While largely known as a maker of excellent pilot’s chronographs like the Navitimer and Chronomat, Breitling also has a stealthily great dive watch collection with its Breitling SuperOcean Automatic 42 Stainless Steel. The SuperOcean Heritage line is especially great, ranking among the best divers in the luxury watch industry for the past handful of years. Now, Breitling is looking to gain even more of a foothold in the space with a massive revamp of the standard SuperOcean line.
Breitling has unveiled a new version of the Breitling SuperOcean Automatic 42 Stainless Stee that’s inspired by the brand’s SuperOcean Slow Motion diver from the 1960s. While that watch was a chronograph, the new styles are standard three-hand automatics, but they feature a number of styling cues from the vintage piece, namely the high-contrast minute track, the broad indices, and the “paddle” handset. The watch also adds plenty of modern features, too, including a ceramic bezel insert, 300m of water resistance (Breitling notes the watch is also resistant to shocks, saltwater, and even sand), and power from Breitling’s Caliber 17 self-winding movement.
Breitling SuperOcean Automatic 42 Stainless Stee also made sure that everyone’s wrists and tastes are accounted for with this release — and we mean everyone. The watch comes in three metals: stainless steel, steel-gold, or bronze; four sizes: 36mm, 42mm, 44mm, and 46mm; and a ton of dial colors, including black, blue, white, green, orange, and a near-Tiffany blue — most of which are paired with various bezel and case material options. One of the standouts is the SuperOcean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater. Co-designed with the surfing legend, the watch is limited to 1,000 pieces and pairs an orange dial with a green rubber strap.