Hands-On: The Breitling Superocean Heritage B20 Automatic 42 Amsterdam Limited Edition — Celebrating 750 Years Of The City
What is Amsterdam famous for? Exactly — the city’s canals. Oh, sorry, were you saying something else? Well, that’s also correct, but it’s not the answer I was looking for. I understand it, though. The district you were referring to in the city center is associated with red, the color that shines brightly in the 75-piece Breitling Superocean Heritage B20 Automatic 42 Amsterdam Limited Edition. The watch celebrates Mokum’s 750th anniversary — Mokum is the Yiddish nickname for Amsterdam. Red is the dominant color of the city’s flag, which also includes three white St. Andrew’s crosses against a black background. We got to try on this celebratory dive watch, but we didn’t take it with us for a plunge in the canals you see engraved on the case back.
There is something “missing” from the Breitling Superocean Heritage B20 Automatic 42 that celebrates Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary. The three St. Andrew’s crosses you see in the city’s coat of arms and flag are nowhere to be seen. But you can have them. If you buy the watch, which will set you back €6,950 for the version with a black rubber strap and €7,500 for the one with a stainless steel bracelet, Breitling will engrave the three crosses on the clasp. The exact meaning of the crosses is unknown, but some believe they represent the three plagues that have hit Amsterdam — flood, fire, and the black death. The crosses are a sign of resilience. The city survived every ordeal and became a world-famous tourist magnet.
Better get over here fast if you want to buy a Breitling Superocean Heritage B20 Automatic 42 Amsterdam Limited Edition
You can safely state that Amsterdam is the city of bicycles, freedom, and love. Amsterdam is a city where people can be who they want to be. The Amsterdammer has a mentality with a typical sense of humor, contrariness, tolerance, and nonconformism precisely because the city has always been full of immigrants who continually brought in new knowledge, ideas, and styles. What also needs to be mentioned is that for many people living in Amsterdam, the city is the center of the universe. Outside Amsterdam, people regard the city’s inhabitants as loud, overly confident, and perhaps slightly arrogant. This judgment is probably also based on low self-confidence, an inferiority complex, and, in the case of people living in Rotterdam, Amsterdam’s biggest rival and the second-largest Dutch city, second-city syndrome.
What I just wrote is not based on scientific research but on personal experience. I worked and lived in the Dutch capital for many years. I loved the place, the humor, and the unapologetic eloquence of its inhabitants, but it sometimes felt like the city and its people were a bit much and even over the top. Is it because of Amsterdammers’ outspoken character, flamboyance that borders on exuberance, and strong confidence that I have never seen more Breitlings on people’s wrists than in Amsterdam?
Is the dial or pink gold bezel making this Breitling an Amsterdam watch?
An outspoken city deserves an outspoken watch, and the Breitling Superocean Heritage B20 Automatic 42 Amsterdam Limited Edition is certainly that. Amsterdam’s 750-year history led to 75 examples of this watch. FYI, around 50 are already gone, so if you want one, head over to Amsterdam and find a dealer. If you’re outside the country but a fan of the city or the watch, you can find a retailer with an online shop on Breitling’s official website. Anyway, back to the watch. This steel 42mm Superocean Heritage has a 14.35mm thickness and 51.58mm lug-to-lug. It also includes a rose gold unidirectional dive bezel with a black ceramic insert and rose gold five-minute markers.
The deep and radiant red dial is the same color as the red in Amsterdam’s flag, but because of the sunburst finish, it looks very different from a flag made of matte fabric. On the case back, you will find an engraving showing a sky-view of the famous canals, once a historic center of world trade and now a UNESCO World Heritage site. But I think the most “Amsterdam” thing about the retro dive watch is the rose gold bezel. This festive touch of luxurious exuberance represents the flamboyant nature of the city’s inhabitants.
Straight facts about the Amsterdam-themed Superocean Heritage B20 Automatic 42 and a question or two
Inside the watch’s 200m-water-resistant case beats the COSC-certified Breitling B20 movement. It is based on Tudor’s automatic caliber MT5612, offering a 4Hz frequency and a 70-hour power reserve. This celebratory Superocean Heritage is available on a steel mesh bracelet or a mesh-look rubber strap, both with the same folding clasp. As mentioned, if you want, you can have the top of the rather large folding clasp engraved with the three crosses of Amsterdam.
Do you like Amsterdam so much that you want to show it with a watch? Or do you simply like the combination of steel, pink gold, and exuberant, radiant red so much that you don’t care about the watch’s Amsterdam connection (especially if you’re from Rotterdam)? Let me know in the comments.
