Yes, purists would probably be appalled by its pretentions, but that’s not my concern. To criticize this one on that basis misses the point. It’s a fairly unique design and although there are other examples of this style elsewhere, it’s hard to find one with a functioning slide rule. Venerable 7750 movement and racing hands. What more could you want!

Sorry the pics are so low res.

_________________
Jim

"You have Control".