Breitling Super Chronomat collection 2021
The Breitling Super Chronomat collection is generously proportioned, granting impressive wrist presence. The Grenchen-based watch brand has looked to its past and created a watch that is applicable to the present as well as the future. Its composition includes some beautifully considered elements, including a new ceramic bezel insert, a first for the Chronomat, the much-loved Rouleaux bracelet and, in some variants, the sublime Breitling Manufacture Calibre 01, first released in 2009.
The name ‘Chronomat’ first appeared in the early 1940s. The model was endowed with Breitling‘s innovative circular slide rule. This useful mechanism allowed the wearer to perform an array of calculations. The slide rule would later appear on the Navitimer, launched approximately 10 years later, in 1952.
With the advent of the Seiko Astron in 1969, the first quartz watch, the future seemed clear. Why have a mechanical watch when quartz delivers superior precision? The widespread adoption of these newfangled battery-powered watches led to the decline of the traditional watch industry. Sadly, many Swiss watch firms closed their doors. Equipment was scrapped, stock was liquidated and time-served skills suddenly became redundant.
Breitling was not immune to the public’s switch to quartz and also suffered additional pressures. For example, in 1971, the Swiss franc hit an all-time high of 1:4.32 (CHF:US$). Although the value of the Swiss franc did fall during the 70s, it still remained comparatively high, thereby impacting upon exports. Lastly, Willy Breitling, the head of the company began suffering ill-health in the late 1970s, hence the decision was taken to sell the Swiss firm. In 1979, it was acquired by an entrepreneur, Ernest Schneider.
Schneider immediately set to work reviving the company’s fortunes. The following year (1980), the Swiss marque began releasing new models. Schneider and his colleagues recognised the public were, once again, interested in mechanical watches.
The modern-day Chronomat was created for Italian Air Force’s aerobatic team, the Frecce Tricolore. The initial designs for the Chronomat were modified after Breitling received feedback from the elite aerobatic team. The most significant changes related to the design of the pushpieces and crown which were made more prominent, facilitating easier manipulation whilst wearing gloves.
The model featured ‘rider tabs’, small guards that overlap the bezel at the cardinal points. Interestingly, this distinctive feature was the brainchild of Ernest, a man widely considered a visionary and an aesthete.
Initially supplied to the Frecce Tricolore in 1983, the civilian version of the model went on public sale in 1984. It proved a huge commercial success for Breitling and was a popular model for many years.
In 2017, Georges Kern assumed the role of CEO at Breitling and has been instrumental in reviewing all areas of the business including its product portfolio. While Kern has been at the helm, the Chronomat has been refined and now incorporates sharper lines, new dial colours and new sizes as well as far more choice for female clientele. However, despite making many changes to the design of the Chronomat, the rider tabs have been retained and the model is offered with the brand’s retro Rouleaux bracelet (bullet bracelet).
Now, the Grenchen-based watch brand has released the Breitling Super Chronomat collection. As its name implies, all the models in this new collection are larger than other Chronomat timepieces. Each case measures 44mm in diameter, delivering notable wrist presence. A new ceramic bezel promises a fade-free future, while the aforementioned rider tabs provide a useful means of protecting the ceramic insert from impact damage.
The new Breitling Super Chronomat collection includes the Super Chronomat B01 44, available in seven different references, and the Super Chronomat 44 Four-Year Calendar, offered in four different variants.
At the heart of the Super Chronomat B01 44 is the in-house Breitling Manufacture Calibre 01. This fully integrated chronograph movement features a column-wheel and vertical coupling. This combination confers a pleasant pushpiece feel, stutter-free actuation of the chronograph central seconds hand and also generates less drag, aiding precision. The Calibre 01 is highly precise, a characteristic that is independently validated by COSC and the award of chronometer certification.
The Super Chronomat B01 44 is available in steel or 18-carat red gold, different dial options with matching or contrasting bezels and a choice of straps and bracelets. The Rouleaux bracelet returns in matching metal or, alternatively, purchasers can select a Rouleaux-themed rubber strap. Breitling traditionalists may well succumb to the charms of one steel variant, Ref. AB0136251B1A2. This is equipped with a Rouleaux bracelet fitted with a UTC module, a feature that can display the time in a second time zone.
In terms of the Super Chronomat 44 Four-Year Calendar, these variants are housed in stainless steel cases and include various 18-carat red gold accents. The models feature an unusual calendar complication and are equipped with the Breitling Caliber 19.
An annual calendar recognises those months with 30 or 31 days. As a result, the date only needs to be manually corrected once per annum, on the 1st of March. A perpetual calendar can identify the length of every month irrespective of whether it contains 28, 29, 30 or 31 days. This complication even makes allowance for the additional day found in a leap year. Assuming the watch remains wound, it will not require manual correction until 2100.
The Four-Year Calendar, sometimes termed a Quadrennium, can recognise months with 28, 30 and 31 days, but not 29 days. The date needs to be manually adjusted on the 1st March every four years, ie each leap year. It is an unusual complication, augmenting the model’s overall appeal.
The various models which form the new Breitling Super Chronomat collection incorporate some delightful historical elements, but remain unequivocally contemporary. I hope to see one of the new models in the coming months and make a full hands-on appraisal of its composition.
The brand’s press release (May 2021)
The Super Chronomat, Breitling’s boldest Chronomat to date, is the ultimate choice for those who want a timepiece mastering the balance between sturdy and stylish.
Inspired by the Frecce Tricolori watch that Breitling created for the hotshots of the Italian Air Force’s aerobatic fleet in 1983, the Super Chronomat is a supercharged, all-purpose sports watch that’s elegant enough for the evening as well.
“This is a watch you’ll get noticed in without having to worry about it,” says Breitling CEO Georges Kern. “This watch is tough enough for every pursuit, but it won’t get in the way of your sense of style.”
True to the original Chronomat, the rider tabs protect the sapphire crystal. The ones at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock are interchangeable, so the wearer can use them for countdowns as well as countups. With a case measuring 44 millimetres, the Super Chronomat collection is the boldest of its kind. Key new features include a stainless-steel bezel with a ceramic insert – a first on a Chronomat – plus the choice of a Rouleaux-inspired rubber strap or our iconic metal one with a butterfly clasp. The new rubber strap is created with state-of-the-art injection moulding techniques. Its three distinct textures – matte, slick, and woven-looking – give it remarkable depth.
Three Colour Schemes
The Super Chronomat B01 44 comes in three versions. Two are encased in stainless steel with blue or black dial-and-bezel combinations. The third is a rich brown dial-and-bezel combination with a case in 18 k red gold. All feature contrasting silver chronograph counters powered by the COSC-certified Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01, which provides about 70 hours of power reserve. This Super Chronomat is water-resistant up to 200 meters.
For those wanting something extra special, there’s a black dial version with a UTC-module embedded in a Rouleaux bracelet. Referring to Universal Time Coordinated, this provides a way to keep track of a second time zone and is a quirky Breitling feature dating back to the 1980s.
Once Every Leap Year
As its name implies, the Super Chronomat 44 Four-Year Calendar has a semi-perpetual calendar mechanism that needs adjusting just once every leap year – or every 1461 days. It comes in two versions: black dial with tone-on-tone chronograph counters, a stainless-steel bezel with a black ceramic bezel insert, and 18 k red gold elements, or blue dial featuring tone-on-tone chronograph counters and a bezel in 18 k red gold with a blue ceramic insert. Water-resistant up to 100 meters, this timepiece is powered by the Breitling Caliber 19, a COSC-certified chronograph movement with a semi-perpetual calendar with day, date, month, and moon phase indicators.
An Icon Of Its Era
When Breitling introduced its Chronomat in 1984, it signified the comeback of mechanical Swiss timepieces after quartz watches had dominated the market throughout the 1970s. The impressive new mechanical watch proved to be a winner – challenging its skinny quartz rivals with its bold proportions and becoming an icon of its era.
The Chronomat also helped Breitling celebrate its centenary in style, marking the return of the mechanical chronograph on which the brand had built its global reputation. This technical legacy, combined with particularly stylish design codes, made the Chronomat the ultimate sport-chic watch of its time. Today, it’s doing it again for everyday superheroes in pursuit of the next great adventure.
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