Although this Breitling for Bentley GT3 replica watch reminds me a boldly styled sports car that is powered by an engine outsourced from something as mundane as an entry-level VW Passat, in the looks department it is almost perfect. Maybe not exactly ‘perfect’, but it clearly gets the job done: you will inevitably get tons of attention while wearing this timepiece. In this respect, it serves its purpose well.
Case & Strap
As usual for this sub-brand, the watch is delivered in a deliberately oversized, chunky-looking body that is also surprisingly lightweight thanks to extensive use of scratch-resistant titanium alloy. During last couple of years there was a visible trend of downsizing, even when it came to ‘sporty’ chronographs, so introduction of this new model may be a welcome development among those who prefer huge timekeepers to more discreet ones.
Stylistically, there doesn’t seem to be anything new with its exterior: basically, it is just a version of their older Supersports ISR automatic chronograph watch that was first introduced back in 2011. The only thing that seems to differ is the color scheme and the black rubber strap now has a more expensive look with an embossed pattern that mimics that on the rotating pinion bezel. Not that it is bad in any way: just don’t expect anything groundbreaking with this new model.
The chronograph push-pieces are, too, rather large (whether they are actually comfortable to operate will strongly depend on length of your fingers and overall shape of your palm), as are the massive lugs that look like they are strong enough to tow an Abrams tank out of a ditch.
The rotating pinion bezel is a bit too big for me, but that’s not bad either since it makes controlling their signature circular slide rule a lot more precise.
Dial
As far as color accents go, the green and red seem to have something to do with colors that the British maker of luxury cars have chosen for its 2014 GT3 racecar that, if memory serves me well, was first introduced at the Festival of Speed in Goodwood (the really funny thing is that, while browsing for other images of the vehicle besides the official photo set, I have seen lots of real life photos of these cars advertising Blancpain on their number stickers, not sure if Breitling was really happy about that).
Personally, I find the choice of color scheme not really good since, in a number of lighting scenarios that paler shade of green may not look too contrast on the dark grey background of the checkered dark grey dial thus making reading the combined chronograph totalizer a bit difficult. The dark grey hour and minute hands, even despite the thin strips of Superluminova compound on them, too, don’t really stand out, especially in twilight when the hands have already blended with the carbon-fiber material of the dial, while the luminous substance is still not bright enough to be easily seen. Beauty requires sacrifice, doesn’t it?
As I have noted already, this basically a refreshed version of an earlier Breitling Supersports model so it is okay to experience a sort of deja vu regarding its dial design. Besides sporting the same horizontal layout for its three sub-dials, it also features a combined chronograph totalizer at 9 o’clock giving you a 60-minute and a 12-hour counter neatly located in the same place, a design that was popularized by Omega when it first introduced its gorgeous Caliber 9300 family of chronograph movements. Of course, the design not only looks cool while saving some valuable space on the dial, it actually seems a lot more usable when you need to quickly grasp its reading, although, again, the green color of the sub-dial looks too pale to my taste.
Mechanism
Although during the last couple of years Breitling has attempted a strong push at introducing a number of its own in-house calibers in order to justify its premium prices, this one is still powered by a modified version of the well-known ETA 2892-A2. Officially called Caliber 27B, it was simply equipped with an exclusive complication module making the whole setup more interesting to look at, but also (at least statistically) more prone to mechanical failure and also a bit more difficult to service.
While the mechanism itself is quite accurate, the choice of movement still a sort of disappointment for such an expensive timekeeper (official pricing on this model still to be announced, but a similarly outfitted earlier model with a plain titanium case was offered with a sticker price of approximately $10,500.) You really should expect something more advanced in return for your hard-earned ten grands.
Pricing & Availability
At the time of writing of this brief review the watch was listed as already available at select retailers around the world. Pricing was not revealed at that time, but, as I have already noted above, expected MSRP is about USD $10,500 or around €10,000, which makes it quite expensive given its relatively low level of mechanical sophistication and finish that doesn’t require a lot of real craftsmanship, but is surely within reach of general Bentley-buying crowd. Perhaps I am just a bit jealous here, so please excuse my being vitriolic.
Breitling for Bentley GT3 Automatic Chronograph (ref. V273655S/BE14/233S/V20DSA.2) watch specification
Movement: Automatic, Caliber 27B (base ETA 2892-A2), add-on chronograph module, Swiss Made
Number of jewels: 38
Movement frequency: 28,800 vph
Power reserve: 42 hours
Movement decoration: No data
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, 1/4th of a second chronograph with combined 60-minute and 12-hour totalizer
Case material: Black titanium
Bezel material: Matches case
Crown material: Matches case
Case shape: Round
Bezel shape: Round
Case size: 49.00 mm
Case height: 15.90 mm
Lug width: No data
Dial: Black Carbon, checkered pattern
Numerals: None
Hour markers: Luminous, applied
Hands: Luminous, blacked
Water resistance: 100 meters
Strap: Black GT3 rubber strap
Crystal: Sapphire, cambered, antireflective on both sides
Case back: Solid, engraved
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