I am not one to shy away from my fandom of Breitling. I can’t in good conscience say that I have been a fan of the Chronomat collection. I don’t really care for the 70s variant or the result of the Frecce Tricolori in the Schneider era of Breitling. I like the original 40s variants with the slide rule, but other than that, I can’t say I have been a big advocate for this very popular line within Breitling. I have often felt that they were disappointing in the way they were placed. Breitling is historically amazing in terms of chronographs and aviation sports watches. The Chronomat never really felt in the right place at Breitling for me; they got cemented as a core part of Breitling’s identity in the identity crisis-ridden Schneider era, and in general always felt off to the identity of Breitling.

Now I see why they kept it on the way into the new era of Breitling and its value. The new updated look is awesome!

This is a complete overhaul; the case has been updated, the movement (for some) has been updated, the Roloux bracelet has gotten a microadjustment, and the dials have gotten a subtle yet important facelift. The updates came in three sizes, 36 mm, 40 mm, and the 42 mm chronograph variant. The biggest change comes in the 40 mm version. They have removed the GMT function and instead brought in the B31 in-house caliber introduced in the Superocean Heritage.

I am usually not a fan of the no lug look, TAG Heuer has been trying to get it up and running in the F1 line, and I think it looks truly horrible. Here, it lends itself to a much more compact case, making the 36 mm variants look smaller on the wrist than the former 32 mm variants due to the smaller lug-to-lug width. The dials look much different. On the previous generation, they lay flat and, for the most part, were pretty undynamic (there are, of course, exceptions to this, like with the green GMT). Now they are almost Tudor-esque as they lie curved like the Superocean Heritage dials. This lends itself to a much more dynamic yet more elegant look. A big thing for me is that they feel a lot more tangible as they feel like they have a lot more texture to them. I think the best instance of this is in the 36 mm blue dial and in the now true panda colorway of the 42 mm white chronograph.

In general, I love this new update. I didn’t expect it in all honesty, and I was surprised when I saw pictures around the time of Watches and Wonders that they were doing this, but I must applaud them for it. The price pretty much stays in line with what it was before, though a slight increase is to be expected. Considering what other brands like TAG are doing later this year with the Aquaracer and what monstrocities Longines has done with the Hydroconquest line (the new quartz variants), then this is an amazing update.

I am also very excited about what is happening at the House of Brands (Breitling, Universal Geneve, Gallet), seeing as Gallet is releasing their first collection in September. But let me know what you think of these new Breitling Chronomats?