The replica Breitling Premier collection celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. For the occasion, the brand has unveiled six new models which retain their vintage look, but materialize in a revised version up to date, with finer features and a more efficient core. Let’s discover these six Premier B01 Chronograph 42s together.
A little history
The Premier collection was created in 1943. At the time, this creation by Willy Breitling quickly stood out for its great versatility. Indeed, it is a high-end chronograph which, apart from its basic functions, is also intended to be dressed up so that it can be worn with elegance in everyday life: “The undeniable imprint of taste irreproachable” in the words of Willy.
The Premier is a sober and refined watch, which also stands out for its advanced complications offering great precision in measuring time. Although mainly intended for pilots and aviation enthusiasts, it is worn by all types of profiles, from scientists to athletes, including businessmen.
After a cessation of production for more than 50 years, the Premier was relaunched in 2019. Then, in 2021, Breitling reintroduced the entire range from the 1940s and added 4 new pieces.
This year, 6 new chronographs are making their debut in this historic Haute Horlogerie collection. Each is made up of a 42mm case, water-resistant to 100m, and features the COSC-certified B01 manufacture caliber.
New Premier watches: a very neat vintage look
For these new products, Breitling has kept the DNA of the first models. We find key elements, such as the thin fixed bezel, the rectangular pushers as well as the grooves present on the middle. The vintage style also remains in the spotlight, particularly on the dial which is adorned with applied Arabic numerals, luminescent syringe hands, a date window at 6 o’clock and two textured counters: one at 3 o’clock used to totalize the 30 minutes, and one at 9 o’clock for the small seconds. In the middle of the dial, the central chronograph hand is clearly visible thanks to its red end. Around the edge, a fine tachymeter scale completes the retro look of the timepiece. Everything is enhanced and protected by a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides. In short, a design is simple, elegant, timeless, with very beautiful finishes.
The B01 caliber at the heart of the Premier models
On the back of these replica watches, we can glimpse the automatic manufacture caliber B01, a mechanism reworked in 2022 to make the oscillating weight more compact. The B01 caliber is a flagship piece of the brand, and it is also found in other prestigious lines such as the Navitimer for example. It has 334 pieces in total, and 41 jewels. This extremely precise and reliable movement benefits from the prestigious COSC certification. It displays a precision of +6/-4 seconds per day, oscillates at 28,800 A/h, and guarantees a power reserve of approximately 70 hours.