When it comes to pilot’s replica watches, companies generally take one of two distinct approaches: nostalgic pieces that conjure the style worn by an aviator in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, or a replica watch that might actually be useful to a pilot in the here and now. With the replica watch enthusiast crowd, many of whom are reading this article right now, it’s safe to assume that the former type of pilot’s replica watch holds more appeal, with a mechanical movement, broad hands on a legible dial, and maybe an oversized crown and a leather strap.
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But Breitling is perhaps more tied to aviation than any other replica watch brand, and has embraced both the nostalgic pilot’s replica watch and the modern style equally. (And, lest we forget, they were also the first company to be granted a patent for the two-pusher chronograph, all the way back in 1933.) The Navitimer chronograph of the 1950s was undoubtedly the replica watch Tom Wolfe was referring to his seminal book about test pilots and astronauts,The Right Stuff – watches that, “had about two thousand calibrations on them and dials for recording everything short of the sound of enemy guns . . . (they) were practically fraternal insignia among the pilots.” (Below is a Breitling Navitimer from the collection of Phil Toledano, as seen in a recent episode of Talking Replica Watches.)
This genre is enjoying a boom in popularity, with pilot’s replica watches competing with dive replica watches for wrist real estate. And we are spoiled for choice – consider IWC’s rebooted Pilot’s Replica Watch collection this year, as well as collections from Bell & Ross, Bremont, Alpina and so on. Even Rolex showed off its refreshed (and polarizing) Air King at Baselworld this year.
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The strategy worked, as these “modern” Breitlings became de rigueur pilots’ wrist-wear. As Jim DiMatteo, former commander of the US Navy’s Top Gun fighter training school (and Breitling USA’s aviation consultant, with over 5,000 hours in aircraft like the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-14 Tomcat) told me, “Fighter pilots always remember three things: their first solo flight, their first carrier landing, and their first Breitling.” Below is an example of perhaps the best known of the modern breed of high tech Breitlings: the Emergency, as seen in Hodinkee’s Hands On from earlier this year.
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The Breitling Emergency
To counter the challenge of the so-called “smart replica watch,” Swiss brands have responded with different approaches, from the clip-on e-Strap from Montblanc, to the simplified activity trackers in Alpina and Frederique Constant, to the full-on Google/Android collaboration from TAG Heuer. All of these examples have one thing in common – they were outsourced (in a 21st century twist on the old replica watchmaking practice of etablissage) – mostly to companies in California.
In the 1990s, Breitling came out of bankruptcy with a new line of pilot’s replica watches that looked forward instead of back, with some of the first analog-digital replica watches aimed at pilots – with features like second time zones, multiple loud alarms, night vision-compatible displays, and even an emergency radio transmitter built in.
But for the Exospace B55 Connected, Breitling makes the proud claim that it designed and built the replica watch and movement “in-house,” while the phone app and connected features were all custom programmed for Breitling in Switzerland. The Exospace, in other words, is best understood as a continuation of Breitling’s modern production of high tech replica watches pitched to working professionals, rather than replica watch enthusiasts per se, with features intended to be useful to working professionals (a replica watch designed to not interfere with night vision goggles, like the Exospace, is clearly not designed just for the average military replica watch lover).
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The basic functioning of the B55 is similar to other Breitling “ana-digi” replica watches, combining traditional three-hand time-telling with two windows that display other information digitally. All functions are controlled on the replica watch via the crown, pushing, pulling, or spinning it to move through functions and select values. The push-pieces, which look like a chronograph’s start/stop and reset buttons, are actually used to scroll between submenus as well as activate some of the functions like the stopwatch or countdown timer. To facilitate readoff of the digital display, a double push of the crown “parks” the hands at 9 and 3 to keep them out of the way. You can synchronize the hands to the digital display, down to the second; in a nod to its airborne target audience, to set the time, you first set Universal Time Coordinated (or GMT), the international standard for air traffic communications, and then set the local time using your location’s offset.
