Another day, another great Breitling.
Today we are looking at the Breitling Transocean 1915 Limited Edition. Whilst some see Breitling a bit like Marmite - you cannot fail to like this lovely watch and will do so even more when you understand its heritage.
Pretty sure many will think Breitling is a relatively new brand, especially with all the new high street stores showcasing new models or maybe just a brand for the aviation geeks who need the mad slide rule functions but they have actually have a long heritage and have been around since 1884 making fantastic timepieces.
So what is special about the Transocean 1915, well back in 1915 the start, stop and reset of the chronograph were all on one pusher in the centre of the crown which gave limited use options. In 1915 Breitling added a pusher at 2 o’clock separating it from the crown, now this looked cool but it also greatly enhanced functionality. Some 20 years later they introduced another pusher at 4 o’clock separating the reset function - now you could restart a stopped chronograph without having to reset it first - changing the way a chronograph could be used for ever.
This watch celebrates this big leap forward in Chronograph development and it is quite right that Breitling want it to be known.
Many years later in the mid 60’s Breitling teamed up with other manufacturers including Hamilton and Heuer to create an automatic chronograph (no more manual winding) but it was the 1915 changes that made the initial breakthrough and led to what we all know and love today. With a lovely aged patina look and well balanced sub dials this is a fantastic watch and that is before you see the exhibition case back and wear that wonderful steel mesh strap on your wrist.
The Transocean 1915 uses Breitling’s in house movement containing 33 jewels. At 43mm (small for Breitling) and 14.6mm thick it sounds a big watch but the proportions are excellent and it sits well on the wrist. The Calibre B14 is a manual wind (essentially a rework if the BO1 automatic movement with bits taken out) which makes it more effort to own but also adds to that vintage experience - every time you wind it you can think of what Breitling did to change the Chronograph watch.
With only 1,915 ever made this is quite a rare watch, try finding another on steel in Europe and then try and find under £5k - making our one even better :-)
43mm diameter
14.6mm depth
1,915 limited production run
33 jewels
B14 calibre
Manual wind
Boxes
Papers
Good condition
Fancy owning something special, something with a story that you can no longer buy in the shops - look no further.
Available now at Hora Watches - get in touch for more details info@hora-watches.co.uk