The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I went to drop off the Cockpit for polishing and check up and the 1008s had just arrived.

Here are my initial thoughts:

White dial SA with batons - almost looked 'feminine' - it's lost the edge and the face looks too empty. Of course it didn't help that it was on a red (and I do mean RED) Ocean Racer. OR with the SA definitely works, but not that colour.

Chronomatic - looked better than I expected. It's an impressive looking piece if you can get past the rubber bezel. The one they had was on the heritage bracelet which surprised me, and that didn't work - but would look good on croc.

The new cockpit / cockpit lady looked pretty much the same - slightly worse in my opinion. New starliner with the racetrack in the middle didn't work.

Chronomat with the rhodium dial (baton version) - OK, but the dial colour just looks like a washed out slate.

Sealwolf - nothing exciting but looked pretty good.

Chrono SO - not much difference

Chrono SO Heritage - did nothing for me - I think i prefer the regular SOH

Bentley GMT - a bit disappointing to be honest. It was on the bracelet (thank goodness) and the big lugs certainly give it presence - almost looks like an integrated bracelet. However the bracelet narrows very quickly which looks a little odd and this one was the blue dial and it was very difficult to read. The date window is also tiny. The bezel on the other hand is very wide - looks almost twice as wide as the Motors.

I'm sure I've forgotten some, butthere you go.

Very interesting Roff. I've been starting to think the Bentley GMT looks a little clumsy in pictures with the size of the bezel, so I'm not really surprised at your comments.

However, I'm glad the Chronomatic 49 looked pretty good as that's the only 2008 model that I'm currently even entertaining buying. (And yeah I'd definitely go with the croc!)

What's the rubber bezel like in the flesh? Is it well finished? Is it a very hard rubber? Does it actually look like rubber? Does it spoil the overall look? Is it too thick? etc, etc.

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Driver8

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The rubber bezel doesn't look too bad - it didn't induce the vomiting that I was expecting

It's smaller than I expected, and is well finished - it's a fairly hard rubber while still allowing some movement.

Damn I missed those by days! Really wanted to see the Bentley GMT and Chronomatic 49. I've been wanting one of the smaller Chronomatics for a while... and with my recently feeling that 48mm watches are a touch too big for me, I might go with a regular Chrono-matic.

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BreitlingSource Admin
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Good news then, Roff! I'll definitely check one out when I get the chance.


You're going off the bigger watches? What's happening Admin??? You were the original SA fanatic!!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

It is a big watch - noticeably bigger look and feel on my wrist than the Legende and felt more than 0.3mm larger than a Motors.

Yeah... the SA is too big. I actually felt that it was too big off the bat but my girlfriend really liked it so i got it. I only have the Legende and the Motors T now, and I don't really want any more super big watches I dont think.. maybe.. but they have been uncomfortable for me.

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BreitlingSource Admin
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I guess it depends on your wrist size. The bigger stuff is very comfortable for me. So much so that other models lok a bit small. In some ways I'd like to be comfortable with the smaller pieces as it'd mean I'd be able to buy a TT Chronomat (rose gold bezel, black dial, roman numerals on black croc! Oooo baby! ), but then I guess the flipside is I'd just be spending even more cash!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Exciting! What does the rhodium chronomat look like?

It's a regular chronomat - just a new dial colour called rhodium. It's kind of like a silvery gray - a little non descript to be honest.

Yep.. my wrist size is just under 7"... though it has expanded to about 7" since the warmer weather kicked in recently. I find the 42-44mm size just perfect now.. but I will probably keep a couple of Full Lings around

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BreitlingSource Admin
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WOW, just got back from my AD...Saw the new chronomat evo!! It was a SS, black dial w/ roman numerals - BEAUTIFUL - im getting it!

What do you mean by writing about the CSO: "not much difference"? Any change from previous models? I haven't read yet about ANY change on this, not even minor ones! I'm very interested, I'd be happy with a detailed description or a few scans!
Thanks, best regards: Robertus

A link about my CSO...:

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i237/ ... 010563.jpg

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Current: Breitling Chronomat 41, Steelfish Chrono BEB dials, CSO I. Japan Limited, Grand Premiers both dials, Aerospace Avantage, IWC Aquatimer 3719 3767, Fliegerchrono 3705, Sinn 103 St plexy

That's probably why it didn't look much different

I hadn't read about changes either, it was just one of the new '2008' versions that the AD got in. It was a few days ago, but I don't honestly remember it being any different, but wasn't comparing side by side.

I was in town today, and my AD had the first of the 2008 models in the window - a white dial 2008 SA, and a black dial SO Heritage Chrono.

I didn't go in (too tempting! ) but had a good look through the window. I have to say the new dial SA didn't look as bad in the flesh as I was expecting. It was fortunate as they had the 2007 version (also in white), so I could compare them side by side. On balance I'd say the old version is definitely much nicer, but I don't think the new version is quite the horrific abortion that I was expecting. I'd have liked to have seen a black or blue dial version too just to check out the coloured sub-dials.....

However, I have to say I thought the new SOHC looked really REALLY nice in the flesh. It was on the black Ocean Racer strap which I actually don't think suited it as much as I thought it would as the dial and bezel are very shiny black, which made the matte finish strap look more like dark grey next to it. Personally I reckon it'd look awesome on a black leather or black croco deployant. It was also next to the SA in the display, which was handy for getting a sense of scale.... and I think it'd hold it's own in such estimed company! I think I could see my way clear to getting one of these at some point!

The SA was £2760 and the SOHC was £2755. I guess the price rises have really kicked in.

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Driver8

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