Breitling are quite possibly one of the most versatile and prolific Swiss watch brands operating at the moment. Their collections are incredibly diverse, ranging from the aviation inspired Navitimer to the sporty Chronomat, diving Superocean, retro Premier and accessible Professional. Now it’s time to take a first impressions look at the latest addition to that dive watch range, the Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 with a rainbow dial.
Straight out of the box, the first thing you notice is, of course, the rainbow dial. It’s pretty hard to avoid since it’s so incredibly bright. Each of the hour markers and hands is different colour of the rainbow with a few extra shades thrown in to reach 12 distinct colours as opposed to the typical seven. Starting from 12 o’clock and moving clockwise you have yellow, sage, green, teal, blue, navy, indigo, purple, violet, red, orange and amber.
I then also like the touch that the padel minute hand is green and the hour hand is orange, which may seem like and odd thing to like. However, it means they match the colours of the hour markers when the time is 10 minutes past 10 o’clock. As any wristwatch photographers reading this will know, 10 past 10 is often the golden position for the hands on a timepiece to best showcase the watch.
My personal taste tends to run towards more subtle, retro designs rather than displays as vibrant and eye-catching as the Superocean Automatic 42 Rainbow Dial. Although I can appreciate the richness of colour Breitling have achieved, especially considering that the colours are also all Super-LumiNova, meaning they shine in low light conditions to make the watch as colourful in the dark as the light.
As for the case and movement, those are identical to the existing Superocean Automatic 42. Meaning it has a 42mm diameter case in stainless steel with 300m water resistance and inside is the COSC-chronometer calibre Breitling 17 with 38-hour power reserve. It’s also presented on a rubber strap in a choice of turquoise, aquamarine, orange and yellow.
Overall, my first impression is largely positive. While it might not be to my personal taste and priced at £4,250 it’s among the more expensive Superoceans, the execution is cool and I look forward to spending more time with the watch. You can read my full hands-on review of the watch in next month’s issue of Oracle Time Magazine, which you can subscribe to here.
Price and Specs:
More details at Breitling.
Give me a 60s ref.2005 over this any day of the week.