The Breitling Watch Source Forums

After years and years of wearing and buying the same Citizen Navihawk watch over and over, every 4 years or so as it breaks, I finally decided it was time to spend the money (invest) in a high-quality, high-end watch that would last me for years and years, if not life. I'm a pilot, so as I did my research the majority of watches (of high-end quality) that met my needs were Breitling. Eventually it came down to the Airwolf and Aerospace. I like the look of the Airwolf better, as I personally find the Aerospace dial just a bit plain. I decided to add the Co-Pilot module for a mixture of the functions it provides, the individuality it gives to the watch, and the appearance.

So I placed an order at the end of April through La Swiss--a big thanks to my contact there and our forum brother Roffensian for introducing me. I just got the Airwolf two days ago, and have been LOVING it. I actually ordered a Cockpit Lady at the same time for my wife, for the purpose of these watches commemorating the birth of our 2nd daughter, Mother's/Father's Day, and our 12 year anniversary. Unfortunately, the Cockpit Lady I chose is backordered and has been continually delayed from Switzerland. Latest arrival estimate is now July! I have LOTS of thoughts about the Airwolf. Here's some:

- I'm really enjoying the Airwolf. It has a nice fit, feel, and appearance to it.

- If I had to pick my favorite thing so far that just tickles me pink every time I try it, it's the light function. (and I'll try it later, but I do wear Night Vision Goggles when I fly sometimes, so I could be one of the few that appreciates that spec about it) The light is just so good-looking and classy when activated in the dark.

- Just a few things I wish could be slightly better--(1) The face dial seems more like a dark charcoal grey to me, I wish it were a bit deeper black. (2) The luminescent paint on the bars and face numbers do look a little yellow in brighter light. Wish they were more white. (3) I wish the Co-Pilot had a night feature as well. If I start a flight at night-time, I'll be fumbling with a light to make sure I hack the clock right.

- Before the purchase, I was a bit worried about the Airwolf weight. It's a bit bigger and noticeably heavier than my previous watch. But after wearing it for 30 minutes, it fits and feels very natural.

- The bend of the Co-Pilot module does push the face dial a little towards the left or "outer" side of my left wrist. I find myself periodically rotating the watch and band back towards me on my wrist a bit. No big deal.

- I have not yet experienced the anomaly another Airwolf owner here has, that it would change functions on its own by having the function knob turn against the wrist. Hope it continues fine for me, no worries yet.

- Even though there's no "ratchet" to the 2-way Airwolf bezel, it hasn't slippped on me. Right degree of tightness right out of the box.

- Nobody's noticed my new watch on their own yet, at least to the degree where they've felt the need to comment. But of course I'm displaying it proudly, and telling several friends the story of how I chose and purchased it. Multiple people really like it, and for some reason ESPECIALLY the turbine dial back!

- On that note, I was curious how the turbine back would feel on the wrist over an extended period. Feels fine! If anything, even better than a flat metal back--haven't got the slight wrist sweat one can get with the flat metal backs.

- I've already got a few hairline scratches in the polish from just resting my arm on a desk or such. Nothing major, but it's bound to happen! How in the WORLD are you supposed to keep it highly polished though? Mine started accumulating fingerprints in a matter of seconds.

- When I was in the shop to pick up the watch, I was AMAZED how different various watches looked and felt in person. Even some of the best pictures just don't do them justice. Saw my first B01's, which I thought were nice, and could look good in certain finishes, but didn't blow me away. I still prefer the legacy Chronomats, though. And I fell in LOVE with a Chronomat Evo two-tone Rose Gold with blue face and two-tone Rose Gold bracelet. Why is it that we do that? I'm not even a watch nut, and the day I pick up what has been my "Grail" watch, I fall in love with another watch as well! (and even intrigued by another)

- Got my two Breitling hats already! VERY nice. Now I want to find and buy more Breitling merchandise! Too bad the company doesn't sell even just a few basic items.

- A few pictures. Please excuse the cheezy ones, doing the best I can while travelling, and I'll see if I can get any better ones. Just happened to have that pillow on my bed. The first pic with the box is my favorite one. On that note, HOLY CRAP, that's a beautiful box!

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

Congrats and thanks for the pics and review!! I am a private pilot and am debating between the Airwolf and the Emergency. Since I live in Seattle and do fly through the mountains a lot (in rented planes with ELTs I do not personally check), I am still kind of leaning towards an Emergency. And for either model, I am deciding whether I would get the Co-Pilot or not. I would be interested to hear your impressions of the Co-Pilot (again) after you have had the watch for awhile.


Yeah, my wife and I both went through this phase. The first day it was "Wow! This is heavy." Ever since then, I only notice when I am not wearing a watch.


Yeah, nobody really comments on my watches either. I mean, c'mon....how can you miss them?!


I started out just meaning to get 1 watch. You know, the really nice watch I can wear with anything that I would be happy with forever. In 6 short months, I have 3....and there are about 143 more I am lusting after. Good luck.

Mofongo

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

Very nice, you would find without the co-pilot the airwolf will pull itself to the outside of your wrist anyway. Mine does. Still debating on whether to get the co-pilot or not. Pity it doesn't light up.

Congratulations on the Airwolf. It's a beauty!
Thanks for a great review as well. A very interesting read.

Great write-up, and very happy for you!

Enjoy the watch - it's a beauty.

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Breitling Colt GMT
Breitling Navitimer World
IWC Portuguese Automatic
Breitling Transocean Chronograph LE

Nice watch Chris! Wear it in good health.

