Breitling Cockpit B50
Introduction
I think of late Breitling may have been going a bit 'off-form' and releasing some rather crazy pieces recently. Some may say that the B-50 released at Basel 2014 was one such watch. Considering it is 'just a quartz' with a two-pence bunch of electronics at it's heart - this might be true if this were a mass produced caliber. However - this is the first 'in-house developed' quartz movement from Breitling. There are only a few swiss manufacturers left continuing their pursuit of ever increasing accuracy and complications using quartz technology. Apparently the cost of developing this movement was higher than that to develop their in-house mechanical B-01 movement - this could be folk-lore of course.
Needless to say I thing Breitling are back of form with this watch - over-sized - but not too much; functional, sharp, titanium
This is a link to an interview with Breitling CEO in which he includes a discussion about the B50 and the future investment in quartz tech - interesting stuff:
Baselworld 2014: Interview with Breitling CEO Jean-Paul Girardin and unveiling the new Breitling Cockpit B50 that will only be presented in September at the Reno Air Races.
Specifications
Caliber: Breitling Cockpit B50
Movement: SuperQuartz™, thermocompensated quartz electronic, analog and 12/24 hr LCD digital display, display backlighting, EOL indicator
Model Number: EB501022/BD40/176E
Purchase Date: April 2015 / Two Year International Warranty
Case / Bracelet: Ti / Ti with folder over clasp - four adjustable points
Diameter: 46mm
Interhorn width: 24/20mm
Weight (without bracelet): 94.8gr
Battery: rechargeable
Crown: non-screw-locked, two gaskets, integrated push piece
Dial: Volcano black
Bezel: bidirectional, compass scale
Water resistance: 100m (330ft)
Function and Features
Rechargeable Li Battery - time between charges - depends - between 20 and 90 days quoted, depending on backlight use. 300 cycles or 10 year expected battery life
Two Time zones (home and away) - can display time, day , date , month , year
UTC - reference for the two TZ
Two Alarms off home-time - can be set for all or specific days of the week
Chronograph - with split times recordable and electronic tachometer - flyback function
Lap timer - unto 20 laps - shows best lap / total for all laps / all lap times
Timer - count down timer with alarm
MET time - long term count down / up timer
MET time alarm
Battery life indicator - recommended to charge when drops to 10%
Back light for digital displays - activated by crown or by tilting - duration programmable
Alarm - can be sound or vibration or both
Digital displays can be hidden unless backlight is activated (by crown or tilt)
Deep sleep mode - decouples movement from watch for long term storage - watch needs reseting after sleeping
One push switch of time between T1 and T2 including hands and date if appropriate
Principles of method of engaging functions - fairly logical and are consistent whatever you want to do - familiar if you have owned a Breitling B-1. Everything is managed from a combination as follows - spin the crown to the item to change - pull the crown out to ‘position 2’ - then press P1 (top pusher) to engage the change - spin the crown to adjust the value - press P1 again to confirm and/or push in crown to fix value. Simple!
Most functions are implemented by pressing P1 to start / stop and P2 to reset
But there are exceptions - you just have to study the manual.
A really useful function for a traveller across zones is that your can swap T1 and T2 at the push of P1 which means all alarms do not have to be reset for the new time and hour hand TZ are swapped over - no need to switch TZ manually.
There are unique features belonging to the watch which include -
- flyback chronometer,
- lap time recording,
- electronic tachometer (with a variety of measures).
- Flight time recorder log book.
- Long term counter between -99 and +99 days with an associated alarm.
- Tilt enabled backlight - just like Casio!
Highly configurable
- length of backlight display,
- alarms can be set to vibrate and/or be audible - useful for light sleeping partners
- Hour pips (or none) - pips to confirm button press (or not)
Battery rechargeable - 300 cycles / 10years - each charge lasting between 20-90 days or more - depending on backlight / alarm usage.
100m water resist - so this can go in the water, even snorkelling so is really a go anywhere watch.
Follow this link for an interactive guide (required flash) or PDF for download
Styling and form
In my opinion the B50 is rightfully part of the ‘Professional’ range which includes the Emergency and Aerospace Evo. The face looks quite like the latest Emergency but resized to a respectable 46mm diameter - which is still large but not completely oversized. The lugs are curved downward to hug the wrist so fits comfortably to my 6 3/4” fairly ‘flat’ wrist. It is thick at 16.45mm. It has well chiselled features, but is balanced - more built for function than for under the cuff. However, I have been wearing it in the office and no-one seems to care.
