The Breitling Superoean Chronograph Steelfish is a new member of the brand’s dive-style watch family for 2014. While I’ve not spent a lot of time thinking about or researching watches from Breitling, they have a pretty firm association to aviation in my mind. A closer look at their logo (and their latest release) reveals that they’re not just content to ride the air currents–they also want to accompany your trips below the waves. Perhaps a better way to think of the brand belies my engineering training: Breitling–for all your trips ruled by fluid dynamics.
However you think of the brand, there’s no denying that the Breitling Superocean Chronograph Steelfish is intended to be a diving watch, as the ratcheting bezel quickly informs us. Surprisingly, rather than paint or even a ceramic fill for the numbers on the bezel, Breitling has instead embedded rubber into the numbers. It’s an interesting touch, and very dive-themed; time will tell as to how well that holds up. The other major indicator of the watch’s dive status comes courtesy of the tiny print under the (thankfully color-matched) day and date windows, where you see the 500m WR rating called out.
This is accomplished in the usual ways: with a screw down crown, locking chrono pushers, and a thick sapphire crystal. The crystal is, as you would expect, double-AR coated. When you’ve got this paired with the high-contrast black-and-white dial, you’ve got a watch that should remain nicely readable whether or not you’re in the water; larger, lume-filled hands also enhance that effect. Just make sure that if you’re jumping into the water, you get the chronograph ticking away (and locked back down) before you slip beneath the waves, lest you give the movement a saltwater bath.
The automatic movement is COSC-certified (as are all Breitling movements), and is known as the Caliber 13. Tucked away as it is in the 44mm stainless steel case, it should prove reliable (and well-protected). While the images we’ve currently got show the black dial, there will also be blue and silver dials available, along with some rubber strap options. Pricing for the bracelet version is $6,250, with the three rubber strap options coming ranging from $5,750 to $6,050.
Overall, this looks to be a cleanly-designed and well-balanced watch. While the inverted panda-style watch is, of course, in a design camp all of it’s own, I can’t help but to pick up an almost Sinn-like feel from the watch, I think in large part due to the day/date layout with the text underneath it. Perhaps that’s not so much of a bad thing, as it does differentiate the Breitling Superocean Chronograph Steelfish a bit from other tool divers. breitling.com
