The Navitimer might be the icon of Breitling’s vintage line-up, with the Chronomat’s recent revival spurring more interest in their retro divers too, but the Premier Chronographs are, without a doubt, the watchmaker’s most collectible.It’s not hard to see why either; they’re gorgeous, which was pretty unusual for the time. All of which means I leapt at the chance to get hands on with the new Breitling Premier B01 Chronographs Replica.
First, a little bit of history. Back in 1943, chronographs were a distinct tool, long before electronic timekeeping and they generally fell into two categories. On one side you had military pieces, generally built with rugged utilitarianism in mind, ripped straight out of the cockpit and onto pilots’ wrists.
With nothing between those two disparate poles, Cheap Breitling Replica saw a yawning gap in the market and so set to the work of filling it with the original Premier.They did the job, and plenty of watches were built, produced and sold over the years – until the collection went on an extended hiatus.
Admittedly the collection had a bit of a false start to begin with, due to an overtly modern aesthetic, and it wasn’t until 2021’s Premier Heritage Collection that it really felt like the Breitling Premier Replica Watches was back. But even then it didn’t feel like a full collection yet, just a capsule, and that wasn’t rectified by the founder-focused trio of Premier Tourbillons last year.
Now though, to celebrate the Premier’s 80s birthday, Breitling has finally bridged the gap between the modern releases and those heritage pieces with the straightforwardly named Premier B01 Chronograph 42. So, let’s get onto the review proper now that I have two of the new pieces in front of me.
Aesthetically, the new watches are what we’ve come to expect from Breitling’s heritage ranges. The Breitling Replica Watches Sale two I have here are the cream and green editions in steel, although in total there are five in steel and two in gold. They’re all available on either a strap or a case-matched seven-link bracelet. I definitely prefer the bracelet, it’s really comfortable but more importantly it adds some serious heft, which feels great on the wrist.
If the green was the same pistachio shade as the Premier Heritage, it would be a totally different story but I find the Premier B01 a touch on the dark side. In contrast the cream falls into the goldilocks zone of being just off-white enough to feel vintage while remaining clean.
The Swiss Breitling Replica 42mm cases are nicely machined as well, with small, discrete chronograph pushers that balance elegance and usability. Perhaps the scales on the dial itself lean a bit too much towards elegance, but not enough to impact its usability too much. Plus, the red tip of the chronograph seconds hand makes it a lot easier to read the display.
Flipping the pieces over we can see that, as ever with these sorts of releases, the movement is anything but old-fashioned. The Calibre 01 is a solid, column-wheel chronograph with a vertical clutch, COSC-certified and with a 70-hour power reserve. The reserve will be less with the chronograph active of course, but from my experience that difference was negligible.
The Cheap Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph Replica is a really solid watch and represents yet another celebratory milestone in Breitling’s history. 80 years on the Premier is as casually elegant as a chronograph can get, whether you’re wearing it as a more formal piece or just want to use it ‘for the timing of long duration.’