The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I have spent a week now with my two Anantas, a silver dial Multi Hand Auto and Spring Drive GMT in black.

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Full review to come with many detailed pictures, but seriously people just get one or two or three! The finish is seriously insane, the engineering is first rate, the accuracy is something else on both the Autos and Spring Drives!

The straps and bracelet are OK, but nothing to call home about. There I found a something semi-negative to say

I would put them above Omega and Breitling in terms of overall quality, and just under IWC and JLC IMO.

The Multi Hand Automatic cost me 1415 USD, and stands up to watches that cost 120 times as much. Phenomenal value!

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Certified watch nut.

Can't wait to see your review.

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Mat

Breitling Navitimer 01
Omega Seamaster 300mc
Omega Speedmaster Pro "Mitsukoshi Mod"
Seiko Prospek Orange Samurai

I really think that Seiko are going to start winning fans with these - glad that you are pleased Altair.

Looking forward to the full review.

The only issue I have with the Spring Drive models is that they still use quartz and circuit boards in addition to the mechanical elements. If they could achieve what Spring Drives does entirely mechanically then owning one would be a no-brainer, but I just can't get past the hybrid nature of the movements.

That said, they are technical marvels and Altair can obviously vouch for the quality of build, so if the electronic part doesn't bother you then they are great watches. Here's a very good video about how Spring Drive was developed and how it works -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbmKZ5JX ... =1&index=1

PS - Oh and I also still have a little bit of a problem with the fact it's a Seiko that costs £3000 GBP! (Yeah, I know, I'm a snob! )

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I gotta get me some tri synchro regulator action...

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein

Sounds to me like you need a Seiko Spring Drive then!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Awesome Altair, looking forward to the review. I've always liked Seiko; I just know that they're well made watches. Glad you've now provided some support for this rationale and you like your acquisitions

Congratulations (again )

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Happines is Good Health and a Bad Memory.
"Ingrid Bergman"

hi,

Last saturday i was at the seiko center in amsterdan(netherlands) and the AD just blown me away.
You can really see that seiko is making some serious investments to show there high end watches.

Within two months i will own the SD Chrono with the white face or the limited edition with black and gold layout.
I'm saving every pennie since februari and i hope to buy one after the summer vacation, i really cant wiat .
I am really looking forward to your review and until that time you really should enjoy your watches .

Bryan

Hi,

Any nice pictures yet???

Bryan

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Breanach78

A Few Breitlings.

We need another top notch Altair review!!

Coming soon folks, you can see some pics of the silver Ananta in teh gallery in my collection pics

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Certified watch nut.

I've owned the Ananta Spring Drive GMT for over 6 months now. It is a fine piece that offers the feel of a mechanical watch with good quartz (but not SuperQuartz) accuracy. It is a well made piece and I love it, but I wouldn't say it is above Breitling in terms of overall quality. Probably about the same to me.

Hopefully the OP doesn't mind me posting a few pics, but I think this thread really do need a few

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My Breitling team:
SuperOcean (blue, circa 2007)
Airwolf (black, circa 2009)

Great pics, I have the same exact watch + the white dial multi hand. Great watches!

I would say Breitling has the edge on the Anantas when it comes to the engineering of the bracelets and clasps, but in other regards (even the Ar and chrystal) the Seikos have the edge. The brushed and polished surfaces on these watches are exemplary and are characteristic of watches costing at least 10 times as much as the Seikos.

I have to disagree with your categorization of these watches though, I dont think of them as quartz watches at all. More like mechanical watches with Quartz regulators. Hybrid? I guess.....

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Certified watch nut.

Hmm, the AR is actually one of the areas that I consider Breitling to be clearly superior to my Ananta. I wish the Ananta had double AR like my Breitlings. I do understand there are people who prefer inside AR coating only, so perhaps Seiko was going for durability rather than the invisible crystal effect.

I do agree that the "blade polished" surfaces on the Ananta is superior to most polished surfaces out there.



I also think of it more as a mechanical watch. It behaves pretty much just like any automatic watch I've owned. I was referring to quartz for its accuracy. I'm getting about +4~5s per month, which is very good for regular quartz timekeeping but not at the SuperQuartz level.

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My Breitling team:
SuperOcean (blue, circa 2007)
Airwolf (black, circa 2009)