Breitling Super Chronomat 44 four-year calendar: a sports chronograph with an unusual calendar
Chronomat occupies an important place in Breitling’s history. Breitling was launched in 1984, when ultra-thin quartz timepieces had become mainstream. Breitling boldly bet on an impressive mechanical watch that proved to be a winner and became a symbol of its era. The new Breitling Chronomat is positioned as a multifunctional sports watch. The review theme released in May 2021, the Super Chronomat 44 four-year calendar, is the most complicated watch in this release.
Breitling Super Chronomat 44 four-year calendar watch, stainless steel and 18k red gold-black, with rubber Rouleaux style strap. This watch is also available in stainless steel and 18k red gold-blue with a Rouleaux style rubber strap; stainless steel and 18k red gold-blue with a stainless steel Rouleaux bracelet.
Case, dial and hands
The case retains the time-tested shape of the old Chronomat. The case is 44 mm wide and 14.5 mm thick. Ear to ear, the size of the watch is 53.5 mm. Aesthetically, the edges are not as rounded as the earlier models, and the case looks like it was carved from a piece of solid steel. It feels thick, and the head alone weighs 134.4g.
The bezel is quite wide, and the iconic rider label is installed at 12, 3, 6, and 9. The bezel is equipped with a mirror-polished ceramic insert, and is marked with a contrasting gold engraved line only every hour. The upper part of the bezel is also engraved with minute marks.
Super Chronomat features multiple ceramic inserts on the bezel, chronograph buttons and crown, as well as a rubber strap inspired by Rouleaux. The crown retains the unusual conical shape of the Chronomat of the past, like an onion, but without protrusions, with corrugated sides to promote good grip.
In practice, this is effective because the crown is easy to operate for time setting and winding. Rehaut is a tilted one and is marked as a speedometer. The main dial itself has decals filled with SuperLuminova. And transfer the printed minute mark on the periphery. The sub-dial is at 12/6/9 and the moon phase window is at 3.
This timepiece is water-resistant to 100 meters and is equipped with Breitling Calibre 19, a COSC-certified chronograph movement.
The Breitling B19 movement is based on ETA 2892-A2, has a power reserve of approximately 42 hours, and displays a 1/4-second chronograph, 30-minute and 12-hour totalizers. The 4-year calendar also displays the day of the week, date, month, and moon phase. The movement is quite thick, because the ETA base movement is stacked with the Dubuis Depraz chronograph module and the four-year calendar module to make the case up to 14.5 mm thick.
This movement lies between the annual calendar and the perpetual calendar. The annual calendar displayed for the first time by Patek Philippe Ref. The 5035 in 1996 needs to be corrected annually. The perpetual calendar is a classic complication and takes into account leap years. They operate on a 4-year cycle, identify leap years, and operate independently from February 29 to March 1. From February 28 to March 1, non-leap year, no user intervention is required. Most only need to be adjusted during the Gregorian calendar. The requirement is skipped, once every 100 years, although there is an exception once every 400 years. Breitling’s 4-year calendar does not take leap years into account, and needs to be adjusted every leap year, with a span of 1,461 days. Breitling describes it as a semi-perpetual calendar. It only executes the annual cycle from February 28th to March 1st. Therefore, the user is required to enter each leap year from February 28th to February 29th and the following March 1st.
On the wrist, the 14.5mm high 44mm case is quite bulky, but it is quite good in sports watches with 100m water resistance.
Overall, we like the look and feel of this buy replicas watch . It is reminiscent of Omega’s Speedmaster and its calendar brothers. Or a little further, IWC’s Ingenier or GST calendar. The contrasting materials and colors give the watch a sporty look, and the size complements the wrist perfectly. Of course, the disadvantage is that a fairly heavy sports watch is more suitable for people with thicker wrists.
