The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Today I've seen, by the first time, an Emergency 2 in the flesh. It was at the AD's window inside its official heavy-duty box.

The watch looks a bit silly tbh, but more ridiculous was the £12k price tag attached to it. Seriously, satellite triangulation alone cannot justify such high cost, specially when you consider the incredible time pieces one could find for that price, even brand new!

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Collection
GMTIIc
Daytona
Nautilus 5711
Deep Sea D-Blue
Submariner Hulk
Tudor BB - FOR SALE
SOLD
Aerospace
Navitimer World
Bentley GT Racing
Cockpit
Navitimer 01 LE 788/2000

IMO the size of the watch and the size of the price tag makes the E2 something of a clown's watch. Shame as it has a good looking dial, and it obviously technically very competent.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

i agree Driver. The older E is now the go- to piece, i think.

I think that that Emergency 2 is going to sit at the window for a very, very long time.

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Collection
GMTIIc
Daytona
Nautilus 5711
Deep Sea D-Blue
Submariner Hulk
Tudor BB - FOR SALE
SOLD
Aerospace
Navitimer World
Bentley GT Racing
Cockpit
Navitimer 01 LE 788/2000

Agreed with the above.

As a pilot, I'd quite like something like that on my wrist but not for £12k - so I wear my Avantage/Co-Pilot and carry a £200 GPS enabled PLB in my life preserver, and as a PLB is a legal requirement in certain countries anyway, having an E2 wouldn't mean I could leave the PLB behind.

I see it in the same light as a watch in a solid gold case and/or covered in diamonds; just as a 'bragging piece', as most of us who 'need' a PLB/EPIRB just wouldn't spend that sort of money on a watch because it had a beacon in.

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Have
2019 B55 Exospace on Titanium bracelet
2014 SuperAvenger II Military LE
Had
2013 Avenger Seawolf SS yellow Arabic dial
2010 Aerospace Avantage black dial & Co-pilot
2007 Aerospace Repetition Minutes
2003 Superocean
2001 Chronospace

I saw the E2 for the first time in the flesh today at an AD.

Hmmmmm, what to say about it? Well, on the positive side the dial is very nicely executed, very detailed and beautifully finished with just the right contrast of tool and high-end touches. Errrrr..., and that's about it for the positives.

On the flip side, yes it's INSANELY large. In the cabinet it actually looks like a promotional model or something next to the "normal" sized Breitlings. It's absolutely huge, both across the case, and especially on the length (i.e. lug-to-lug). I reckon you're going to need a 10 or 11" wrist to even START to pull this one off. It will make some of the huge G-Shocks often seen in pictures on the wrists of quite small Asian guys look perfectly acceptable. And then there's the height.... completely impractical anywhere other than in a cockpit. And by "in a cockpit" I mean attached to the instrument panel, not attached to the pilots wrist. Oh and then there's the price being over £12k GBP.

As a technical achievement then it's very well done (although it's worth remembering that a tough tool watch, and a separate emergency transmitter can be had for less than £500 in total), but in all other respects my initial observation (prior to having actually seen one in the flesh) most definitely still stands : it's a clown's watch.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Sounds right Driver. When you also consider that it only has 50m water resistance and isn't therefore much more than shower- (and surface swimming) proof it isn't even a very expensive tough tool watch in some respects!

OK so today I tried on an Emergency 2 at an AD.

In the hands and on the wrist it's a curious beast. As we all know it's a huge thing. 51mm across and 26mm lugs, but the titanium actually means it's incredibly light. The case is very tall, but the dial is very shallow, which makes it look like it's going to weigh far more than it actually does. On the wrist the height isn't actually as bad as I thought it would be, but the case shape makes it sit like a brick on the top of your wrist. The lugs would need much more of a curve on them for it to even start to fit nicely. That said, the lugs didn't actually overhang the edge of my 7.75" wrist, so again, from certain angles it wore much better than I expected. Another oddity is the fact that even though it's very light, the shear dimensions mean that it is very top-heavy on the wrist (especially on an un-sized bracelet).

