Home » Baselworld - World Watch and Jewellery Show » Trio of Chronographs Marks the Decade of the Breitling-Bentley Collaboration
Exactly ten years ago, the famous British car manufacturer Bentley made two very important decisions. The first of these was to make a comeback to the Le Mans 24 Hours Race it used to dominate in the past and it turned out pretty good for the brand, since its team’s drivers scooped two top places. The other major decision (and the one that is far more important to our interests) was to initiate cooperation with Breitling which later spawned several successful Breitling for Bentley timekeepers. To celebrate the decade of successful joint efforts, the Swiss watchmaker is launching three new limited edition chronographs, each of them supplied with an in-house made column-wheel chrono caliber with a vertical clutch and a power storage that exceeds 70 hours. While two of the models B04 GMT and B05 Unitime (former with a GMT and the latter with the world time feature) include calibers that have already been used in Breitling watches, the third one – Bentley B06 – will premiere new B06 caliber. As it is customary for Breitling, each of the movements is chronometer certified by COSC.
Though used for the first time in a model, new B06 uses already tested and proven concepts. Like the rest of the calibers used in three commemorative timepieces, it has the brand’s in-house B01 caliber as its base and all the appropriate major features. It features a 30-second chronograph system where the central chrono hand makes two revolutions per minute, which enables the precision of within 1/8th of a second, two times higher than it is common for regular watches which run on the 4 Hz frequency like this one. Breitling for Bentley B06 likewise premiers a new and improved tachometer scale which allows more complex computations.
Two other newcomers are especially appropriate for people who travel a lot, since they provide information about the current time in other time zones. The first of them is Bentley B04 GMT, equipped with an exceptionally functional and easily adjusted dual time zone system. It runs on the proprietary B04 caliber whose oscillating weight made in the shape of a wheel rim can be seen through the exhibition case back (this is a shared trait of all three novelties). On the other hand, the third new watch, B05 Unitime, shows time in 24 time zones. Thanks to the ingenious double-disc system, the reading of the current time in different time zones is performed quite effortlessly, and even the Daylight Saving Time or “summer” time is taken into account.
Each of three newcomers is available in steel or red gold housing and with several options for the bracelet. Besides, the new timekeepers dedicated to the decade of the collaboration between Breitling and Bentley will be unveiled at Baselworld 2013 show.