Well I never thought this would happen in a million years, but......I've found a Chronomat 01 (i.e. he of the Buckified bezel) that I not only like, but actually desperately want to own!!
I was in town today and just dropped into an AD that I haven't been to in a while, and was thoroughly expecting it to be the usual cursory glance over the current Breitling models that my AD visits have tended to become recently. However, today a model that was discussed here a while back suddenly caught my eye - the Frecce Tricolori Chronomat 44 LE.
It was out of the display case in an instant, on my wrist in a flash, and I have to say I absolutely LOVED it! The brushed upper surfaces and polished sides work very well indeed, as does the gloss Frecce Tricolori logo on the matt black dial. Another very nice touch is the off-white, almost vintage, colour of the lume. Additionally the (shock horror!) rubber inlaid numbers on the bezel actually work superbly well and somehow make the Buck font look good! Plus the rubber strap also just works with it.
All in all, it adds up to the first Chronomat 01 that I've properly fallen in love with.....and I think I need it!
£6330 is a lot though, so another watch I was planning will have to go on hold will I juggle the numbers and try to make it work. Dammit Breitling! - I thought you'd made a model I'd never want to own, but now I find that's not the case at all!
As an aside I also picked up a copy of "B the Insider" - looks like a good read, although I still can't quite take David Beckham seriously as an ambassador for Breitling. Still, at least he's only the ambassador for the Bentley range. I don't have anything against the guy personally - I'm just not sure he's the best type of "image-fit" with Breitling.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my first hand experience of the Frecce Tricolori, and proclaim my desire to land one ASAP!
