Breitling Introduces New Six Nations Chronomat Limited Editions For Men And Women
Rugby fans worldwide are looking forward to the annual Six Nations Championship that kicks off on January 31st in Paris, France. This year’s tournament will end with a trio of matches on March 15th. It will be interesting to see whether Ireland can defend its title or if we will witness the crowning of a new champion for 2025. Breitling and Six Nations Rugby celebrate their fourth season of working together with the Six Nations Chronomat limited editions. These watches celebrate each competing nation with a Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 and a stylistically matching Chronomat 32. Let’s find out more!
These new Chronomats follow a series of Chronomat B01 Chronographs released in 2023. Ben reported on the sextet of watches representing the competing nations — England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, and France. For this new series, Breitling used the 40mm Chronomat Automatic GMT as the canvas for six men’s models and the 32mm quartz Chronomat for an equal number of women’s versions. The latter six join the lineup to highlight Breitling’s commitment to emphasizing the growing popularity of women’s rugby. All 12 watches come with specific details, so let’s go over the series.
The Six Nations Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 limited editions
With Breitling as the Official Timing Partner for Six Nations Rugby, it makes sense that another series of models now succeeds the Chronomat B01 Chronographs. The six new Chronomat Automatic GMT versions each feature a 40mm stainless steel case with an 11.77mm thickness, a 47.4mm length, and a 20mm lug spacing. The watches are water resistant to 200 meters and come on the characteristic Rouleaux bracelet. This bracelet includes a nice butterfly clasp, ensuring the bullet-shaped links cover your entire wrist without any visual interruption.
Every nation gets a distinct dial with a date window at 6 o’clock. These dials utilize the national sporting colors of the participating nations. However, as the French, Italian, and Scottish teams all share blue as their national color, the Breitling designers had to devise a solution. They solved that challenge with a combination of different shades of blue and various contrasting colors for the GMT hands. Let’s quickly go over the different executions of these striped dials that nicely resemble the jerseys of the different teams.
Different dials taking after the national colors
England gets a silver dial with a red GMT hand, Wales a burgundy dial with a light pink GMT hand, and Scotland a dark blue dial with a purple GMT hand. Additionally, Ireland gets a green dial with a silver GMT hand, France a navy dial with a red GMT hand, and lastly, Italy gets a blue dial with a light pink GMT hand. Of course, the dials for England, Wales, and Ireland are easy to distinguish. The blue dials might take a second or a third look. Then again, you will probably only buy the version of the country you support, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
Even if you were to buy the whole set, each dial lists the country the watch represents in a text matching the color of the GMT hand, so there won’t be any questions once you put the watch on your wrist. Breitling equips the watches with its ETA-based chronometer-certified caliber 32. The automatic caller-style GMT movement operates at 28,800vph and offers 42 hours of power reserve. It hides behind an engraved case back that features the union crest, “Six Nations Rugby,” and “One of 250.” The last inscription refers to the limited run of 250 pieces per model, each of which costs £4,950.
The 32mm Six Nations Chronomat Limited Editions
The second series consists of six quartz Chronomat three-hand models for ladies. The case for these models is 32mm wide, 8.54mm thick, 39.4mm long, and 16mm between the lugs. Like the men’s models, the dial colors are based on the national sporting colors of the participating countries. However, because these smaller Chronomats are not GMTs, they lack the contrasting fourth hand.
All the watches have dial colors similar to those of the men’s models. These dials are contrasted by 18K yellow gold indexes with diamonds and matching gold-plated hands. Furthermore, the dials do not have the names of their respective countries on them.
Another difference is the movement. Instead of mechanical movements, Breitling uses quartz calibers to power the ladies’ versions. To be more precise, the brand utilizes its thermocompensated SuperQuartz caliber 77. Just like the men’s caliber, these are also COSC-certified chronometers and feature a date window at 6 o’clock. The calibers have a battery life of 3–4 years and feature an end-of-life indicator.
Like the men’s models, these ladies’ models come with a stainless steel Rouleaux bracelet with a butterfly clasp. All versions feature an engraved case back featuring the union crest and a “Six Nations Rugby” inscription. Lastly, “One of 75” is engraved on the case back to indicate the limited production number. These women’s models will be available for £3,950 each.
Final thoughts on the Breitling Six Nations Chronomat Limited Editions
All in all, this is a cool series of watches if you are a rugby fan. If you are not a rugby fan, these watches will probably appeal less to you. However, considering the limited production numbers, Breitling will surely sell the watches quickly. While we do not have a great rugby tradition in the Netherlands, I have friends in France and England who are devoted fans of the sport.
Given that I have a trip planned to England to visit one of those friends, I will surely watch a match or two while I’m there. Just like these watches, it will be a good reminder that rugby is a great sport. With these new Six Nations Chronomat limited editions, Breitling puts the spotlight on both men’s and women’s rugby. It shows that the brand doesn’t take the beaten path regarding sponsorships, and I can only respect that.
