Breitling, which recently made watch industry news for their sale to CVC Capital Partners for a cool $873 million US, seems to be carrying on with business as usual, producing limited editions of core offerings for their devoted fans. The brand has also garnered attention in the last year for their collaboration with Tudor (as we discussed when looking at the Breitling Superocean Heritage II watches) in producing several new manufacture chronograph calibers such as the Breitling B01 (which Tudor calls the MT5813). Now, nodding toward their long-standing history with aviation, Breitling has released the Breitling Chronomat 44 Boutique Edition and the Chronoliner B04 Boutique Edition. These are limited-edition blue versions of popular Breitling models produced in small quantities of 100 each and available only in Breitling boutiques.

Breitling’s new Chronomat 44 Boutique Edition differs from the standard model most prominently in its blue color theme with a blue “Vietnamese mother-of-pearl” dial and an individually numbered “Special Delivery Pinup Girl” engraving on the case back. For those unfamiliar with the model, the Breitling Chronomat 44 is a 44mm stainless-steel, aviation-oriented watch capable of 500m of water resistance and equipped with Breitling and Tudor’s co-designed B01 caliber, a COSC-certified 47-jewel automatic movement manufactured by Breitling with 70 hours of power reserve that oscillates at 28,800bph (4Hz).

Second in their limited series of boutique-only offerings is the Breitling Chronoliner B04, a special version of their Chronoliner which differs from the off-the-shelf version in its inclusion of the Breitling-manufactured B04 movement, blue color scheme, and similarly individually numbered “Special Delivery Pinup Girl” engraving on the case back. The 47 jewel, self-winding, 70-hour-power-reserve, in-house-manufactured B04 movement is worthy of special mention for its capability of tracking both a second and third timezone by way of an additional red-tipped hand and a blue ceramic 24-hour bezel which has also been given the blue treatment.

These limited-edition watches represent Breitling’s dedication to adding more variety to its core offerings with manufacture movements and are consistent with their established aviation connection. With these limited-edition versions, Breitling’s faithful fans are reminded that, despite having recently changed hands, the Breitling we’ve come to know is still going strong and continuing to move forward. The relatively high price of the two limited pieces, $9,090 for the Breitling Chronomat 44 and $9,150 for the Breitling Chronoliner B04 as shown, may also speak to the future direction of the brand as they include more manufacture movements in their releases. The Breitling Chronomat 44 Boutique Edition and the Chronoliner B04 Boutique Edition will both be available only at Breitling boutiques. breitling.com