In terms of movements, there is a Breitling Colt Automatic with their caliber 17 movement (base ETA) which has been COSC Chronometer certified, but to be honest, that isn’t the model I would go for. There are plenty of other automatic Breitling watch models to choose from. I know most readers will think me crazy, but what I am honestly most interested in are the two Breitling Colt quartz models. Let’s back up a moment and consider the fact that Breitling is among the only high-end watch makers still producing quartz watches for men – and they have also very recently introduced their Cockpit B50 watch with their in-house thermocompensated “SuperQuartz” movement (article here). Companies like Omega, IWC, and TAG Heuer offer little or nothing in the form of a quartz movements – where they used to offer a lot more. Of course, there are good reasons for that, but I applaud Breitling for always keeping some good quartz models in their collection because a lot of professional users prefer them.

It goes without saying that quartz watches are more accurate, and in many instances not prone to the same type of damage or interference that a mechanical watch might face when being dropped, accelerated, or vibrated. Furthermore, Breitling only uses high-end thermo-compensated SuperQuartz Swiss movements produced by ETA. These are also COSC Chronometer certified and accurate to about 5 seconds per year. That is compared to the 5 seconds per day (average) accuracy allowed in a COSC Chronometer mechanical watches. While I personally prefer mechanical watches most of the time, I do like having some quartz watches around when I need a reference watch or a quick pick-up-and-go timepiece that I know I don’t need to set or keep on a device like a winder.

With that said, I consider watches like the Breitling Colt Quartz and Colt Chronograph (also with a quartz movement) to be fantastic high-end beater watches for when you just want a cool looking timepiece that nevertheless has a simple but highly reliable movement. The three-hand with date Breitling Colt Quartz has a caliber 74 movement and the Breitling Colt Chronograph has the caliber 73 movement – both are base ETA.

The Breitling Colt Chronograph movement is actually pretty useful as it has a lot of nifty features for a simple quartz 12-hour chronograph. It also measures down to 1/10th of a second and has a split second hand in addition to a quick adjust for the hour hand. Neither of these movements are new, but they are still useful and very reliable. With watches like the Breitling Colt Quartz and Chronograph watches, people who want an excellent watch on the outside with a quartz movement inside have a great option. Though of course the prices are on the higher-side, as Breitling continues (along with fellow brands) to push their entry-level price points up. The Breitling Colt Quartz watch on a bracelet retails for $3,200, the Breitling Colt Automatic on a bracelet retails for $3,525, and the Breitling Colt Chronograph on a bracelet retails for $3,900. breitling.com