Was This a Mistake by Breitling? Geneva Watch Days 2021 - Breitling
Well Breitling certainly continued along the trend of bringing some colour to the dials of their watches this year. We originally saw Breitling play with some colour at Watches and Wonders this year for their Duograph and Datora. At Geneva Watch Days, they have released three watches, all with their own bit of colour and all inspired by 1960’s cars.
The Top Time is a very famous and loved chronograph that Breitling produced in the 1960’s. Since then, Breitling had released a limited edition piece that stayed fairly true to the original design intent of the watch, but the Top Times from Geneva Watch days are not that at all. The three watches are inspired by an early '60s Shelby Cobra, the second-generation Corvette, and the first-generation Ford Mustang all produced in the 60’s.
The Shelby Cobra watch Top Time is a 40mm steel cased chronograph. It has a blue dial, with two white sub-dials. It is running on the caliber 41 self winding chronograph that is COSC-certified. The sub-dials remind you of the cockpit of ones car and definitely give you a ‘driving’ feel. One of the biggest decisions for all of these watches was Breitling’s decision to put the logo of the car on the dials of their watches. The Shelby Cobra logo can be found at 6' o’clock.
The Corvette and Mustang inspired Top-Time’s is a 42mm stainless steel cased watch that are running on the Caliber 25 from Breitling. They both have three sub-dials (hence the different movement compared to the Cobra). The Corvette Top-Time has a red dial and the Corvette logo below the Breitling signature closer to 12 o’clock. The Mustang Top-Time has a green dial with the Mustang logo at a similar position to the Corvette Top-Time.
On face value these are another example of Breitling adding some colour to their dials. They have increased the case sizes to match a modern collectors preferred size which definitely makes it attractive to contemporary collectors. The decision to put the logos on the dials of their watches is a definite nod to car enthusiasts, who would probably be the main market for these watches. Some may criticize this decision as trying to make their watches to ‘gimmicky’. Whatever your opinion is, this non-limited edition watch will certainly turn heads.
Enjoy!
