Breitling Galactic watches

The Breitling Galactic is recognised by the four raised rider tabs on its bezel, which Breitling says were there to protect the crystal. Breitling describes it as a derivative of the Chronomat, made for everyday wear. The Galactic 36 Automatic was presented in 2010 as a Breitling designed for women. Breitling has since discontinued the line and points to the current Chronomat instead.

The movement depends on the size. The Galactic 36 Automatic runs on the self-winding Breitling 37 calibre with a power reserve of about 42 hours, while the Galactic 32 Sleek and Galactic 29 Sleek use thermocompensated SuperQuartz calibres, the Breitling 71 and 72. Some versions had tungsten bezels.

The Galactic comes at 29, 30, 32 and 36 mm, with the Galactic 41 and 44 above them. Cases come in steel, rose gold, and steel paired with rose or yellow gold, often with mother-of-pearl dials and gem-set bezels. Beyond the three-hand watches there is a Galactic Chronograph II, a Galactic Unitime limited to 100 pieces, and the rose gold Galactic 29 Diamondworks, limited to 25.

The reference echoes both case and movement. The first letter follows the case metal with few exceptions: A or W for steel, C for steel and rose gold, H for rose gold, B for steel and yellow gold. The two digits after it usually match the calibre: 37 for most Galactic 36 references, 71 for the Galactic 32 and 72 for the Galactic 29.