A new and classier chapter – The Breitling Premier B09 Pistachio

When Georges kern took over the leadership a Breitling, just like the rest of us watch enthusiast, I was sceptical, not that he didn’t do a great job at IWC but Breitling was in such a mess that I wasn’t sure he was the right guy. Before the change of direction, we can safely say that Breitling was suffering the oversized trend, sure one thing is that pilot watches need to legible, but did they need it to be 46mm? even 48mm? their shiny bracelets did help either and together with a marketing campaign that it was a bit out of taste (please google Breitling girl riding a bomb), there was a lot of damage done to the brand, even yours truly sold his Aerospace.

But somehow, in a 2 years period all of this changed, watches became classier, smaller and with better technical capabilities, the brand opted to stop using the wing logo which still hurts some of us but we gain so much more, Breitling was back, all those sexist add were out and new sustainability policies were in place, manual wind chronographs and bright colours adorned the vitrines of the boutiques, and old lines like the premier were revived, here is where we can find the beloved Premier B09 or what collectors call it, the Pistachio. I am lucky enough to call this my watch and has been in rotation for 6 months now, I cannot get over that beautiful green, it is simple but also elegant and it is the watch that made me fall for this brand again, below is why?

Specifications

You can have the classiest dial like the B09 has but if the dimensions are off, people will say: ‘’ I wish it was…’’ there are no surprises here, the Pistachio is 40mm with a lug to lug of 47.6 and 20mm space between the lugs, after reading those specs you can really relax as the thickness of the watch is 13mm only, yes! It is wearable. To make this happen the watch has a manufacturer calibre (the B09) which is manual wind and a joy to look from the case back, it’s a feast of curves and metal that I cannot get enough of it. Let’s go to the dial as there is a lot to love, polished and raised numerals adorn the mate green dial, 2 sub dials with concentric circles and 3 hands with the chronograph one ending on a lollipop counterweight, it looks imposing, as mentioned it is simple but elegant so elegant. Everything could be ruined by adding a date, but Breitling managed to restrain themselves and keep the dial clean with a beautiful ‘’B’’ at 12, the name and the year plus the wording ‘’Chronograph’’ and ‘’Premier’’ at 6. The tachymeter gives the watch an aura of sophistication and the minute track all in black writing gives legibility and contrast.

On the wrist

The watch shines like nothing else I have in rotation, it has presence, but it manages to feel perfect on my 6.25-inch wrist, the green dial is legible but is easy to pull in almost any situation, looks modern and vintage at the same time and this is a very hard thing to pull. The syringe hands have superluminova and glow perfectly when in the dark but what I like most of the watch is the 70 hours of power reserve, not only keeps the watch ready for a full weekend but also avoids going over 13mm. the watch comes on a brown alligator strap and a folding clasp, but I’ve added a saffiano black strap and a simple buckle, boy it works well.

Conclusions

There are many things to love about this new Breitling era, we have seen watches like the Datora

and the new Navitimers which are looking better than ever, I do think the B09 offers the perfect

blend of modern/vintage piece with out falling into either of those buckets, another thing I like about the Breitling is that it has not many alternatives around either, the Speedmaster is the obvious choice with a manufacturer calibre and no automatic rotor, but I really know which one I would rather have, I do have too many black dials in my collection, plus green is coming back.

For more information visit www.breitling.com

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