The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I'm in the process of ordering a new B01 Chronomat and finding the right combination quite frustrating, I really like the 47mm Special Edition GMT because of its satin/brushed finish - however it also has the see through back which in itself is great, a bonus to see the movement but the trade off is the water resistance goes down from 500m to 200m. It's not clear whether this means the watch is no longer suitable for diving or not as the Breitling guide indicates 300M minimum is required for diving...
From what I can see if I want the extra WR and a satin finish my only other option is to forget the GMT and go for the 44mm Flying Fish instead?

200M will be fine for shallow diving, it's going to come down to how deep you go. The idea of 300m being the minimum "suitable for diving" is because no distinction is made for depth.

Most diver-training agencies recommend 200m water resistance as appropriate for scuba which is fine for recreational diving; not sure why Breitling would say 300m is the minimum depth-rating for scuba unless it is referring to a different ISO standard. I've dived with many people wearing Seiko and G-Shocks rated to "only" 200m and they've been fine.

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Regards

Steve

I'm never convinced to use a Breitling for diving. I would rather use an inexpensive but totally dive oriented watch brand for that purpose. G shock or Seiko dive would be my choice. Much cheaper & specifically designed for underwater.

That way you can concentrate on the breitling model you would prefer without the hassle of choosing the right depth limit.

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Jim

"You have Control".

The question is are we really going to be "diving" with the watch or just swimming? I have swam with my Chronomat GMT numerous times and never had an issue, but I've never been snorkeling or scuba-diving. If you are really going to be diving down to these depths then I would go with a Seawolf, or just get the Chronomat you want and then pick up a G-shock or something of that nature to dive with. But as far as swimming goes as long as you have at least 100 meters of water resistance than you will be al set.

As P51 said, I'm personally never sure why people would necessarily risk damaging an expensive watch by diving with it. Yes they may be DESIGNED for it, but the days of HAVING to use an expensive mechanical dive watch are long gone in these days of dive computers, and cheap quartz. All prestige watches, even specifically designed "tool watches", are more jewellery than necessity these days... and the price reflects that.

For me, I'd be using something cheap and basically disposable for active diving - a Seiko Monster, or a G-Shock is ideal - and the expensive Breitling would be use for desk-diving only.

If the abilty to cope with occasional swimming is the main priority, then pretty much anything Breitling make with a WR higher than 30m should be fine. When I was a kid I used to swim with a 50m WR Casio (pre-G-Shock era!) and later a 100m non-diver Seiko to no ill effect at all.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

My policy is a strict NO to use expensive watches for water activities. Occasionally, I would wear it when showering, the 300m and above watches. And absolutely no water anywhere near a 30m water resistant watch.

I agree, I don't see the point of taking an expensive watch to do water activities like diving. They are far inferior from a functionality stand point compared to quartz dive watches and computers and much more expensive. It's cool that the watches have these features from an engineering and design perspective, but practically speaking I don't see the point. I would much prefer more display backs and a more modest water rating.

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Each to his own: I have Omegas, Breitling and Rolexes and dive with all of them. For me, that is the point: they are dive watches, and I dive and I get pleasure from the ownership of a dive watch that I dive with. I also take a Suunto D6 and use my watch as a back-up timer.

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Regards

Steve

I do recreational diving down to about 35m, like every diver I use a dive computer, Suunto D6 in my case, however occasionally I like to take a watch as back up and was wondering whether Breilting would honour a warranty repair if I dived with it. I know some on here have said they would never risk getting their precious Breitling's wet but IMHO that defeats the object, 200m seems to be a 'non committal' depth rating for Breitling, they make no mention that you can't dive with it but they don't say you can either so I wonder where I would stand if it leaked......

They would definitely honor the warranty if you were well within the rating, and there happened to be a failure with the watch. If you really wanted to double check you could call BUSA and ask. To me it's a waste to buy something that's designed for a specific activity and was never used for that purpose.

Well let's be careful there. They would honour the warranty if it failed a pressure test of 20 atmospheres, but that's not the same as saying that they would honour the warranty if it failed at a depth shallower than 200 metres. ISO ratings are based on static water pressure and the equivalent of that will occur at shallower depths. While 35 metres shouldn't be an issue it's no defence if a warranty claim is denied because the watch passes a pressure test to its rating.

All I'm saying is that they would probably honor the warranty, that's why I said to call and make sure before hand.

Water ingress claims are not a matter of "probably". The watch is tested and if it fails the claim is honoured, if it passes the claim is denied.

Well in any event, I think you should get the GMT LE, its a beautiful watch if you have the wrist to pull it off. I had one for a few months and really loved it. I have a regular GMT now, and while I miss the case back, Its still a great watch.