The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Not that it may be relevant to all, but the SR-71 had lines painted on it in red to indicate where maintenance personel couldn't step or they would cause damage. Red accents are totally in keeping with the tradition of the plane IMO, yellow would be out.

I've said before that polished is not necessarily the way I see the SR-71 Blackbird being interpreted into a watch, polished is look at me, where as brushed is understated. Black was the color of the plane so a black case is a natural fit. This also comes down to personal preference for the finish, if you like brushed or not, coatings or not. But it should be noted the SR-71 was not stealthy at ALL. In fact it left a gigantic radar signature. Huge. It was not that it couldn't be seen, it's that is was so high and fast, no one could do anything about it. If you think of it that way, the polished is a decent fit. Personal preference.

over 7k and without the faceted bb bracelet...nope??
I kinda wanna say they should DLC-up the bracelet too, but not sure if that would look right either- like having a big polished hunk o' coal on your wrist, and then the price would probably be around 9k...

It was a Blackbird LE of 2000 examples in SMOOTH SHINEY BLACKSTEEL!!! Not the typical brushed Blacksteel.

Are you saying this specific watch was different from others in the BB Blacksteel LE series, or different from other Breitling Blacksteel watches in general? In other words, are all of the BB Blacksteel LE watches this finish, or is this unique among them?

Yes yes and yes. This one is different than the other blacksteel models. It is smooth and shiney. A polished rock ring (hematite) is the closest thing that I compare it to. It looks pretty darn cool.

Given that, is it still part of the Blacksteel LE series, or is it another series altogether. Seems to me if individual watches within a given LE series are different from one another, that's going to amp up the collectibility factor substantially. It also would make it confusing to know how many of each watch were produced.

Hopefully that clarifies the confusion.

Strange......