Every time Tony photographs one of his Breitling Ana-Digitals, I think what lookers they are.
Now Titanium really appeals, but when I think about the movement and functionality then logic takes over.
Essentially the movement is a quartz one (accepting its Thermo-compensated) with the functions of an inexpensive digital watch attached. I am sure 20 years ago this looked quite an attractive feature set but in the era of the GPS enabled smartwatch, it all seems a bit "retro". Now the ETA 2824 movements in many Breitlings are not exactly handcrafted by pixies from precious materials, so I suppose the Aerospace is no more illogical financially than the equivalent analogue Breitling, but GPS watches do a lot more.
For those that love them, could you share what the attraction is, beyond they look awesome ?
Now the best looking of all is the night mission, but that seems at quite a premium for a black coating and deployant.
Not that I need another watch to think about, but....
Cheers
Dave
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They are fantastic watches, unfortunately I just missed out on the one sold on the forum recently - but I'd rather one than most eta 2824 watches.
It's just a matter of time...
What strap is that Dave? I'm considering buying some new straps for mine to try and make myself wear it. More Aerospace on strap pictures required for inspiration
Smart watches don't do it for me. I suppose in the same way that quartz watches don't do it for the mechanical aficionados. Or perhaps it's because they aren't independent bits of technology in their own right, they need a smartphone and connectivity. So the Aerospace is one of the few 'luxury' watches that combines good looks with all the useful timekeeping functions.
Caruso has nailed it there. It looks great, has a decent feature set, even it today's world, and when combined with being very thin and titanium, with 100M WR you have a superb all-rounder watch which is also very accurate.
I can't help adding into the mix the B55 - yeh - it is "just" another quartz watch with a huge price tag. But this, as with the Aerospace, I think, is more than the some of it's parts. Breitling do ani-digi so well and have been doing so for many years.
The attraction - well, for me, is the execution of form and function. Sure you can get Casio's with a lot more bells and whistles for 10th of the price (maybe even 20th) and those GPS watches just leave me cold - soon to be superseded by v2.0 - whereas Breitling are watches, not 'gadgets' or tracking devises.
Here is a nice picture for you!
I am sorry
Seriously, though, I have two Breitling ana-digis and I think they're both wonderful watches... a perfect marriage of form and function.
I've had quite a few Aerospace variants, but this Night Mission (and not the LE cobra dial) is the keeper. It's perfect.
I've had mine since around 1996, and in earlier years - Breitling were very good value for servicing etc (a free bracelet renewal at 8yrs old)
Recently I have been hit with bills of £840 (2012 - new movement, superquartz version and other works) and £670(2016 - battery, bezel ratchets, bracelet refurb etc).
Sure - it is back to "as new" condition - but has been expensive along the way.
I still love the watch and it's functionality for air-travel - but would not contemplate buying new.
old photo
Al
You prompted me to look at a couple of previous watches I've owned... all lovely but I do like the slightly beefier dimensions of the Evo. That's probably because it's such a light watch anyway (on the bracelet you can hardly tell you're wearing a watch, it's that comfortable).
Thanks all. Those photos really are tempting
Dave
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Absolute great watch. Loving having this one.
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I should never of got rid of my Cobra.
Why do watches do this to you?
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I bought one from Carl (j4ckal), as a reasonably smart travel tool watch.
I was really amazed at the lightness, compared with a GMT II, it is a revelation.
The alarm feature is very useful, as is the second TZ.
I'm not a fan of bracelets, preferring a distressed leather where possible.
The case is flat between the lugs, so it wil take any number of leather or fabric straps.
The only feature that I find annoying is the need to spin the crown to switch functions and move the hour hand.
I want to use the analog display for local time, the digi for home time, and TZ function for a third TZ.
It seems to take an inordinate number of spins to rotate the minute hand by one hour ?
The manual talks about fast or slow spins of the crown, but I cannot get it to jump one hour, as a true GMT should.
Any useful feedback would be much appreciated.
Apart from that, I'm really pleased with my first Aerospace !
Last edited by W124; 18th February 2017 at 12:02.
Really like the black models but always been concerned about the longevity of the coating, hoping the new breitlight material filters down into the range.
OK, I've now had a look at servicing costs :(
£475 for a full service! Do they automatically replace the movement for that?
I appreciate how labour intensive it is to disassemble, clean, lubricate and reassemble a mechanical movement, but a quartz watch? I'm having some difficulty seeing the value in that.
For those that have them, do you only service very infrequently?
Dave
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Not wishing to rain on anyone's parade, I thought I might present a personal view from the other side of the fence. As a fan of Breitings and having never tried the Aerospace or an ana-digi of any sort, it had been on my bucket list for some time when I bought an Aerospace Avantage from an Austrian dealer about a year ago. It was the grey dial version I'd been looking for on an OEM rubber strap. Despite keeping the watch for about 6 months and trying really hard to bond with it, I found it consistently disappointing. When Col (cgs) bought it off me, I wasn't remotely sorry to see it go.
I found it too small, far too light and insubstantial. When I first bought it a member here commented that they were so light "I wouldn't even know I was wearing it"... like that was a good thing. Not in my book, I'm afraid.
I never really used any of its digital capabilities because I found all that crown twirling ridiculously difficult and imprecise.
I would never buy another one. I realise this may not be a popular view on this thread, but you did ask for opinions...