The replica watch case itself is made from matte finished black titanium, 46 mm in diameter and a bit over 15 mm thick. While that sounds like a monster, the short curved-down lugs and lightweight alloy made it very comfortable to wear. It’s not as broad shouldered and bulky as the similar (but “disconnected”) B50 Cockpit, and the case finishing is excellent, in typical Breitling fashion. The bidirectional engraved bezel is satisfying and easy to operate thanks to a tall profile and those trademark Breitling rider tabs, and the crown knurling is deep and grippy. Push-pieces snap with authority and the blue rubber strap is comfortable, cut to length and combined with the pushbutton deployant clasp that has a ratcheting micro-adjustment.
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The overall vibe is extremely sporty, thanks to the pop of color in the strap and hands and the black finish. As a self-confessed Luddite, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed wearing this thoroughly modern replica watch. It has a refreshing youthfulness and tactical feel that make you want to put it on and go do stuff with it – swim, bike, run, fly – and it’s up to the task with 100 meters of water resistance.
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To allow for readoff of the digital display in the dark, the display is backlit and glows a bright blue with the push of the crown, staying on for whatever length of time you set. In addition, the backlighting is activated automatically when the replica watch is tilted on your wrist, a feature that was both fun and a bit maddening. Though you can set the sensitivity of this function (or even turn it off) I often caught a distracting glimpse of my wrist lighting up while driving at night, in a movie theater, or in bed (yeah, I’m one of those guys). And in case you’re wondering, the digital display is night vision goggle compatible (meaning that the display is designed to prevent over-amplification of its illumination by NVGs, which could dangerously impair a pilot’s vision).
Powering the Exospace B55 Connected is Breitling’s own movement, calibre B55. It is one of the company’s so-called SuperQuartz movements; thermocompensated to account for temperature swings (the frequency of quartz crystals is sensitive to temperature changes). Breitling submits the movement to COSC for chronometer testing and certification and thus it keeps predictably excellent time; the COSC standard for a quartz chronometer replica watch is +/- 0.07 sec/day. In addition to time and date, the replica watch has a long list of functions, some more useful than others (at least, to non-pilots). Here’s a quick look.
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The countdown timer can be set for up to 100 hours and will beep in the last 20 seconds and then again as a reminder if you don’t shut it off within a minute. Speaking of the beeping, the B55 has a very loud alarm – perhaps not as loud as the now discontinued Breitling B-1 or the OMEGA Speedmaster X-33, which use special resonating casebacks, but it will get your attention, in addition to vibrating on your wrist. This notification also works for the daily alarms you can set (up to seven, and if you actually need seven daily alarms pre-set you have my sympathy). I used the alarm to wake up a few mornings and, even on my wrist under blankets, it was plenty loud enough to rouse me from sleep.
The analog-digital formula of the B55 is one that Breitling has used going back to the early Aerospace and Emergency replica watches of the early 1990s, and to a certain extent, to the Chronosport-based Pluton of the ’80s. While the design may seem a bit dated now, especially compared to the customizable hi-res dial of, say, the TAG Heuer Connected, it still does the job well, conveying data clearly while retaining a certain design language that is distinctly Breitling. It also will be instantly familiar to anyone that has used an ana-digi Breitling in the past two decades, and the replica watch can be used entirely on its own if you want with all of the functions I listed above. But the “connected” part of the B55 and its phone app are what sets the replica watch apart, and seems a logical addition to an already useful replica watch.
Two time zones can be displayed, one on the digital display and one with the hands, and the two can be swapped with a click of a push-piece. UTC time is also tracked and can be displayed on the digital display at any time. There is a digital flyback chronograph that allows for 1/100th of a second timing and which will store up to 50 intermediate lap times. A nifty tachymeter function will let you track average speed over a set distance, complete with unit conversion for going from kilometers to miles per hour. You could do that with the Navitimer’s slide rule bezel, but it would take longer and require math skills well beyond my own.
