Breitling has redesigned the Superocean Héritage line, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the collection. A comparison show that the new Superocean Héritage II is not so different from the 1957 model, which had an endearing arrangement of circular and spike-form hour markers, shorter hands and no date window:
Comparison between the original 1957 Superocean (left) and the new Breitling Superocean Héritage
And it’s not so different from the previous Superocean Héritage, with an ultrahard ceramic bezel that no longer has the steel ring on the inside, larger hour and minute hands with a change in design, new hour indices with slightly conical design, a dot of SuperLuminova on the bezel triangle, and date window at 6 o’clock instead of 3 o’clock. The case is also slightly thicker, 15 mm instead of the previous 13.6 mm:
Comparison between the previoius Superocean Héritage (left), and the new 2017 Breitling Superocean Héritage II
Sports watch
The Superocean is a dive watch, with 200 metres water resistance, unidirectional rotating bezel and screw-down crown. But it’s perhaps more of a sports watch (click here for the Top Ten Sports Watches), because it is missing two of the characteristic features of a true diver’s watch, minute divisions for the first 15 minutes on the bezel, and a way of discerning that the watch is running in the dark (usually a diver’s watch has some SuperLuminova on the seconds hand).
Movement based on a Tudor calibre
The really significant new feature of the new Superocean Héritage is inside. The Superocean Héritage II 42 and 46 are powered by the B20 movement that is based on the Tudor Calibre MT5612, and presumably actually supplied by Tudor. This is part of an agreement between the two brands to share movements and facilitate the move away from ETA movements as the Swatch Group movement manufacturer gets closer to limiting and eventually halting the supply of movements to companies outside the Swatch Group.
Solid caseback
The B20 is a fine movement, with 70 hours power reserve and COSC certification, so that precision is certified at being within -4 and +6 seconds deviation per day. The purchaser doesn’t see the movement because the watch has a solid caseback, but nonetheless it has branded the movement with a Breitling rotor. The movement runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour, 4 Hertz, and has 28 jewels.
Many personalization options
You can personalize the watch by means of case size, dial colour, straps and bracelets. 42 mm is a standard men’s watch size, 46 mm adds a lot more presence. The dial colours are Volcano black, Gun Blue, Stratus silver, Copperhead bronze, and the bronze version is particularly unusual and attractive. Straps are in leather with five available colours, black, brown, gold brown, blue and green, Ocean Racer blue or black rubber, Rubber Aero blue or black, that have a milanaise texture, and the Ocean Classic steel milanaise bracelet. All these options can be conveniently explored and priced on the Breitling website.
Prices and availability
Prices range from €3,900 (leather strap), €4,100 (rubber strap), to €4,410 (steel bracelet) for the 42 mm and 46 mm versions. The watches have a 5-year guarantee, and they will be available in stores from August 2017.