The sapphire crystal is domed, anti-reflective on both sides which means the face is highly legible. There is lume on smaller arabic numbers - the larger are applied and not lumed - but this effectively means you see a diamond shaped line for the numerics if fully in darkness. the skeleton out hand is lumed at its tip and the minute hand all along. The second hand is not lumed. The digital displays can be illuminated by pressing in the crown if you need to check.
I do like that you can move forward or back between functions with the spin of the crown, and separate pushers for control. I have found the large crown does sometimes get turned when I am putting on a coat, so function changed unexpectedly. But - there is a feature to ‘lock’ the crown and stops unwanted functional changes.
Did I mention the B50 looks like it's designed to be bomb proof? Being Ti any scratches it does pick up will tend to 'self-heal' after a time.
Conclusions and Comparisons
The Breitling B50 may be just too large for some - I find it is on limit of wearability for me - but on the right side of the limit. I would recommend trying it on for size before discarding it as the weight is well distributed making it an easy / comfortable watch to wear. It is highly functional and perhaps only a few of us will use the full range, but I am enjoying learning about them all. I think this may be viewed as rather an enigmatic watch even by the watch community. This could mean it will be produced in limited quantities and could be scarce in future.
Some will find it difficult not to compare this to the new version of the Omega X-33 Skywalker - and I see these watches similar to the comparison of X-33 Gen1 (or Gen2) and the Breitling B-1. They each have their strengths and weakness which I will not cover in detail here. Both of these quartz driven watches will probably be compared to Casio multi-function. For me, and I think others, there is no comparison.
Pictures
a wrist shot:
and showing the lume
Martyn
Excellent review and pictures. Posted in WT you'd have two pages of "oohs and ahhs" by now. This dusty subforum has the benefit of posts lasting longer on the first page, at the expense of lower footfall. Still, to those that know...
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
Paul
Why does it require a rechargeable battery? Couldn't they have used a standard battery instead?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nice review Martyn!
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
That's just an allround great review and ditto photo's, thanks for sharing!
hi. Not exactly sure. But for me it makes it a better watch. No need to see Breitling for 10years and no worries of using the many and varied functions. I've charged mine once since receiving it and still over 80%. I do wear it in rotation though.Originally Posted by domwells
Great review Martyn. Thanks.
I really like that. Is it massive or is that just the pics. I tried on an Emergency II at my local WoS and it was huge but looked very similar to that. Someone said it was more Emergency 1 in size which I could happily wear. Is it?
Certainly bigger than emergency 1, think it was said earlier today that it wears slightly bigger than a deepsea. I'd agree with that, I think thats bang on. Certainly has some wrist presence, but very comfortable indeed.
Lovely, lovely watch and one I've come very close to buying. Nearly got one new from Chronext over Xmas before the euro rate dropped and mor recently from the second hand market....
Recent research has however calmed the desire due to the apparent reliabilility issues?
If you read a bit more these issues seem to relate to the first batch or so. I've not read of any issues since, just glowing reviews and happy owners. I took the plunge last week and am very pleased with it. Beautiful dial, incredibly comfortable, lots of features, and gets plenty of attention.
great review and especially great pictures: can I ask what camera and (light) settings you used. thanks for educating me.
fantasic pics alright and great review . i actually really love the look of this . rechargeable battery is a bit weird though
Sure thing - as an example: On tripod and with off camera flash ( -0.3EV) and light box
Camera Nikon NIKON D700 ISO 800 Focal Length 105.0 mm (105.0 mm in 35mm) Aperture f/18 Exposure Time 0.01667s (1/60) Name MJC_9801.JPG Size 4256 x 2832 File Size 2.35 MB
for this one:
Thanks, Martyn.
Sure thing - as an example: On tripod and with off camera flash ( -0.3EV) and light box
Camera Nikon NIKON D700 ISO 800 Focal Length 105.0 mm (105.0 mm in 35mm) Aperture f/18 Exposure Time 0.01667s (1/60) Name MJC_9801.JPG Size 4256 x 2832 File Size 2.35 MB
for this one:
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