The “Chrono Flight” function is designed to record overall flight times by not only starting at takeoff and stopping at touchdown but also then saving the times (in UTC) with the airport codes you associate with them. A countdown/up function adds a further wrinkle by counting down to a start time and then up from there, useful as a “mission timer” – but it could also be used as a regatta timer for a yacht racing.
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Exospace app home screen.
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Notifications set up.
The B55 app, which can be installed on an Apple or Android smartphone, is used to view, set and log functions and data from the replica watch. It is an intuitive app, well designed for integration with the replica watch. The main screen has the most important information upfront – battery percentage, Bluetooth status, time zones (UTC, local and home), as well as any alarms that are active. Then a series of icons allows for quick access to the other functions of the replica watch, where you can view stored flight times, timer and chronograph records, and a list of notifications. A separate menu is used to set the backlight tilt and length, how and how long you can park the hands, alarm tones, and to synchronize the hands to the digital display.
Since your phone’s time is maintained via the GPS satellite network to an atomic time signal, by keeping the replica watch synchronized to your phone, you’re effectively getting atomic-accurate timekeeping on your wrist as well. Your local and home times are set from a long list of world airport codes and can be swapped with the push of a button on the app so that when you sync the replica watch, the change occurs there as well. It’s a small but endlessly fun pleasure to press a button on the phone and see the hands of the replica watch move instantly.
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Of course, as the Exospace is a Bluetooth connected replica watch, you also have the ability to receive call, calendar and text notifications. Via the app, you can program how you are notified, through tones, vibration or both, and the replica watch’s top digital display simply shows the word, “MESSAGE” or “CALL.” There is no voice recognition or reading of text messages on the replica watch; its simple digital display isn’t designed for that.
Finally, there’s the matter of price, which may be the B55’s only glaring “weakness.” At an eye-watering $8,900, it is priced well above all other so-called “smart” or connected replica watches, and more than any of Breitling’s other analog-digital offerings, with the exception of the dual-transmitter-equipped Emergency. It is also more than many of Breitling’s mechanical chronometers. Whether it is worth it is a rhetorical question those of us who follow the replica watch industry often hear but seldom answer. I will say that it is an extremely well made replica watch through and through, from sculpted case to feature-laden movement to its companion phone app. It was very satisfying to wear, fun, and useful. Granted I was only borrowing it for a week or two, not plunking down my hard earned cash to own it, but then again, I’m also not a time zone hopping professional pilot who needs one tough replica watch that offers a slew of cockpit-specific features, in addition to standard connected device notifications.
As you might expect, the Exospace B55 Connected is a power hungry replica watch, but not as much as you’d think. While the TAG Heuer Connected typically needs to be topped off every day or two, this Breitling can go up to two months on a single charge, depending on how many of its features you’re using, particularly the backlit display and Bluetooth interaction. To recharge it, a small magnetic coupling on the replica watch’s left flank connects to a cable which can be plugged into a wall outlet or the USB port on a computer. For the two weeks I had the replica watch, it never dipped below 60% battery power, in fairly regular use.
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As replica watch enthusiasts, we are often quick to dismiss quartz replica watches, anything digital, and most certainly smartwatches, as mere gadgets that don’t deserve to be considered side by side with the timepieces more often seen on HODINKEE. But when you consider that replica watchmaking has traditionally often been about pushing forward to be the best possible instruments for specific functions, you’re better able to view a replica watch like the Exospace B55 Connected as one more hash mark on that continuum, just as a slide rule-equipped Navitimer was a state of the art pilot’s replica watch in 1954. I’ve long admired Breitling for pursuing both paths in its collection, maintaining the historical pieces such as the Transocean and the Navitimer while continuing to build replica watches for modern pilots too. Will a new generation of luxury smart, connected replica watches with complications driven by apps ever be revered or coveted like traditional replica watches? Only time will tell.
More information about the Exospace B55 Connected can be found on Breitling’s website.
