Breitling Superocean Heritage watches

The Breitling Superocean Heritage is Breitling's retro dive watch, named after and styled on the original Superocean of 1957, which Breitling describes as one of the first purpose-built diver's watches, with a unidirectional rotating bezel for timing dives. Breitling relaunched the name as the Heritage line in the 2000s and has kept reworking it since. Each generation keeps the rotating bezel and a sapphire crystal.

The first generation came as 38, 42 and 46 mm three-hand watches with the ETA 2824-2 automatic movement, and as 44 and 46 mm chronographs with the ETA Valjoux 7750. Its hands set the look: a straight sword minute hand and a simple arrow hour hand.

The Superocean Heritage II, which debuted at Baselworld 2017, swapped the metal bezel insert for ceramic, redrew the sword and arrow hands closer to those of the 1957 Superocean, and moved the date to 6 o'clock. Its three-hand models, at 42, 44 and 46 mm, use Tudor's MT5612, which Breitling calls the B20, with a 70-hour power reserve; the 44 and 46 mm Heritage II Chronograph kept the Valjoux 7750. The B01 Chronograph 44 moves to Breitling's own Manufacture Calibre 01, its flagship chronograph movement.

The Superocean Heritage '57 goes back further, reviving the exact proportions of the 1957 reference in a 42 mm case, in steel or steel and red gold; the 38 mm '57 Pastel Paradise carries pastel dials such as Aquamarine, Mint Green and Iced Latte. Special runs include the Heritage II Chronograph Ocean Conservancy, limited to 1,000 pieces, the steel-and-red-gold '57 Outerknown at 500, the '57 Rainbow Boutique at 250, and the 46 mm Chronoworks in ceramic at 100.