Well, now, there’s not a phrase you hear every day (now that we don’t even have space Westerns on television). Any which way, I recently learned of the Karl Breitner brand, and when I was perusing their catalog, a particular model in yellow caught my eye.
Now, if you’re like me, you probably haven’t heard of Breitner before. They’ve actually been around for quite some time – since the 19th century. To be precise, the late 1800s was when a 17-year old Karl Breitner created his first watch, and things have gone on since.
Today, the factory is situated in the foothills of the Jura mountains, in Solothurn – so the appellation of Swiss-made truly means what it says. Of course, it also helps that there’s a Valjoux 7750 movement tucked away inside (you can read more about that movement here).
While many of the watches in the Breitner lineup are more formal, or dressier, the Aviator is more along the lines of what we’d consider a sport watch – a larger 42mm stainless steel case (and 15mm thick) case housing the afore-mentioned movement, as well as the sapphire crystal and display caseback.
For me, the striking bit of this watch is of course the dial. Yellow is, of course, an attention-grabber. Here, with the stark black indices, numerals, and sub-dials, it really serves to enhance the readability of the watch. And if we’re going to give homage to aviator watches of the past, we might as well make sure the thing is just plain readable, right?
All in all, I find a lot to like with the watch – with one exception. I still don’t understand the rationale for the larger date display cutout, showing you the date before and after the current date – it’s unnecessary data, and just clutters things up visually.
While for me, I’d likely search out another model, I realize that might be my own personal quirk. If you’re in the camp of it not being a bother, you can pick up this watch (or it’s silver or black dial variants) for just a hair over $2000 direct from Breitner.
