The Breitling Curtiss Warhawk Collection
While it isn’t exactly breaking news, we have the lifting of an embargo on the new Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection. Curiously, Breitling showed one of the models back in November, but we are now treated to a three-piece collection of non limited special edition watches. Let’s take a look.
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (photo courtesy of the United States Air Force)
Fighter Plane
With the Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection, we have a themed line of watches dedicated to the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, a legendary American single-seat fighter plane from World War 2 that was first built in 1938. If you’re not familiar with this plane, it saw serious action in both the European and Pacific theaters with the United States Army Air Force (as well as within the British Empire) during the War and was quite effective. Over 13,000 were built and it operated through the end of the War. Pictures often show these with red and white snarling mouths (from the Flying Tigers) painted on the side while the plane is painted in the traditional hue of army green. This green becomes the dominant color for the dials of all three watches and each receives red highlights with stark white Arabic numerals at the indices. All watches will come on a matching dark green woven textile strap.
B01 43mm Chronometer Chronograph
First up in the Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection is the 43mm chronometer-certified chronograph featuring the in-house B01 caliber. The dark green-dialed watch contains contrasting white sub register while the rightmost minutes recorder has red highlighting every five minutes around its edge. The rotating bezel contains a red arrow and the central chronograph hand is tipped in the bright color to provide some pop.
This was the only model that Breitling gave a view of the case back and you can see that it’s a display back complete with an image of the Warhawk. This piece will retail for 7,000 Euros in Germany.
ETA7750 Based Chronometer Chronograph
Next up in the Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection, we have the B13 (ETA 7750-powered) 43mm chronometer-certified chronograph. Similar to the B01 above, this Aviator 8 chronograph has red highlights on its minute register, bezel and central hand. However, staying consistent with Breitling’s design ethos (in-house chronographs always contain contrasting sub-registers while the dials of externally sourced movement chronographs contain dials of a consistent color throughout), this dial is almost all green save the bold white numbers and font. Also, unlike the B01, this piece contains the day as well as the date. The retail price will be 5,000 Euros.
Three-Hand Curtiss Warhawk
Rounding out the Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection is the time only chronometer-certified 41mm piece featuring a Sellita movement. The case has been coated in black, has a green dial consistent with the rest of the collection and red highlights on the bezel and tip of the sweep seconds hand. 3,600 Euros marks the price of entry for this edition.
Breitling At Baselworld 2019
We’ll get to see the Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection live and in person next month at Baselworld 2019, but I’ll share some brief opinion. I like them a lot and at least judging from the photos, I think the colors truly suit the Aviator 8 line well. I’ve been positive about these models in general, but there was something a bit too clean and anonymous about them in their initial incarnations (maybe I just wasn’t used to seeing a relatively staid Breitling after so many years of Bentley ads!). It’s remarkable what a small red detail does to the bezel and how the dark green doesn’t end up looking too “G.I. Joe”. Upon first glance, I actually liked the 7750-powered model more than the B01 – and that’s a first for me – but they’re both really nice. The three-hand Automatic is also a good-looking watch, but I wonder how it would look with a normal steel case; black-cased watches still lack a little daily wear versatility in my book.
No, there’s nothing groundbreaking about the Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection, but it shows how the brand continues to release eye-catching models by mixing up the color palette. The recent Pan Am, TWA, and Swissair Navitimers are excellent examples of this as well. We look forward to seeing these live and in person soon enough. The watches should be available for purchase in the March timeframe.
For more information and pricing in your country on the Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection, head to the official Breitling site.