So in summary on the wrist (well, my wrist anyway) it's not quite the clown's watch I was expecting, even when I'd seen one in an AD's window. Of course that doesn't mean I'd remotely consider buying one : the size IS still way too big to be practical, and the brick-like case shape makes it look very odd from certain angles.... oh and the £12K+ GBP price tag is just stoooopid money for it.... BUT it's not quite as bad as I was expecting. (High praise indeed, huh? )

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Driver8

Site Moderator

You make a number of good points Driver. Apart from the wish to have as many of these out there on wrists as possible, the E2 is more or less the preserve of those that need one, rather than those that want or can afford one. It's a paradox.

No matter what the size, balance is just about everything IMO. I imagine that anyone in an emergency situation would not notice the height of the thing until it got in the way! I wonder

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Jim

"You have Control".

To add my twopence into the conversation - I just got one of these including Co-Pilot, trading in my old Emergency. Yes, it's large but it looks stunning and doesn't weigh more than my Crosswind Special with Pilot bracelet. I will be using it for aviation purposes, Microlighting and General Aviation. Doing regular trips to Europe in a Microlight with MTOW of 450 kg and two people every square inch space and weight reduction counts. France requires a PLB with GPS capability which the old Emergency doesn't offer. Another thing: why is it a 'clowns watch' just because it's large? Isn't then by definition every Breitling a 'clowns watch'? Sounds more like a case of sour grapes to me, I'm afraid.
Kind regards!

B1 & UTC
Crosswind Special
Montbrilliant Datora
Cosmonaute Flyback
Emergency II
Chronoslide

Not remotely sour grapes at all : simply an opinion.

IMO it's a considerable step beyond a "normal" large Breitling in terms of it's dimensions and how it wears. The term "a clown's watch" is relating to the dimensions of the watch (just like an exceptionally large pair of shoes may be described as "clown's shoes"), and not in any way a slur on any potential buyer.

As I say, it's simply a personal opinion based on first hand experience.

I'm glad you're enjoying your E2 and that it's getting the usage it deserves. Wear it in good health.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Finally got to try on the E2 today. Agree with Driver8 on all points. Totally spot on. It appears as a clown watch on my 7.5" wrist. The lugs don't overhang my wrist, but equal, and the strap goes straight down. The E2 makes my M1 look small in comparison...

Needs to be downsized when they get the battery technology to allow it, if they want to get any sales volume.

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Chrono Avenger M1, Ti- yellow dial, on Pro II Ti bracelet.
Avenger Code Yellow LE, on Diver Pro II strap, w/arabic dial.

I saw someone with it on and I agree it's large! It looked something like those cheap Invicta watches. From a distance it didn't look like the Emergency until I approached the owner. Unless your in a profession that you might need the track beacon, anyone else purchasing this I have no idea the ideology behind the purchase.

What gets me is the 50m water resistance. I mean if a person who would need this is for example a survivor in a plane crash. Is this person suppose to worry that it can be submerged beyond the 50m or else the watch will not work from water damage? I find the 50m for a watch that it's intended for ridiculous. Just my opinion

Hi All.
I found this post quite interesting. I am only new to this forum and this is my first post.

Coming from a commercial and amateur HF radio background I would say that if the watch is submerged underwater that basically no signal will be radiating from the watch when it is activated so in my assessment this watch would really only be useful in land based emergencies or if you were in a life raft in ocean. With this in mind I would say the engineers who designed this piece probably took this into account when designing its water resistance. Just a thought.

Cheers

Dave

I took the gamble and traded one of my panerai watches on an E2 night mission recently. I'm not a true "aviator" when it comes to flying planes but I do para motor and plan on taking a couple of cross country flights this spring. This was my justification so I could live with my decission. Yes there were way cheaper alternatives but not as cool! Don't tell the Mrs....lol. I actually like the heft and can deal with the height but its definitely not an all around watch when it comes to practicality. Other than my kid thinking it looks like a ticking time bomb it's a great conversation starter and I get the occasional compliments from other watch nuts if noticed out and about. It's nice to know I have it when in the air with the hopes to never actually need it.....