Breitling SuperOcean

I have always despised the Breitling brand. I mean — I have really detested this brand. And I’m sure you understand why. Many of their models are gaudy and way over-the-top. I appreciate the oversized nature of many Breitling, but so many of their models are far too ‘busy’. As well, I have always had a negative perception of Breitling owners. As I have blogged before, I always had such negative views of Rolex before eventually buying one for my wife and for myself. Well, this is the story of my first Breitling.

While my view of Breitling was always negative, I still felt that they were well-made high end quality products. This is evident when you look at the resale value of Breitling watches. Over the years, I encountered the SuperOcean Heritage line of watches. These are absolute beauties. More recently, I had started to look at the 44mm SuperOcean lineup. One became available on Canadian Watch Collector, Canada’s top watch forum and it was brand new — unsized, stickers, the works. I got an incredible deal and acquired it. The main selling feature? It is just beautifully made. Let’s explore.

Breitling SuperOcean, photo courtesy of Bobby Moscovitch

The SuperOcean 44mm is a piece of beauty to behold. The style is a typical diver, which has been done to death, and copied and imitated for decades. But the SuperOcean sort of exaggerates all of the features and stands out with the font of the numerals being modern and sporty. The SuperOcean 44 is actually very racy. It is quite a massive beast on the wrist and feels like a Rolex Submariner on steroids. Rolex always stand out for their supreme quality and finishing, but this Breitling displays much of the same quality. The little details, the gorgeous matt black dial, the sensational brushed steel bracelet — it oozes quality. This is key for me. In fact, it’s quality rather than actual style and design that draws me to a piece and that’s how Breitling got me. When I tried various SuperOcean at stores, I knew I was handling a REAL quality timepiece. Like I said, it feels like an amplified Rolex.

Breitling SuperOcean on TimeCaptain’s wrist

My wrist measures 7 3/8”, which is quite large. On my large wrist, a massive 44mm beast looks very appropriate. On most wrists, the SuperOcean will look enormous and that’s the appeal, for me. This piece is FUN. It’s fun to wear an oversized machine on your wrist. It’s fun to wear something that’s loud and stands out. It’s also fun to wear something made with supreme quality.

Bracelet and clasp of the SuperOcean

There are various colors and strap options for the SuperOcean 44. Mine has a brushed stainless steel bracelet where the links are on an angle, a slant. This bracelet is thicker than any I have seen before, adding to the attitude of the piece. Mine is so comfortable, it could be an easy daily wearer. The case is extremely high, at 16.7mm. It’s big and manly and solid, and it’s beautifully made. In reality, it’s a very simple design. It’s also very bold and, as mentioned above, the classic diver features are exaggerated. The case is large. The two numerals “6” and “9” are oversized. The hands are fat and wide. The font on the bezel is racy. It’s as if Breitling took the standard template for a diver and just turned up the volume and they did it so beautifully. The sapphire crystal is so clear that it is actually invisible, leaving the beauty of the dial obvious for all to see. There is a small font around the inside of the bezel with minutes marked at intervals of 15 — gorgeous. My Breitling has red accents, with a red second hand and a red outline on the date window — very nice. Overall, this is just one bada$$, massive bruiser made with exceptional quality.

Deployment clasp open

Now, this a 2000m diver! While that does NOT mean you can take it 2km under water, it DOES mean that it can withstand some high pressure from water such as falling off your surf board, plunging under a shower or jumping into the deep end. Basically, an extreme rating like 2000m indicates that the piece is robust and solid. The movement is COSC-certified and mine is running well. It is gaining 4-5 seconds per day, which is excellent. It also seems to attain maximum wind after only a day of wearing. For a guy like me, who rotates between several watches in his collection, having an efficiently-winding piece with good power reserve is important. The SuperOcean power reserve is rated at 40 hours, which is enough to leave it sitting for one day and find it ticking the next day.

A look at the back of the SuperOcean

So there you have it. Although I had too many diving pieces already, this Breitling spoke to me. It appealed to my desire for quality, boldness and wrist presence. It’s a lot of fun and feels like a piece you can just wear and forget about. Wear it cycling, swimming, shopping, BBQ-ing,just use it. I hope you enjoyed this review and perhaps you will change any negative views you had of Breitling. Take a look at them. As always, the fun is in the search…

Yours truly,

TimeCaptain

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