Simon
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My Aerospace Avantage was bought in 2005 and has been my go-to watch ever since. When I bought it I did so for two primary reasons:
1. I liked the look of it
2. I was flying all over the World for a living and I had everything on my wrist, specifically dual time and an alarm. Remember this was before the iPhone and true smart phones were available.
I'm no longer in a flying appointment but I still wear it as what some would describe as a 'Daily Beater.' Personally, I don't hold with the view that it's too light and insubstantial as it's precisely this that makes it so comfortable. I originally bought mine on leather but have since bought the correct Titanium bracelet (from MuRph77 on here) and wear it on that in the Winter and leather in the Summer. It's the most worn watch I have ever owned.
Yep. Have an Aero and an X33. Love 'em both. Think the B'ling is maybe a little dressier and smarter but the X33 alarm is very, very handy when you're jet lagged and have to be up for a meeting!
Think I'm on my 4th Aerospace now. My favourite is the Avantage with the black dial. Never liked the tuxedo variant in photos but having had both tux and non tux black dialled versions I actually prefer the tux version now.
Great light grab and go watch which has beautiful design and attention to detail.
some q&d iPhone pics of my 4th and current aerospace. I like how the dial changes a lot with the light and angle of viewing.
Respect your opinion Simon, but I remember saying to you at the time, you were making the wrong choice. For a man who loves big watches like your Avenger, and your Cobra Seawolf, choosing the 42mm Avantage rather than the 43mm Evo, which incidentally wears larger than the 1mm increase suggests, you may have had a different experience.
The next mistake in my view, was the fact it was without bracelet. I always found my previous Avantage models weren't quite right without the bracelet. Because the watch is so light, but smaller than the Evo on my 7.5inch wrist, a strap tries to force one side of the head upwards rather than sitting flat. I wear my Evo on straps, but the bracelet really makes it, for comfort and lightweight, yet sturdy feel.
Thirdly, for those struggling with the small crown, the Evo addresses this with a larger crown making functions easier to navigate, including the hour forward/back flick, which I always found a really difficult knack to master on previous models.
As for the X33 comparison, they are so different, especially in thickness and look, but having an extra 70m water resistance helps my peace of mind.
I'm not a fan of quartz in my collection, but my Aerospace is a watch I often pick up over the others, there are just so many advantages over my mechanicals I find hard to overlook for so many situations.
There is an awful lot of WIS-love for the Aerospace, that is for sure.
I tried one today and is sure is pretty. I even managed to navigate the functions pretty well, as the store staff had no idea. Everything but turn on the backlight :)
If I can get past the whole quartz and service cost thing....
D
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I love the look (in photos) on my wrist less so - prefer the Emergency much more TBH.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Is 42mm as small as they get?
No, the older ones such as mine in the vid are 40mm. That was one of the reasons I went for my F75362 it was 40mm but still had the superquartz movement which is thermocompensated. Later models have backlit LCD displays which is the only thing I really miss from my version, but they're 42mm upwards.
There's a useful history of the older versions here: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f39/bre...dating-73.html
Still of the opinion this is the classic version.
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One thing I like to add...
As far as I know, some watches claim they share the "same" movement, but it seems that Breitling (or whoever) modifies the movements more than I thought. From memory (and some videos?) the Victorinox Swiss Army Chrono Classic XLS, e.g., uses the same base movement but it does not have that feature that allows to move the hands or display in hour steps by a "quick" turn of the crown. So, if setting the countdown to 1 hrs you need ~60 turns instead of the one "quick" one with the Aerospace. The message is, maybe you don't get the same functionality with similar cheaper watches.
I may be completely wrong, by the way...
And, I miss my Aerospace Avantage now that I think about it...
I've got a certina that will advance an hour with a quick turn.
Keeps amazing time too.
I'll post a picture tomorrow
Always liked the airwolf raven
dont see too many round here though
anyone got one to show?
Morning Ross, how are you?
I can't deny it, you did try to warn me and I did ignore you to my detriment! I wanted to try the Aerospace experience on the cheap, and so I bought an Avantage on rubber when I should have bought an Evo on bracelet... in my defence I just didn't have the money at the time.
You know my tastes well, and I'm beginning to think that if I was to have another go at the Breitling ana-digi thing, I might be better off with a B50 Cockpit - 46mm would work better for me, I'd still get the relative lightness and I'd certainly get it on a bracelet. Maybe the black titanium one would add another dimension to my collection as well.
On the other hand maybe I need to accept that that particular ship has sailed, and I just prefer my Breitlings to be analogue and steel!
I should add that I have the quartz 'grab-and-go' thing covered with my Bulova Moonwatch...
Simon
Last edited by mycroft; 20th February 2017 at 08:18.
I'm good thanks, buddy - busy defending the Aerospace's honour
I doubt you'd do the ana-digi thing again, but a B50 or B55 certainly make sense for your size preference. I respect Breitling for doing an in-house quartz, but of course, that means more money, so I'm a little more comfortable at the Aerospace price point - after all, I don't even really like quartz
As for a black titanium one, alas, no bracelet option available for you, but military canvas or rubber works well regardless on a case that size. I remain yet to be convinced over all the Breitling DLC nonsense though. Even if it is hard wearing, the caveat that it can't be refinished in the future is worrying and my eyesight would always focus on a blemish, no matter how tiny.
My love of the Evo remains though, lightweight without feeling insubstantial, incredibly comfortable, and slim enough to slip under any shirt cuff... A B50/B55 certainly doesn't do that.