Home » Breitling Watches » Breitling Superocean 44 Special – A Ceramic Bezel, Extreme Water Resistance & an Automatic Beating Heart
The Grenchen watchmaker has created a new resilient diving watch called Brietling Superocean Special. It is intended for some serious underwater use and it is distinguished with extreme water resistance to 1000 meters. The sturdy diver is placed inside a 44 mm wide black steel housing and supplied with a high-tech ceramic bezel in the same shade. Contrastingly, all of the indications of the automatic mechanical watch are in white color for an improved legibility.
The Superocean collection, dubbed after the piece of the same name which premiered in the mid-1950s, is now richer for yet another member. The piece in question is Superocean 44 Special which prides itself with extreme resilience to pressure which recommends it even for the roughest underwater adventures. The toughness of the piece is the most clearly expressed with its ability to operate even in the depths that are deadly for any human being. Superocean 44 Special is waterproof to 1000 m which is as much as 3,300 feet.
To make this possible, the Grenchen brand has supplied its watch with a screw-locked crown that includes two gaskets, as well as with a safety valve which is used to equalize the differences in pressures which occur in the surroundings and inside the watch. Since the piece comes with such sturdiness, it is not surprising that its case-back was made of a solid chunk of metal and not with a see-through section. The rear side of the watch is decorated with the machine-performed engravings logo of the brand and the name of the model.
Unlike the rear side, the rest of the case is made of stainless steel with a black DLC treatment and with a brushed finish for improved appearance. As it was the case with numerous newer models of the brand, novel Superocean 44 is likewise made with a new type of bezel made of ceramic. Due to its exceptional hardness, combined with refined appearance, the material is more and more used not only by Breitling, but also by other manufacturers.
The bezel is also made in black color and it features white Arabic numerals painted on it. It is not the most recognizable type of bezel with rider tabs that we see in most of Breitling watches. Apart from the aesthetical traits of the collection, this is naturally also caused by the fact that it is a diving watch that is meant for extreme surroundings. Other characteristics of the bezel are also derived from the same reason. Since it is intended for divers, the bezel rotates only in one direction and it is serrated to allow it to be handled without any problems even when the wearer is wearing gloves.
It should be said that the diameter of the round case stretches to reserved 44 mm, while its thickness is 14.2 mm. For the crystal, Breitling used cambered sapphire with a double anti-reflective treatment.
The black dial of the newcomer also showcases the contrasting indications. It includes a scale with small Arabic numerals on the inner bezel and it sports three different types of hour markers. The triangular-shaped is used on the top, the ones on cardinal points are slightly larger, while the common ones, on all other five-minute positions are smaller and stubbier. The oversized markers are matched with large baton-shaped hands that are also white and coated with luminous substance that improves visibility in the depths.
Another important trait of this watch and all diving watches as well, is the presence of a central second hand which is in this instance made with a red tip. The purpose of the feature is to show the diver that the watch has not stopped functioning, which is, needless to say, very important during the potentially dangerous activity. The dial is completed with a date aperture at the three o’clock position.
Breitling Superocean 44 Special is supplied with Caliber Breitling 17. It is a self-winding mechanical movement with 25 jewels. Just like all of the other brand’s calibers, it is COSC-certified. For its construction, Breitling uses ETA 2824-2 as a base movement. The supported rate of functioning is 4 Hz, while its modest power reserve lasts for 40 hours. It only includes three hands and a date as its indications.
The new watch can only be coupled with black rubber attachments. To be more exact, there are four different options: Diver Pro (with protruding name of the brand), Diver Pro II (with a raised central segment), Ocean Racer (with circular perforations) and Ocean Racer II (with the same kind of holes and stripped motif in the central region. Regardless of the option that is selected, the attachment fastens with a tang-type buckle.
Breitling Superocean 44 Special is not entirely a new piece, since it can be viewed as just a new all-black and updated version of another piece from the same collection. That watch is Superocean II 44 piece which has the same major traits as this one, including the supported caliber and extreme waterproofness. Unlike the new model, it does not have the ceramic bezel, and it is available only with a plain steel housing. Additionally, its black or blue dial is differently styled than the one on the new diver.
