At 36mm, this is truly a watch for any wrist, while an impressively thin 10.01mm case will surely make for a comfortable wearing experience. But the real star of the show has to be the dial/metal pairings: In steel, you have your choice of midnight blue, peppermint, or dove gray with lab-grown diamond indices; in yellow gold, it’s midnight blue, peppermint, or sand. (All models feature SuperLumiNova on the indices and hands for illumination in low-light environments.) In our humble opinion, there are no misses, here—all of these colorways are subtle and attractive, especially the midnight blue options.
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franz j. venzin
Powering the new collection is a Chronometer-certified movement, the Breitling Caliber 10 with bi-directional, automatic winding and a 42-hour power reserve. A COSC adaptation of the ETA 2892-A2 movement, this isn’t one of the brand’s in-house calibers produced in cooperation with Kenissi, the Tudor-founded movement company that operates alongside its own manufacture in Le Locle. Rather, it’s a workhorse Swiss movement that’s been given an accuracy upgrade by the brand. This isn’t a disparaging mark against the new collection, however—plenty of similar fare use off-the-shelf movements in perfectly great watches. (Tudor famously did until less than a decade ago.)
Our only gripe with this collection? Its limited nature: The steel pieces are each an edition of 400, while the gold watches number just 100 pieces each. Retailing for between $5,600 to $29,500, even the gold pieces are priced well beneath traditional “luxury sports watch” territory from high-end maisons. They certainly have enough to recommend them, and the partnership feels like a natural fit. As more and more male watch consumers ignore gender conventions and find their way to ladies’ pieces, we wouldn’t be surprised to spot one of these on the wrist of a stylish leading man sometime in the not-too-distant future.
