Quick Review: Breitling Colt II Automatic

[giorgio]

Seems like everyone has been on a mission to pick up the perfect replica, and some spare no expense in doing so - spending almost as much as (if not more than) the amount for which they could pick up a decent used gen. Looking at my winder and seeing 2 BCE's, a white gold Daytona, Platinum YM, Sea-Dweller, LV Sub, TT Sub, Super Avenger, Chrono Avenger, SM PO, Carrera, and about half a dozen "bad reps" I decided that I was missing something: A truly believable rep.

Sure my latest TT BCE gets a lot of attention from people who pay attention to watches, and the Super Avenger gets noticed by everyone and their mother. But ultimately someone pops the dreaded question: "Is it real?" Get that enough times and it starts to feel like people suspect your Citizen Eco-drive might somehow be fake as well.

My first "totally believable" purchase was the Tag Heuer Indy. Azerbyjam did a nice review of it here. Pretty close, authentic movement, and, while it's highly recognizable, I've never been questioned while wearing it. Although it's very sporty, being a quartz model makes it slim enough to wear with a suit.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that a couple of dealers here had a repro Colt on their site. The pictures looked decent, and while a little off I figured for $100 it might just fit the bill in the "believable beater" category, so I went ahead and ordered one. I realized that for this price I could have just picked up an Asian SOSF, but that watch is so widespread that some of the AD's here actually have posters of it in their shops - and I wanted something low profile.

Although it doesn't look too bad, it's flaws are glaring when compared to the genuine article. First off the case is the wrong size. A genuine is 41.4mm X 12.4mm with 20mm lugs. The rep is listed as 41mm X 15mm. A little thicker than the gen, but not too far off. This however, is not the case. The replica I received was 45mm across and closer to 18mm thick, with 22mm lugs. Seems they had some unused cases (or tooling) from the Avenger/Sea wolf that they put to use.

Here are some comparison shots between a BCE and the Super Avenger:

Another glaring error is the bracelet. The Pro II, it features flat links, slightly angled to the left. The links on the rep bracelet are cut down to the right. How someone could screw that up so badly escapes me. Also, the bracelet links are pinned together as opposed to using threaded screws. The finish on the bracelet felt horrible, but I must say is rather nice after a quick treatment with some polishing compound.

The Dial, although not perfect, is fairly well done. The print on mine is nice and crisp. The markers and hands are okay, and they captured the pattern on the dial with some accuracy. One thing you will notice however, is the rehaut. To make up for the oversized case, the dial sits back what looks to be a good 6 or 7mm. It looks even deeper since the rehaut is conical, to compensate for the greater diameter of the case.

You will note that the caseback is a bad copy of the replica chrono avenger caseback (how funny is that?). It is laser etched and features the CA model number and the famous serial number to go with it. The clasp is also laser etched, and is missing the "swiss made, registered model" part.

On the plus side, my watch actually passed the pressure test and is water resistant to 10ATM, which means that despite being a bad copy is a good enough watch. The movement is the Asian 2813 - nothing special there -and mine has gained about 2 minutes in 2 weeks that I've had it (about 8 or 9 sec/day), which I guess is okay for a cheap watch, and that can be regulated.

Here's what it looks like on my 7.5" wrist: (forgot to set macro, sorry!)

All things considered, I don't think anyone should be looking at buying this thing unless you can find it for under $60. I would expect to find this watch on the streets in Chinatown, not on the "Swiss ETA section" of a dealers website. Fantasy watches and faux chronos aside, this is either the best of the worst, or the worst of the better replicas.

[By-Tor]

Big thanks for doing this review for the community Giorgio. It's refreshing to see a different "review approach" for a change.

And yes, I agree. If you enjoy it and the watch feels decent... who cares about the flaws? Breitling has gazillion different models and I'm sure only 0.1% of the Breitling fans could call your watch out.

Too many members are paranoid about the flaws... especially when the replica is of an obscure brand, which Breitling is... at least for the general public.

Rep collecting should be fun... and having fun with the watches. You can enjoy both "super reps" and "not so super reps". I've owned various fantasy watches and inaccurate reps as well... I don't mind. I like all kinds of (well done) replicas and genuines.

[vintagerolex]

That was an interesting review of your watch, thanks.

[chrgod]

Wow!

Thanks for the review. I have been looking for a decent replica of the basic Colt, but I did not know that this was out.

The size of your watch actually reminds me of the old Seawolf. Quite big and far from the humble Colt.

[giorgio]

Rep collecting should be fun... and having fun with the watches. You can enjoy both "super reps" and "not so super reps". I've owned various fantasy watches and inaccurate reps as well... I don't mind. I like all kinds of (well done) replicas and genuines.

I totally agree with that. One of my favourite watches is the Breitling Emergency Fantasy Yellow watch. It has four pushers, a second hand, a countdown bezel, the pearl is horrible. Doesn't come close to any actual Breitling model, but I put it on a brown Breitling strap and it looks awesome, fake, but awesome.

Wow!

Thanks for the review. I have been looking for a decent replica of the basic Colt, but I did not know that this was out.

The size of your watch actually reminds me of the old Seawolf. Quite big and far from the humble Colt.

Yeah, I wanted a Colt as a humble "cheap for a Breitling" type of watch. I was hoping it would be the quality of the Asian SOSF, This isn't it. I think they used the leftover Seawolf cases to make these.