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Justin
Please contact me via PM for the contact details for Govberg Jewelers
Govberg is an AD for over 50 fine Swiss and German watch brands.
Visit them on the web at http://www.govbergwatches.com or call 800-528-8463

Congratulations on the watch purchase! Exactly the same as mine but with the updated watch face Not sure which face I prefer yet, but am very happy with mine. Am scared to wear it daily again though since I got it refurbished. It just marks far too easily and when it dors happen its much more noticeable than on a brushed finish bracelet.

If you think your used to the weight of the watch, which I am too, try wearing it on the opposite wrist for a few minutes. You'll soon realise how bulky it is!

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Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 9300 Chrono / Omega Speedmaster 50th Anniversary LE
Breitling Airwolf & Co-Pilot / Breitling Navitimer 125th Anniversary
Rolex Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA
Casio GWF-1000 Frogman

Wearing a long-sleeved shirt today. I've been wondering if I'd run into problems with the sleeve cuff catching and hanging on the watch, given its large size, especially the height above the wrist.

Not a problem, though. My cuff is naturally falling over the top of the watch, every time I drop my arms to my side. Very nice. I don't envision a problem, unless people wear sleeve cuffs that are fairly tight for their wrist size!

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

Congrats on your Airwolf!

I got mine a few weeks ago. Have been useing it everyday since. I also got me a black Diver Pro strap, its perfect to use at work in order to minimize the accumulation of scratches on the steel bracelet. Sure, it takes a few minutes to change, every time I get back from deployment, but I think its worth it.

The only problem I can think of, is how to find time to wear my other favourites.

Regards

Mattias

Great review! I can feel your excitement! Its a great feeling!

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SA-Baton White Dial/ProII
Tissot Le Locle

Very nice watch. I like the combo.

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Rolex 42mm Explorer
IWC Ingenieur

A few others too.

Outstanding and thanks for the great write-up. Enjoy.

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Breitling - Chronomat Evo SS A653
Breitling - Navitimer world, Silver Dial, Brown Croc
Omega SMP 2255.80
Tag Heuer - Link Auto. Chronograph - Black Dial/Subs
Tag Heuer - Carrera Auto. Chronograph Tachymetre SS/Gold
Bulova (1963) 30 Jewel Movement

Thanks, guys. I wore my Airwolf for the first time in the airplane last night, to go fly. I was really curious how it would do in the semi-industrial setting, and how useful the Co-Pilot really would be. It was great!

I'm leaving the Co-Pilot in GMT ("Zulu") time, with the primary time on the face hands and digital display in local time. When I go on a trip, I may choose to keep the hands on my home time in Alaska, and use the face digital display for the local time where I'm at, which would make for three different time zones simulataneously. We'll see.

But leaving the Co-pilot in Zulu time, that's the piece I can quickly reference as I fly, as aviation times are all in Zulu. I started the Co-Pilot stopwatch as I began my takeoff roll, and stopped it on the final landing. For those that don't know the Co-Pilot function, it automatically records the clock time when you start and stop the stopwatch. So it takes all the thought process out of flight records, as I can just directly enter the Zulu takeoff time, Zulu landing time, and total flight time directly into the log, from the Co-Pilot without any math. (granted, it's not hard math or anything)

For the Airwolf, I did use the bezel to remind myself of some headings that I would need to be flying as I flew a complex instrument approach. I haven't gotten into using the "whiz wheel" for computations yet. Since I fly an advanced, state-of-the art aircraft, I don't see myself using that too much, but I did use it for some currency exchange computations on my trip to Canada last week. I'm liking the feel of the function knob as you turn it and change functions, and the alarm works great. I still haven't tried the backlight while wearing Night Vision Goggles, (we don't get night in Alaska this time of year) but should be able to try it at the end of the month on a trip.

I find myself constantly grabbing a napkin or something to polish up the watch to remove some fingerprints. We'll see how long that lasts before I just give up.

All in all, I'm enjoying the Airwolf and Co-Pilot for aviation use, and got somebody today in my flying unit that actually recognized it as a Breitling and made a big fuss out of admiring it. That was cool. Is the Co-Pilot worth it, just for the extra functions that it adds to the watch? Ehhh... probably not, given the high price. But when you add in the extra flair that it adds to the watch visually, and that it really makes my watch even more unique, I'm glad that I chose to go with it.

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

Lets see some pictures of your bird!!!!! Do i dare guess a Cirrus aircraft?

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Collection:

Breitling Ti Emergency Blue Dial
Citizen Sky Hawk Blue Angels Ti

Upcoming: Breitling B1/B2/Airwolf

Ah, I have to be careful posting pictures, (military) but when able, I'll see if I can take some action shots of me using the watch in the actual cockpit.

FWIW, I wore both the watch and Night Vision Goggles in the cockpit for the first time yesterday, and again today. Tried out the "NVG compatible backlighting". Worked great. Held up the watch without the backlighting in front of the NVG's, and the luminescent paint gave a slight glow, but nothing that detracted at all from the vision. Activated the backlight, and the glow got about 75% brighter, but still no distraction. If I hadn't been deliberately holding the watch in front of the goggles, I never would have noticed the light. (for those that don't know, even little tiny lights in the wrong color spectrum can give a massive blooming when viewed through Night Vision Goggles, impairing vision of the entire world through the goggles)

So... not a crucial feature or anything, but I thought that was kinda cool.

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife